Courage Campaign takes on TFA-cum-StudentsFirst's Michelle Rhee's predator husband, Kevin Johnson

“Had Michelle Rhee only taped the mouths of predator Kevin Johnson’s victims shut…” — Robert D. Skeels

We all owe Deadspin a huge debt of gratitude for bringing all of these long-standing issues of Kevin "hands-on" Johnson's past misdeeds back into the light of day. The persistent rumors that StudentsFirst-cum-Teach for America darling Michelle Rhee used her White House connections to cover up all the ugly truths about this man for whom she abandoned her own children still loom. Let's always bear in mind that Kevin Johnson, like many neoliberal corporate education reformers, runs privately managed charter schools where he has unfettered "access" to young students. Since charter schools are subject to essentially negligible oversight or public accountability, it's no surprise that they are havens for child abusers.

---

Amendment to original post

Courage Campaign's Executive Director Eddie Kurtz reached out expressing concern that this post contained "false information," and asked me to contact him. I did, and provide the gist of our conversation here. I was asked to explain my perspective and I informed him that it came when I received an email in the spring that seemed to imply that Courage Campaign had endorsed neoliberal corporate education reform profiteer Refugio "Ref" Rodriguez. I remember being shocked since Courage Campaign was good on other issues; so I reached out to some contacts who explained that Jamie Alter-Lynton, one of Los Angeles' most vehement enemies of public education, sat on Courage Campaign's Board of Directors. I checked her biography, and the board membership is a point of pride for the neoliberal operative. For those who don't remember Alter-Lynton and her husband cashed in big on the fact that they had Pearson PLC inside trade information via the disgraced John Deasy. They use their resources as members of the 1% to attack public education on every front.

Kurtz pointed out that Alter-Lynton hadn't been on their board for two years, and that the organization disagrees with her views on education policy. Moreover, he stated that Courage Campaign actively opposes neoliberal corporate education reform. To wit, he sent me an email that went to their entire list opposing Eli Broad's operative Marshall Tuck. The email was on point, here's a passage:

Here at Courage Campaign, we DON'T endorse candidates, but we DO make sure to alert our members if there is someone on the ballot who OPPOSES progressive values. And Marshall Tuck is that candidate.

The quote also makes clear that they do not endorse individual candidates, meaning the email I received didn't come from them. In retrospect it's likely that the Rodriguez campaign implied the endorsement, like the multiple mailers he sent that implied Governor Brown had in endorsed him. Truth seems to be some that Rodriguez is pathologically averse to. My fact checking of Courage Campaign, which stopped at the connection with Alter-Lynton, was insufficient in that it led me to the wrong conclusion. In my defense, I was very busy studying for, and somehow passed, this awful thing. That doesn't excuse the fact that I had Courage Campaign's education stances all wrong. I apologize, and am glad that this issue is cleared up. I'm leaving my original prose in the following paragraph intact so that there's evidence of my error in regards to Courage Campaign. The other entities I attack in that paragraph are more than deserving of what I said about them.

Courage Campaign has typically been quite bad on issues surrounding education. Frequently supporting neoliberal corporate education reforms, and endorsing greedy charter school industry candidates for office, they have betrayed the progressive veneer they claim. Perhaps this rare, principled stand against an education reformer by Courage Campaign is a sign that they are going to adopt a progressive education policy and stop supporting the corporate takeover of our schools. Even if that's not the case, at least they recognize that unscrupulous individuals like Johnson have no place in public office. We still need to get the word out about Antonio R. Villaraigosa's crimes against the poor.

---

SIGN THE PETITION: Demand mayor of Sacramento resign for allegedly sexually abusing a 15 year old

