Saturday, November 19, 2016

Trump interviews Michelle Rhee for Education Secretary



PRESIDENT ELECT DONALD TRUMP met with Michelle Rhee Saturday (Oct. 19), for the position of Education Secretary.

Rhee, of Sacramento, Calif., is the second Asian/American to be interviewed by the Trump for a possible position in his administration. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley visited Trump earlier. It was speculated that she was interviewed for the Secretary of State position.

Even though Rhee is a Democrat, her positions on education, particular her advocacy for charter schools, is in line with Trump, who said, “We need to fix our broken education system!,” during the campaign. He also said he would eliminate the Department of Education.

Rhee gained national prominence, appearing on the covers of both Time and Newsweek, as an education reformer, while she was chancellor of schools in Washington, D.C., from 2007-10.

She has been an advocate for charter schools and chairs the board of St. Hope Public Schools, a Sacramento-based charter school organization started by her husband,  Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who played  professional basketball for 12 years with the NBA's Phoenix Suns.


Even though Rhee is a Democrat, she broke with the party to support school-choice vouchers, one of the few education policies Trump has mentioned during his campaign.

Interviewing Rhee may just be a head fake to give the appearance of Trump seeking diversity in his administration. She is not given a great chance to becoming Education Secretary because Rhee supports the Common Core curriculum that Trump has pledged to dismantle.

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