The defeat of incumbent D.C. mayor Adrian Fenty, one of the most effective school-reform champions seen yet, puts school chancellor Michelle Rhee at risk and illustrates just why reformers need to stop trying to stop playing the same old game and need to start changing the rules.

After gaining control of the District of Columbia Public Schools last summer, Mayor Adrian Fenty’s first act was to appoint Michelle Rhee chancellor of the perennially troubled system. Chancellor Rhee--the dynamic, youthful founder and CEO of the nonprofit New Teacher Project--as regarded as a daring and unconventional choice. During her...

Michelle Rhee's experience in Washington, D.C. proves it's not just about mayors, manners or academic momentum, but that turning troubled urban school systems around requires community cover and local political muscle.

If education philanthropists want to influence policy, then they must open themselves to more public debate about their  plans and goals.

Many of the problems with the D.C. public schools have to do with adults in the system looking out for their own interests before the interests of children.

Normally, we expect to get thanked when giving a few bucks to a good cause. When it comes to K-12 schooling, though, folks giving away millions have been slammed for their trouble.

The District of Columbia's mayor-in-waiting, Vincent Gray, argued during the campaign that he could be a powerful agent of reform, due to his deep neighborhood ties and ability to more effectively bring the community along, and if he was right he could bring to fruition the remarkable work that outgoing mayor Adrian Fenty began.

The September 14 primaries in heavily Democratic New York, Maryland, and the District of Columbia demonstrated the split between two of the core groups of the Democratic Party.