The video is chilling. A teenage girl sits on her hands and speaks to a Phoenix police officer in a gloomy room, describing sexual abuse.(1) The man she describes lying naked with her, fondling her, and asking her to promise not to tell anyone is Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson. This isn’t a new case. Many people in Sacramento had been aware of her words and allegations, but had never seen her face before or heard her voice telling a first hand account of her story. We can’t keep ignoring these serious allegations of child sex abuse. Demand that Mayor Kevin Johnson immediately resign in the face of this horrific video and numerous allegations of other crimes of sexual abuse by him. I worked as a social worker advocating for survivors of rape and domestic violence for years, and I know first hand how hard it is for survivors to speak out about the sexual violence committed against them -- especially when the perpetrator is a powerful man. But, as has been publicly recorded, the girl in this newly surfaced video, Mandi Koba -- who was 16 years old at the time of the interview and 15 during the time of the abuse -- had the courage to come forward and tell her story publicly after 20 years.She says she is a "grown-up now" and tired of "protecting [Mayor Johnson]," despite his attempt to buy her silence with $230,000, as reported by The Sacramento Bee.(2) Mandi -- who is now an advocate for survivors of rape and sexual assault -- first reported the abuse as a teen and has publicly said it was because she feared Johnson was abusing or would abuse other young girls. And she wasn't wrong. Allegations of sexual abuse and harassment have followed Mayor Johnson from Phoenix to Sacramento, where Johnson was accused of assaulting five young female students at his charter school, St. HOPE, as well as groping and making unwanted sexual advances at a colleague.(3) But many believe these cases of abuse and misconduct never impacted his rise to mayor of Sacramento because, like with Mandi, and as has been publicly recorded, he made legal settlements that forced the survivors of his alleged crimes to hush up.(4) Kevin Johnson has never had to confront these allegations. And the survivors of his alleged assaults have been forced to watch him rise to fame and success without publicly responding to the numerous allegations of sexual abuse. Well, enough is enough. SIGN THE PETITION to demand that Kevin Johnson step down as mayor of Sacramento NOW! In the face of these newly surfaced reports of sexual crimes and the media frenzy surrounding them, ESPN recently canceled the debut of a documentary that deified Mayor Johnson for his role is securing Sacramento's NBA franchise, but totally ignored his well-documented history of sexual assault.(5) And just this week, Mayor Johnson announced that he would not be seeking re-election next year. It has never been more clear, in the face of these allegations, Kevin Johnson does not deserve to represent the people of Sacramento. And Sacramento cannot wait until next year for Johnson to step down. He should not be allowed to remain in office one more day! JOIN US and demand Kevin Johnson immediately resign as mayor of Sacramento. Laura, along with Annie, Eddie, Emma, Kelsey, Lindsay, Moonyoung, Paul, Scottie, and Tim (the Courage team) 1. http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2106?t=6&akid=2184.745798.gb5Ui9 2. http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2108?t=8&akid=2184.745798.gb5Ui9 and http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2112?t=10&akid=2184.745798.gb5Ui9 3. http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2112?t=12&akid=2184.745798.gb5Ui9 4. http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2110?t=14&akid=2184.745798.gb5Ui9 5. http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2110?t=16&akid=2184.745798.gb5Ui9 and http://act.couragecampaign.org/go/2118?t=18&akid=2184.745798.gb5Ui9

Like what we do? Chip in to help fund the fight for a more progressive nation. Or find us on Facebook or Twitter.

Rhee and former Union Chief in Memphis to Sell Charters

As I noted in 2011, "after DC voters last year repudiated Fenty and Rhee, one of the first actions by DC teachers was to replace the scheming, ineffectual, and bought union president, George Parker, who had sold out and signed on to the contract crafted by Weingarten and the Broad Team." 

Parker, in fact, became the first Senior Fellow Whore of Students First. 

Rhee (teeth bared at right) and Parker were in Memphis last week trying to browbeat parents into supporting the disintegrating Achievement School District, which is the state office in charge of handing out charter contracts to replace community schools in Memphis. 

From a post at Memphis Schools Matter:

The Commercial Appeal had a story today about another Walton funded group in town to drum up support for Haslam's corporate giveaway, the Achievement School District.  A clip:

 Stand Up for Great Schools, the pro-school choice network that challenges African-American “grass tip” leaders to take charge of their children’s education, held its first “policy summit” in Memphis Thursday. . . .

My reaction posted at the CA:

Grass tips? Really? I would describe these corporate reform has-beens as turf clippings, as in astro. Although seeing Carol Johnson, Michelle Rhee, Kevin Johnson, corporate unionist George Parker, and the over-excitable Roland Martin in the same room proclaiming for the Haslam segregated chain gang school agenda would definitely be worth the price of admission. Sorry I was out of town.

This is an obvious attempt to shore up support within black communities for the ASD's corporate education reform school plan, which has been repeatedly rejected by parents, teachers, and students, who are fed up with corporate education exploitation.

