A few years ago I attended a large annual independent school conference in Washington, DC. One of the featured speakers to an audience of close to 5,000 independent school administrators had a lasting impact on me. Michelle Rhee was well into her term as Washington DC’s “Education Tsar.” The city’s mayor had given her extreme powers to address Washington’s toxic education malaise. In terms of high school standardized test scores, the American capital was the lowest performing urban district in the USA. Ms. Rhee had taken drastic action: firing teachers and principals and closing schools. In the middle of that storm, I will never forget her core message.
One might imagine that Ms. Rhee would embody the frustrations that come with poor student performance resulting from underfunding and a toxic climate from gangs, drugs and violence that was overshadowing safety and student success. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Yes, Ms. Rhee was frustrated with the entrenched poor school performance of the district’s children. But she understood that the blocks and hurdles were essentially systemic: teacher unions that protected underachievers, disinterest in change or innovation, and a pervasive sense that the problem was too big to handle.
Ms. Rhee had a clear message to the independent school people: you are the role models we need to help inspire and show teachers and students that improvement is possible. She commended independent school teachers for their dedication to student welfare – the whole student—in the classroom and beyond. “We need you and your professional commitment to excellence,” she said. She urged independent schools to reach for the stars so that the administrators, teachers and children in the DC public schools could witness and point to success and try to copy it. She urged us to help build hope in the possible.
As we ease into the routines of this school year at LCC, let’s remember how blessed we are in so many ways: wonderful facilities and resources, safety, and committed teachers, staff and parents who guide and support our children on their pathways of learning. Let’s remember what an important role schools play. Of course, wherever she is today, let’s not disappoint Ms. Rhee. She and tens of thousands of young people are watching and need to believe in us—and in their own tomorrows. —Christopher Shannon, Headmaster
