Leaders must be willing to take political risks in order to improve schools, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said at an NBC "Education Nation" panel discussion in New York Tuesday.
Fenty's choice of tough reformer Michelle Rhee as chancellor of D.C. schools wound up being a main issue, along with his personality, in his bid for a second term, which he lost.
"The goal of politicians is to get re-elected, and too often that goal surpasses everything else," Fenty said. "If you really want to do education reform right now in this country, you are going to have to take some political hits … otherwise, were just going to see what's happened over the past 30 or 40 years. We know what needs to be done; no one's willing to do it."
Fenty predicted that he and Rhee will remain involved in education reform, and they likely will remain agitators.
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