The question must be asked: who is funding these high rollers' trips to Memphis? Is it the same Walton Foundation that has backed previous efforts by Stand Up for Great Schools?

Does Kevin Johnson really believe he can brow beat Memphis citizens so that take his bad advice to create a steering committee and then to report back to Kevin and Michelle? Does Kevin really believe that Memphis children are his children? I would guess that Kevin has fouled out.

Hold Your Booing--Michelle Rhee Has Left the Stadium

One of the employees from Michelle First sent out an email to subscribers that included this observation:

"In the end, Michelle’s critics weren’t demonizing her because they were horrible people."

How true. The real reason is that Michelle is a horrible person!  

A farewell from Salon, with an assessment of Rhee's legacy. 

Behning's Corporate School Money Still Flowing

by Doug Martin

(See the important note at the end of this article.

Patrick Lockhart is running against Behning, and needs your support.  Here is his facebook page.  Spread it wide.  It is time to take this to a truly grassroots level.  Pass this article on to your neighbors, your community members and leaders and to the people in Lockhart’s district, many of them in Indianapolis.  It is time to stop preaching to the choir and to get the word out.  Doug Martin)

No sooner than I posted my article on Bob Behning’s corporate school money at the end of April, more handouts from the extremely wealthy fell into the Republican’s campaign lap.  Here is the latest rundown:

Along with his Red Apple Development real estate charter school group (which gave $2,000 on April 30th), Jeb Bush’s buddy Jon Hage at Charter Schools USA handed Behning  $2,000 that same day, sometime after my blog entry was written.   To Behning, the Indiana Chamber Business Advisory Committee handed over $2,500 , and Mike Pence’s campaign threw $5,000 to the career ALEC politician. 

On May 1^st, corporate school princess Michelle Rhee’s Students First slid Behning’ s campaign $1,000.  In November of last year, Students First handed Behning $1,000 (page 9).

Tony Bennett and Indiana state board of ed. member Dan Elsener’s former boss Christel DeHaan funded Behning $10,000 more on April 30 when I wasn't looking, after giving him $10,000 on April 19^th.

All of this has taken place since my last piece on April 30, tracking Behning corporate school money.

In my first post, I noted the following:

The Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC, founded by an Amway/Besty Devos/Walmart/Overstock.com/hedge fund front group,  gave Behning $45,000.  Hoosiers for Economic Growth slid him $25,000 at the beginning of this April, too (page 4).  Back in 2013, the super PAC handed Behning $2,000 (page 5). This PAC is where Walmart and DeVos' American Federation for Children unloads its money.

Bush family friend Al Hubbard has thrown $5,000 (page to 2) to Behning’s reelection campaign. Hubbard also gave the Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC* $75,000 recently.

Theresa  Rooney, whose father was the father of the Indiana voucher movement, has also tossed Behning $5,000 (page 2). 

David Shane, whose wife Anne was a Lilly and Mind Trust water-carrier, gifted Behning $500 (page 3).  Eli Lilly (known for funding the Mind Trust’s temporary teacher workforce) gave money to Republican Behning in 2013, as well (page 7).

Hedge fund and Bill Gates’ supported Stand for Children (highlighted in Hoosier School Heist) dished out $1,000 to Behning recently (page 4).

Bob Behning likes to call himself a family man, but he is a corporate man, undoubtedly. The "traditional values" he shares are the values the billionaires have shared since the beginning of time, and they do not include YOUR family.

NOTE:

Behning's endorser the Hoosiers for Economic Growth has changed its name to throw people like me off-track.  It is now called the Hoosiers for Quality Education (HQE) PAC.
 

("Like" Hoosier School Heist on facebook, and follow Doug Martin on Twitter)

 

 

The Dirt on Bob Behning’s Reelection Money

by Doug Martin

In my book Hoosier School Heist, I detail the corporate/theocratic billionaires who are out to destroy Indiana public education, and the same people in my book are behind Bob Behning’s reelection campaign. 

In fact, the Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC, founded by an Amway/Besty Devos/Walmart/Overstock.com/hedge fund front group,  just gave Behning $45,000, two days ago.  Hoosiers for Economic Growth slid him $25,000 at the beginning of this month, too (page 4).  Back in 2013, the super PAC handed Behning $2,000 (page 5). This PAC is where Walmart and DeVos' American Federation for Children unloads its money.

