Stan Geiger

Michelle Rhee: You Go, Girlfriend!

CBS Evening News, the other night, published a story on a young lady named Michelle Rhee. She's the boss of the Washington, D.C. public school system. And, according to the report, she's takin' care of some b'ness.

The report said Rhee, backed by the mayor, has closed 23 under-performing schools, fired 24 under-performing principals and offered buyout packages to 700 under-performing teachers.

It seems Rhee can't fire bad teachers. The teachers' unions, I'm sure, have seen to that. But it appears there are 700 D.C. teachers that are so pathetic Rhee is willing to pay them to quit and get the hell out. I'd call that a sad comment on the quality of a group of people that lay claim to being "professionals."

I did some Google searching, to see what I could see. I found a recent press release from a thing called the American Federation of Teachers. The release said teachers should get pay bumps of 30 percent, at a cost to taxpayers of $15 billion nationwide. The release said school teachers should be paid on a level with doctors and lawyers. I can think of nothing in the realm of public discourse more ridiculous than that argument.

I also found an article published by Reuters in May 2007. Citing Census Bureau data, the report said D.C. ranked third in the nation in 2005 in per-pupil spending, coming in at a staggering $12,979 per student.

The article went on to say D.C. "has among the highest spending in the country but its students have among the lowest scores on standardized tests..."

The report also noted the low-spending states. Utah came in dead last, spending a mere $5,257 per student.

I found that fact interesting. I flashed back to an editorial I once read in the Tulsa World, about 12 or 13 years ago. The editorial compared Utah to Oklahoma. Utah had more bachelor's degree holders and higher average wages than Oklahoma, the piece said. Naturally, the leap was made to more money for education equals more prosperity in general.

According to recent data, Utah spends less on common education than any state in the union. Nonetheless, it has an educated and prosperous populace. What do the Mormons know that has escaped the rest of the nation? They certainly seem to be able to get a little bang for the taxpayer buck. Maybe we should have picked Mitt Romney.

Meanwhile, D.C. spends a fortune on common education yet the quality of education there stinks on ice.

So much for the nonsense argument---put forth by educators and liberal allies---that more money for education equals better education.

As for teacher pay, I found a job-search website, called simplyhired.com, that says the average teacher pay figure in D.C. is $58,000 per year. That's just salary; benefits not included.

So much for the nonsense argument---put forth by educators and liberal allies---that higher teacher pay equals better education.

There is much talk, these days, about incentives for teachers. If the student works harder and does better, teacher makes more money. That's some more nonsense. People shouldn't make more money because somebody else works harder.

Beyond that, bonuses for teachers based on student performance provide an excellent incentive for cheating. I don't think we need that.

I like Rhee's incentive plan for educators. It goes like this: Do the job you are getting paid to do or you won't have a job.

You go, Michelle!

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