Not the face of DC schools that activists want

If Michelle Rhee can suffer fools gladly, then she just may be the D.C. schools chancellor. Tomorrow she will be going before the D.C. Council to be confirmed.

She may be confirmed but if the vote were taken now it would be close. For one thing, Rhee apparently hasn't lined up many people to testify on her behalf. If this is true, she can expect to have a lot of hostile witnesses--and thus give the council "evidence" that there is widespead opposition to her. She may--naively--believe that her confirmation hearing is about the job she would do.

A few random thoughts:

1) In a city in which power is more important than performance, the D.C. Council may be ready to show whippersnapper mayor Adrian M. Fenty that it is boss. Fenty surprised the council by firing superintendent Clifford Janey and selecting Rhee without consulting it. Fenty kept Janey on the line from late last year when he announced he was going to take over the schools, then abruptly cut him off a few hours before he gained control over the schools. Fenty has already pulled this gag a few times on the council (the selection of the police chief-a white female--without consulting others also upset many people) so this may be the time that the council tries to put him in his place.

2) In a city where race is more important than results, Rhee may have a tough time getting support from activists. Based on chatter from talk radio and from community activists, there is going to be a pushback against Rhee before the council is expected to vote on July 10. Several people have noted that Rhee may not be able to run a school system in which a majority of the students are black. According to an e-mail I received a while back, the DC chapter of the NAACP allegedly will investigate Rhee and create a system to monitor the promises made in the take over legislation. I didn't realize the NAACP-DC would engage in such activity and wonder what took them so long, considering the long-term failure of the school system. I suppose it took appointing an Asian woman to head the school system to get them off their butts...

3) In a city where the above is true, then it will be tough for the council to vote "yes" for Rhee and give Fenty another victory. But then, if there is evil genius to Fenty and not just power-grabbing as it appears, Fenty would also be putting the council in a tough position. They could end up looking like pandering racists if they do reject Rhee. That may be why the council members are questioning Rhee's resume...

CJL

The photo above is courtesy of DC Watch.
Today's Washington Post has an in-depth feature on Rhee. I will point out that the cutline below the photo is wrong--unless they held the news conference yesterday, it is probably a photo from June, not from "this month."

Manufactured cases

My former Cato Institute colleague Bob Levy is profiled by the Associated Press for his role in the challenge to the DC gun ban. One great thing about Levy is that he tells it like it is. As the article quotes: And Levy freely admits the case is manufactured, not one that bubbled up by chance from the district's steady flow of criminal cases involving guns. He wanted presentable plaintiffs to make a case for gun rights, not criminals. "We didn't want crack heads and bank robbers to be poster boys for the Second Amendment," he said. Is there a problem with this case being manufactured? I heard a talking head on the radio complaining a while ago that this case wasn't from real DC residents, that it was from outsiders. What's wrong with that? There may be some times that it takes an outsider to challenge an injustice or bad law. Did DC residents claim that Martin Luther King Jr. was an outsider who should have minded his own business? And about the case being ...

2020-11-26 My basketball story

This photo was uploaded today by my aunt Annette. This was back in the day, when 1) I had a head full of hair and 2) played basketball a lot. That first year of playing organized basketball, I focused on playing defense. It seemed that everyone wanted to shoot the ball, so I passed the ball and played defense. I probably led the league in steals, rebounds and blocked shots. I enjoyed taking on the best player from the other team, I felt like I would get better, quickly. The second year, I was a different player. I will never forget the first game that second year--we lost 29 to 26, I scored 18 points. I probably led the universe in scoring that second year, although we didn't win much. One thing I learned from that experience is that one great player 9 (at least in his own mind) can't beat a team. An eye injury ended my pro career before it began, to this day I still have floaters in my eyes because of the injury. I started wearing glasses, but the problem never went away. On t...

"Yoegi Anjuseyo!"

* I have a short reflection in today's Korea Times about an encounter with an unfriendly looking Korean man on the subway. It was a reminder not to be too quick in judging people in Korea. 09-13-2011 16:47 'Yeogi Anjeuseyo!' By Casey Lartigue Jr. The recent incident in which an American English teacher bullied an elderly Korean man and other passengers on the bus reminded me of a more pleasing incident from years ago. I was on the subway, taking the train outside of Seoul for a work assignment. I have the habit of standing on the subway to strategically position myself near the doors in case my stop magically appears. On that particular day, there was a Korean man STARING at me. Not just looking at me, but intensely staring at me. He had an incredible frown on his face. Not just for one stop, but for several stops the guy just kept staring at me. If I had known more Korean then I would have been able to curse him ...

Rich talking back

The rich are talked about very often in negative terms, but how often do the rich respond in kind? Australian billionaire Gina Rinehart, who inherited most of her money but apparently has also done very well with it, recently railed against class warfare and had some advice for the non-rich : "There is no monopoly on becoming a millionaire," she writes. "If you're jealous of those with more money, don't just sit there and complain. Do something to make more money yourself - spend less time drinking, or smoking and socializing and more time working." She complained about politicians raising taxes, regulations that slow investment, and other anti-business policies that harm the poor. "If you want to help the poor and our next generation, make investment, reinvenstment and businesses welcome."

Park Jin welcoming remarks to FSI (and Casey Lartigue)

National Assembly member Park Jin makes the welcoming remarks at FSI's conference featuring North Korean diplomats. Park Jin | Greeting message to FSI and Casey Lartigue mention - YouTube

The Casey Lartigue Show!

Search This Blog