Bush family friend Al Hubbard, emails show, was working with DeVos and Jeb Bush operatives even before Bennett knew the game, and Hubbard also has thrown $5,000 (page to 2) to Behning’s reelection campaign. Hubbard also gave the Hoosiers for Economic Growth PAC $75,000 recently.

The resort mega-millionaire Christel DeHaan, notorious for being the Tony Bennett campaign funder Tony Bennett rigged the charter school grade for, gave $10,000 on April 19, 2014.

Theresa  Rooney, whose father was the father of the Indiana voucher movement, has also tossed Behning $5,000 (page 2).  

David Shane, whose wife Anne was a Lilly and Mind Trust water-carrier, gifted Behning $500 (page 3).  Eli Lilly (known for funding the Mind Trust’s temporary teacher workforce) gave money to Republican Behning in 2013, as well (page 7).

Hedge fund and Bill Gates’ supported Stand for Children (highlighted in Hoosier School Heist) dished out $1,000 to Behning recently (page 4).

In November of last year, the Students First PAC, run by fake liberal darling Michelle Rhee, handed Behning $1,000 (page 9).

Red Apple Development, which is Jeb Bush buddy Jon Hage’s real estate branch of Charter Schools USA, has slid Behning at least $2,000.

I am sure I could trace even more corporate school money to Behning, but I am busy, busy, busy, folks, and don’t have much time to dig. Read my book, please, for the rest of the story.

Citizen Jack's analysis of Michelle Rhee's recent mendaciousness

"In an even more disturbing revelation heard on the tape Rhee laughs about when the tape was removed hurting the children and some even started to bleed." — John Kugler

"Jack," a frequent commenter on Professor Ravitch's site, sent me the following analysis in which he compares various sources on Michelle Rhee recent deceitfulness. Jack's commentary takes the original guest post on NYC Educator, combines it with other information from The Frustrated Teacher, and makes several salient points. What struck me the hardest was the reminder of how Rhee's fellow neoliberal corporate reformers found her glib account of her child abuse amusing. I suppose when your entire life has been dedicated to harming young children through high-stakes testing, constant stress, inhumane expectations, and all other forms of cruelty that corporate edreform imposes, bloody lips are really no big no deal in comparison. Aside from her pathological inability to tell the truth in any venue, the fact that Rhee revels in her acts of barbarism really speaks to the theories that she might be a sociopath. Given that the plutocrats paying (read investing) for the neoliberal corporate education reform project are all sociopaths themselves, it makes good sense that they'd hire someone just like them.

---

"NYC Educator" today made a nice grab of an October 2013 interview—in the on-line Financial Times—where Michelle Rhee lies (shocking, I know!) and totally changes the details of the now infamous story where she taped the mouths of her students.

He points out the inconsistencies of her October 2013 version VS. her August 2010 version:

http://nyceducator.com/2014/04/rhees-two-takes-on-her-taping-incident_17.html

Background:

We all know the true details from Ms. Rhee's original (August 2010) telling of the story.

As heard in an audiotape of Ms. Rhee which is still available on-line, Ms. Rhee told all her 35 third-graders (ages 8-9) to remove the tape from their mouths—the tape that she had earlier chosen to put on their mouths as a way to shut them up.

This mass removal led to:

— all 35 kids' lips bleeding;

— all 35 students' lip skin being ripped off, 

and 

— all 35 kids' crying.

This was, of course, back during Ms. Rhee's heroic teaching days. (you know... when her brilliance enabled her students to move from the 13th to the 90th percentile... oh, yeah... I forgot... that was a lie, too.)

However, on the October 2013 interview, she was singing an entirely different tune. (SEE BELOW)

Unfortunately for Ms. Rhee, there remains a problem with her changing her story:

the audio of her original telling of the story remains on-line for all to hear how bogus her later rendition is.

Listen to it HERE: (among other on-line locations)

http://www.thefrustratedteacher.com/2011/01/michelle-rhee-taped-mouths-of-students.html

"NYC Educator" then compares the two versions:

(my summary of the "NYC Educator" article follows)

---

Lie Number 1:  Whose idea was it?

October 2013: Rhee claims that one of her students asked her for the tape to be placed on his mouth, and with that child—and also with the rest of the students who also asked for the tape—she complied... which she now regrets.

"One of the boys asked for a strip of Scotch tape instead and suddenly everyone wanted the same thing.”

