Speaking of Rhee, mentioned in a prior post today, it seems that she is to be in my state of Arizona, as part of her most recent “tour.”
Arizona, continuously basking in the glow of negative attention, coming largely from the uber conservative policies supported by our current Republican Governor Jan Brewer, is to potentially have another gubernatorial leader – Scott Smith.
I was sent, in secret, an invitation to a “Reception in Honor” of gubernatorial candidate Smith…and his special guest of the evening…[insert drum roll]…Michelle Rhee.
The party is to celebrate their collective stance towards “Efficient, Effective & Accountable Leadership for Arizona.” Sound familiar?
Anyhow, a ticket to this event comes at a cost of a minimum campaign contribution set at $250 per person to a maximum campaign contribution of $4,000 per person. The event is to be held tonight, Friday, February 21, from 5:00-6:00 (yes, for one hour) at The Montelucia Resort in a wealthy suburb within the metropolitan Phoenix area called Paradise Valley.
It seems wealth is a politician’s common denominator of power, now doesn’t it?
On that note, I heard and then verified recently, that current AZ Governor Brewer’s highest level of education is that of an x-ray technician with her highest degree earned being a radiological technologist certificate. That too says a lot about the power of money and the power money can bring for (too often, in the case of Arizona) some very, let’s say, misguided policies. Thanks to Rhee, she can help my state in its misguidedness.
As related to Arizona’s teacher accountability system in particular, so far, the state department of education has at least tried to maintain some sanity in terms of its teacher accountability and related VAM-based policies, leaving much of this to be determined by and in the hands of districts and schools who still very much honor and appreciate their local control. I like to think that I have had at least a little to do with this current stance, while not ideal but reasonable given the current sociopolitical circumstances of my state.
But it looks like if this candidate wins, we might be in way worse shape than we are now, despite our best intentions…and, again, with special thanks to policy clots like Rhee.
