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Michelle Rhee is the founder and CEO of StudentsFirst, a bipartisan grassroots movement to improve America’s schools.
Michelle is from Toledo, Ohio. She graduated from Cornell University in 1992, and went on to join Teach for America. She subsequently spent three years as a teacher at Harlem Park Elementary in Baltimore, MD. Through trial and error in the classroom, she gained a tremendous respect for the hard work that teachers do every day and realized the incredibly powerful and positive role teachers can have in helping kids grow.
Michelle went on to earn her Master's in Public Policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, after which she launched The New Teacher Project. The nonprofit seeks to bring great teachers to all classrooms in America. As Chief Executive Officer and President, Michelle partnered with school districts, state education agencies, nonprofits and unions to transform the way schools and other organizations recruit, select and train highly-qualified teachers.
In 2007, Washington, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty appointed Michelle to be the city's schools chancellor. Under her leadership, the district and the teachers' union approved a groundbreaking contract that dramatically reformed how D.C. schools operate. Michelle also streamlined the system's central office, freeing up more resources to go to classrooms. Students in D.C. experienced academic success and growth under Michelle's leadership. Graduation rates rose, as did enrollment – something that had not occurred in 40 years.
In December 2010, Michelle launched StudentsFirst, a bipartisan grassroots movement of more than 2 million members nationwide, working to focus our education system on what's best for students. StudentsFirst is helping to bring change with common sense reforms that help make sure all students have great schools and great teachers. Their goal is to ensure educators are valued for the critical role they play in kids' lives, families have high-quality school choices and a real say in their child's education, and tax dollars are spent wisely on what works for kids. Since its inception, StudentsFirst has successfully helped pass more than 110 student-centered policies in 17 states, and the movement continues to grow.
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