August 2010:  Rhee claims that she came up with the idea herself, without any child asking her to do so.

Looking back, Ms. Rhee claims no regrets, but instead, she enthusiastically, proudly, and humorously (?!) reflects on having done so:

"So, I decided, OK, kids, we are going to do something special today.  I lined everybody up and I was like, 

" 'Sshh, gotta be really quiet on our way down to the cafeteria.'

"And then, I took little pieces of masking tape and put them on everybody's lips,

[laughter begins]. 

"And I was like, 'You can't break the seal. Don't move your lips.' "

---

Lie Number 2:  How many kids in Ms. Rhee's class had bleeding lips, and had lip skin getting ripped off? Just one, or all 35?  A little bleeding, or a lot?  Did any lip skin come off when the tape was removed, or no lip skin at all come off?

October 2013: Rhee claims that only one of children's lips bled—"That's all that happened"—with no kids' lip skin coming off.

(underlining is mine)

“And when I removed the strips, one of the boy’s dry lips bled a little. That’s all that happened. Now it’s turned into, ‘Michelle Rhee duct tapes children!’ But the only reason anyone knows the story in the first place is because I told it.”

August 2010:  Rhee claims that every child in her class (all 35 !!!) had lips that were "bleeding," and "skin coming off": (provoking uproarious laughter from the audience)

"And I realized that I had not told the kids to lick their lips beforehand. So, and like the skin is coming off their lips

[big laughs] 

"and they're bleeding.  And so I had a class of 35 kids who are crying... 

[more big laughs] 

"... and other teachers are walking by and are like, 'What are you doing/' "

---

Lie Number 3:  In what context did Rhee tell the mouth-tapingstory? In an interview, or in a speech? Underpressure from journalists, or under no such pressure?

October 2013:  Rhee claims that journalists pressured Ms. Rhee into telling the story, back when she was too eager and willing to answer any all questions posed to her.

Ms. Rhee now claims "I was stupid" for having been so open. Back then, she was not yet "particularly media savvy."

"I think when I took the job in DC, I was not particularly savvy about the media.  People asked me for interviews, I answered the questions and because I was so honest about my thoughts, it gave them the material.  I can’t blame anyone other than myself for that. I was stupid.”

October 2010:  No one pressured Ms. Rhee to tell anything. This story was told in a speech to new Washington D.C.P.S. teachers, a speech over which Ms. Rhee had total editorial control over what she was saying.

Washington Post: "This audio recording is an excerpt of D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee talking to first-year teachers about her early misadventures as an educator. She spoke at the Columbia Heights Education Campus on 16th St. N.W."

---

One more thing to note:

At some point after including the audio of Ms. Rhee's speech on its website, the pro-Rhee Washington Post  later removed the audio of this from its coverage.

Go to the link here:

Rhee talks about her early misadventures in teaching

The audio is now gone, baby, gone.

Thankfully, dozens of others saved it, including "Frustrated Teacher" from the above link.

Michelle Rhee Loves Bob Behning and Other Indiana Right-Wingers

by Doug Martin

Michelle Rhee’s political funding machine has entered Indiana, and the fake Democrat who once spoke at the statehouse with former governor Mitch Daniels and has been involved in one scandal after another is now handing cash to the rightest of the right-wing in Indiana, the latest none other than ALEC member Bob Behning.

In 2013, Rhee’s Students First PAC, registered in California, slid Behning $1,000 (page 9). The PAC is also funding the campaigns of Cisco System’s Todd Huston, Religious Right’s Carl Yoder, and ALEC’s Jim Banks. 

But Rhee's is not the only fake liberal outfit which has tossed money to Indiana Republicans to keep Daniels’ corporate-theocratic school locomotive rolling. 

Stand for Children, which used millions in hedge fund money to throw Illinois teachers and students under the bus in 2011, gave the Republican Behning $1,000 (page 7) last year and $500 in 2012 (page 4).

In fact, Stand for Children has financially supported many Republican lawmakers in Indiana, including Tony Bennett, Carl Yoder, ALEC’s David Frizzell, and Todd Huston. 

