Speaker Series: Michelle Rhee on putting Students First
Ed. note: Michelle Rhee, Founder & CEO of StudentsFirst and former Chancellor of the D.C. Public Schools, recently spoke at LinkedIn’s Mountain View campus as part of our inDay Speaker Series. Check out Michelle’s entire presentation here.
For those familiar with the debate over school reform, Michelle Rhee needs no introduction. With a strong sense of purpose, she has become a passionate champion for the transformation of education in this country.
Known for her bold, controversial moves to overhaul D.C. public schools, Michelle has taken her cause nationally as the Founder & CEO of StudentsFirst, an organization dedicated to transforming public education in America.
Michelle spoke about what she’s doing to reform the U.S. public school system - and put students first - during a presentation at LinkedIn’s corporate headquarters in Mountain View. See a brief overview below or click through the entire presentation here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEdzHFG4HRc&fmt=22]
Michelle talked about how, as a nation, the United States’ public education system has fallen behind and how even our best performing students are not competing globally. The top 5 percent of children in the U.S. are ranked 23rd among 29 developed nations across the globe. “We’ve lost our competitive edge and our competitive spirit” Michelle said. “If we continue to build a culture where we’re allowing kids to celebrate mediocrity, we’re going to lose overall as a nation.”
Her solution: to start a movement on behalf of the nation’s children by mobilizing parents, teachers, administrators and others to take action and produce meaningful results on both the local and national level.
Michelle launched StudentsFirst with an audacious goal: to raise $1 billion with 1 million members by the end of this year. Within the first week, the organization had 100,000 members. Through Michelle’s passion, StudentsFirst has tapped into a desire of the American people to get involved in education and do something about the problems they see.
Social media can be a transformational force to engage with large groups of people across the country, she said. It can bring together not only those whose viewpoints vary widely, but also like-minded individuals—such as teachers who support education reform, to let them know they’re not alone.
Michelle’s presentation is a continuation of our LinkedIn Speaker Series, featuring interviews with industry leaders and visionaries—many of whom are transforming the education world - like Charles Best from DonorsChoose.org or Salman Khan of the Khan Academy.
Check out our past Speaker Series videos here.
Stay tuned for more Speakers Series presentations in the months to come. Do you have a request for interesting individuals who you’d like to see included in our Speaker Series? Share your comments below!