The Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail ran an editorial today, praising the D.C. school system's new teacher contract, which, among other things, eliminates seniority rules and promises pay based on performance, as a model for school reform in the Mountain State. Consider this backhanded compliment:
Washington, D.C., schools had to hit rock bottom to win these changes. Let's hope West [...]

Michelle Rhee, the D.C. schools chancellor, was hot and cold on the Government Accountability Office report, delivered yesterday on Capitol Hill, on how well the clunker of a school system has done in the last two years implementing reforms.
Which is to say, she liked the part where it said she and Mayor Adrian Fenty [...]

The AP has it: "D.C. officials say they are discussing public school options with President-elect Barack Obama's family for their two young daughters."
That's apparently gleaned from the following statement released today—which barely, glancingly implies that there has indeed been contact between the Obama family and DCPS:
The Mayor and the Chancellor believe that every parent, including [...]

On Monday, Politico's Carol E. Lee penned a where-will-the-Obama-kids-go-to-school piece what started with this fun tidbit:
Someone called Lafayette Elementary in Chevy Chase late last week, wanting to know "what the process is for enrolling children who don't live within the school's boundaries.
"The caller gave an address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue — the White House — and [...]

Oh, my: Mayor Adrian M. Fenty muzzled one of his employees against her own advice.
Check Bill Turque's D.C. Wire account for the full back story, but the short version is that Turque was working on a story about Michelle Rhee's "Plan B" on how to get rid of bad teachers in the event that contract [...]

Many of you City Desk readers, like LL, are probably fans of the Colbert Report, and many of you City Desk readers, like LL, probably pay through the nose for digital cable or some other television package with a channel-guide feature.
So LL is guessing that at least some of you were curious about why schools [...]

In its November 2008 edition,The Atlantic jumps onto the national trend of chronicling the wonders of D.C. public schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. The lede of the story delves into an old story–that is, Rhee's astounding record of returning all e-mail that comes her way.
“Every e-mail a parent sends me, I answer,” she said, a [...]

Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee spoke this morning with Fast Company's Jeff Chu (who profiled her this summer) about her turn in last night's presidential debate:
"I was trying to watch it," she tells Fast Company. "But it was so boring. Then, all of a sudden, my phone and BlackBerry start blowing up. Someone sent me [...]

Here's the official statement from schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee on D.C. schools and the debate, via spokesperson Dena Iverson, who graciously dealt with LL's badgering text messages for the past two hours:
Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee strongly believe that all families in the District of Columbia must have access to excellent public school options, [...]

Following up on the earlier post about the the D.C. schools' moment in the national political spotlight, here's the exchange from the official debate transcript:
MCCAIN: I'm sure you're aware, Senator Obama, of the program in the Washington, D.C., school system where vouchers are provided and there's a certain number, I think it's a thousand [...]

LL was sitting watching the third presidential debate tonight, drinking a brew or two, chilling out for the evening, pondering the tax liability of one "Bob the Plumber." And then those dimwits had to go talking about the D.C. schools, meaning LL had to get on the friggin' blog!
LL wasn't taking notes and no transcript [...]

DENVER—This afternoon, schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee said there's a "Plan B" in place should D.C. Public Schools teachers fail to ratify the controversial two-tier contract currently under negotiations. Rhee told the crowd that she expects to have negotiations on the reform contract concluded within two weeks and ready for a vote by the Washington Teachers' [...]

This morning, thousands of D.C. Public Schools teachers gathered at the Washington Convention Center for a second annual "welcome back" event, ahead of the first day of school Monday. The teachers took the opportunity to tell DCPS and Washington Teachers' Union leaders just how they felt about proposed contract reforms.
The most dramatic moments occurred when [...]

Yesterday, teachers in the D.C. Public Schools were to report to work for the new school year. Many, however, didn't know where they were supposed to report.
That's because, as of yesterday, dozens of teachers had yet to be placed.
According to the current contract, teachers are supposed to be informed whether there will be "excessed"—that is, [...]

The shuffle on the city org chart caused by the resignation of Department of Employment Services chief Summer Spencer earlier this week has now shaken out a little more completely. On Tuesday, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced his current chief of staff, Tene Dolphin, will replace Spencer at DOES; communications chief Carrie S. Brooks takes [...]