Yet to keep his base happy,  let it be known that Behning is still a favorite of the rightwing billionaires from Amway and Walmart.  Beginning its funding to Behning in 2009 (page 8 in pdf), the Amway/Walmart/hedge fund/charter school group Hoosiers for Economic Growth handed Behning $3,000 (page 5 and page 10 in the PDF) to help plant a for-profit charter school on every street corner to  duel it out with voucher schools. 

The other guilty parties giving to Behning in 2013?  Eli Lilly—which owns the Mind Trust with Bill Gates and insures that David Harris can make $200,000 per year —gave him $500 (page 7).

K12 online learning’s lobbying branch K 12 Southpoint II, out of Virginia, tossed Behning $1,000 (page 3) in 2012, with the money it had left from buying our neighboring lawmakers in Illinois in 2010.

But let’s be fair.  Alice Walton got a little bit back, since Behning paid around $1000 to Sam’s Club for parade candy and other campaign things recently (page 14).  

Behning gave back to the religious community, too, donating $500 from his campaign chest to the voucher-sponsored Lutheran High School in Indy (page 14).

 

The Witch of Wall Street May Go to Court

Federal Judge Orders Michelle Rhee Suit to Go Forward, will Broaden to Concealment and Fraud Claims

A US federal judge has denied a Motion to Dismiss by former DC Public School Chancellor Michelle Rhee in a wrongful termination lawsuit over the mass firings of DC Public School teachers back in 2009. Case to be amended to add concealment and fraud claims against Rhee and her CFO Noah Wepman.

       

Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) April 01, 2013

For nearly three years, efforts by hundreds of DC Public School teachers who were victims of the much publicized mass firings by former Chancellor Michelle Rhee- herself hailed as a reformer and darling of major media- have failed to gain any traction in the courts.

However, in what may be a turning of that tide, US District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras has denied Rhee’s motion to dismiss claims by a music teacher that his firing was concocted by using a misapplied or non-existent job title to enable his poor evaluation and subsequent firing.

The suit involves Willie J. Brewer Jr., a 53-year-old teacher who worked for DCPS for 28 years before being terminated in October of 2009 due to “budgetary constraints” under a RIF (Reduction in Force). Under this circumstance, the pecking order of teachers to be terminated as determined by Rhee, were first those with poor performance evaluations. 

However, Brewer claims he was an instrumental music teacher and that his RIF competitive standing was erroneously governed by the standards for a vocal music teacher, a position that required a skill set different from his own. As a result, Brewer claims he scored a poor evaluation and was terminated.

Brewer has set out to prove that his circumstance was not the result of mere error but an illegal systematic effort by Rhee to replace teachers en masse- perhaps supported by Rhee’s own public statements regarding her ideology to aggressively fire, en masse, teachers she deems as failing.

(Read Judge Contreras’ Memorandum and Order for US District Court for the District of Columbia Civil Action No. 11-1206 http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?page=1&xmldoc=In%20FDCO%2020120921E21.xml&docbase=CSLWAR3-2007-CURR&SizeDisp=7)

Along that line, it has been learned that Brewer will now amend his original complaint to broaden the scope of Rhee’s alleged actions into possible civil fraud and concealment claims. This has developed as a result of videotaped testimony by the former DCPS CFO Noah Wepman before the DC City Council on November 30, 2009. In that testimony, Wepman appears to admit that he willfully concealed, with the knowledge of Rhee, the true accounting figures which indicated that the DCPS had no budgetary shortfall at all- the pretext for the RIF to be instituted and the mass firings to take place.

The alleged scheme indicates that after the mass firings occurred, Rhee and Wepman then reported the true accounting figures and the money re-appeared in the DCPS budget enabling them to hire an entire flock of new teachers.

If Brewer prevails, with the case now in its discovery phase, Rhee’s- and now presumably Wepman’s- ideological experiment, which has been widely heralded by an entire nation, may quickly unravel.

Kaya Henderson Implicated in Rhee Cheating Scandal that Will Not Die

From CBS WASHINGTON — An elementary school principal’s claim that she saw teachers erasing answers on students’ test sheets had reached District of Columbia Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s desk within 24 hours of the alleged incident in late 2010, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request.

Henderson was notified about the alleged cheating by two officials with the Washington Teachers’ Union, the emails show. However, school system officials did little to investigate the specific claims and never interviewed the principal about them, largely because possible cheating at the school was already under investigation, school officials said.

The former principal, Adell Cothorne, said the emails show the school system essentially ignored her allegations. . . .