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Michelle Rhee on Education Reform

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With: Georges C. Benjamin Executive Director, American Public Health Association; Joan H. Tisch Distinguished Fellow in Public Health 2010-2011Georges C. Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP(E), FNAPA, Hon FRSPH, is the executive director of the American Public Health Association, the nation's oldest and largest organization of public health professionals. He previously was the secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, from 1999 - 2002 following four years as its deputy secretary for public health services. For the last 20 years he has been actively practicing public health at the local, state, and national level with expertise in the areas of emergency preparedness, administration and infectious diseases. Dr. Benjamin serves as publisher of the field's premier journal, the American Journal of Public Health, The Nation's Health Newspaper and the APHA's timeless publication on infectious diseases, the Control of Communicable Diseases Manual.Theodore Brown Professor, Department of Health Sciences University of Rochester Medical CenterTheodore Brown is a historian of medicine, public health, and health policy. He has conducted research on the history of the biopsychosocial approach and on translational medicine; the history of twentieth and early twenty-first century U.S. health policy; the influence of organized philanthropy on medical research, health policy, and medical education, and the history of American and global public health. He is a Contributing Editor for History of the American Journal of Public Health.Clay Bennett Editorial Cartoonist, Chattanooga Times Free PressClay Bennett is an American editorial cartoonist. Currently drawing for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Bennett is the winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning.

Michelle Rhee on Education Reform

Full Video, Public Figures

On June 15, 2011, Michelle Rhee, Founder and CEO of Students First, spoke at Roosevelt House on education reform and creating schools of excellence.

Michelle Rhee began her career as a Teach for America (TFA) corps member in a Harlem Park Community School in Baltimore City. Through her own trial and error in the classroom, she gained a tremendous respect for the hard work that teachers do every day. She also learned the lesson that would drive her mission for years to come: teachers are the most powerful driving force behind student achievement in our schools. In 1997 Ms. Rhee founded The New Teacher Project (TNTP) to bring more excellent teachers to classrooms across the country. Under her leadership TNTP became a leading organization in understanding and developing innovative solutions to the challenges of new teacher hiring. As Chief Executive Officer and President, Ms. Rhee partnered with school districts, state education agencies; non-profit organizations and unions to transform the way schools and other organizations recruit, select and train 23,000 highly qualified teachers in difficult-to-staff schools.

On June 12, 2007, Mayor Adrian Fenty appointed Chancellor Rhee to lead the District of Columbia Public Schools. Under her leadership, the worst performing school district in the country became the only major city system to see double-digit growth in both their state reading and state math scores in seventh, eighth and tenth grades over three years. In 2010, she left DCPS to found her own organization – Students First – which she describes as a grassroots movement designed to mobilize parents, teachers, students, administrators, and citizens throughout country, and to channel their energy to produce meaningful results on both the local and national level.


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