The St. Petersburg Times caught up with Michelle Rhee today and asked for her thoughts on the Florida Senate’s swift approval of a measure that would revamp the hiring and firing of teachers and install performance-based evaluations. Rhee told reporter Jeff Solochek, “We’re very excited about the progress that’s been made … We’ve been using Florida as an example across the rest of the country as a state that is taking an aggressive stance on these important issues.”
Rhee has been highlighting these issues frequently in Florida, where she works as an informal education adviser to newly elected Gov. Rick Scott. The state’s legislative session just opened this week, and what the Senate did this week for the teacher bill, the House is expected to do next week. When that’s done, Rhee won’t be finished in the Sunshine State. She tells the Times that she plans to return to promote proposed changes to charter school governance.
