This email landed in my inbox over the weekend. I know it's a ?pitch,? but still, it's a little over the top, don't you think? And an eight page spread of never-before-seen photos? Education reform has really gone glitzy.
Dear Mike,
Michelle Rhee, hailed by Oprah as a ?warrior woman for our times,? and labeled the enemy by teachers unions, has become the controversial (and outgoing) face of school reform.? In her role as chancellor of DC schools, she took on the almost impossible task of revitalizing one of the worst school districts in the nation.
This is the story of how Rhee transformed from a good-girl daughter of an immigrant Korean family into a tough-minded political reformer who wasn't afraid to stand by her choices.? THE BEE EATER: Michelle Rhee's Takes on the Nation's Worst School District (Jossey-Bass, a Wiley imprint; January 2010; $24.95; Cloth; ISBN: 978-0-470-90529-6) by Richard Whitmire, chronicles her life, starting with a rare look into her girlhood in Toledo, Ohio and takes us on her journey throughout adulthood ? with an eight page spread of never-before-seen photos.
The last stop, and final chapter, is an inside account of the contentious?re-election race of Mayor Adrian Fenty and a preview of her future.
Rhee's story exposes the underbelly of some of our most pervasive?cultural assumptions and?political motives, revealing the difficulties of being a true leader of radical change.? It is a lesson for all would-be reformers and is a must-read for those who care about our nation's system of education.
RICHARD WHITMIRE is a veteran of education reporting.?? He is a former editorial writer for USA Today, immediate past-president of the Education Writers Association, and author of the book Why Boys Fail (2010).? He lives in the Washington, DC area.
Would you like a manuscript copy of THE BEE EATER?
If so, please get back to me with your mailing address, and I'd be happy to send one along.
By the way, I ordered the book!
?Mike Petrilli
