Michelle Rhee, who last week announced her resignation as chancellor of the District of Columbia’s troubled school system, has not said what her next move is going to be.
[/media-credit]Michelle Rhee recently resigned as chancellor of the District of Columbia's schools
Could the woman who is a rock star among education reformers be Colorado-bound?
It’s not completely out of the realm of possibilities.
Rhee lived in Aurora before taking the job in Washington, D.C. Her parents still live in Castle Rock and recently told this reporter they would love to have their daughter back in Colorado but weren’t sure about her plans.
Rhee last week told reporters that she plans to weigh her options whether to take a job at a national level or a local level, adding that she’d like to live closer to her fiance, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.
Rhee is being talked up as being a potential candidate for New Jersey’s education commissioner job.
Why not Colorado’s education commissioner job?
Colorado’s current education commissioner Dwight Jones just accepted a job as superintendent of the Clark County, Nev., school district. Speculation is rampant about who could replace him. Several high profile names from in the state have said they don’t want the job, including Denver Superintendent Tom Boasberg, Aurora Superintendent John Barry, Jefferson County Superintendent Cindy Stevenson and Harrison School District Superintendent Mike Miles.
Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, who led the state’s Race to the Top campaign, said she doesn’t want the job either.
But Rhee could be back at home, backed by the state School Board who is pushing a reform agenda and be half-way closer to her fiance Kevin Johnson, who is mayor of Sacramento. The two have met up here before, once when Rhee was a speaker at a Democrats for Education Reform speech in April 2009.
Granted, the limelight would be a lot less bright in Colorado in a job that doesn’t have as much gravitas as the D.C. position, which landed Rhee on the cover of Time magazine, as a revered figure in the documentary film “Waiting For Superman” and as a guest on Oprah Winfrey’s show.
The school board meets next month to begin discussions about what to do about replacing Jones. The board will most likely appoint an interim until the new school board is in place.