The Peter Jennings Award for Civic Leadership

Michelle Rhee (Baltimore '92), 2007 Honoree
Michelle Rhee taught fourth grade at Harlem Park Community School as a 1992 Baltimore corps member. After completing her two-year commitment, Rhee earned a master's degree in public policy from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government and went on to build The New Teacher Project (TNTP), a national nonprofit that partners with educational entities to increase the number of outstanding individuals who become public school teachers. Under her leadership as CEO and president, TNTP worked with more than 200 school districts in 23 states and recruited, prepared, and/or certified approximately 23,000 new teachers. In the last few years, TNTP has produced two major reports, Missed Opportunities (2003) and Unintended Consequences (2005), which document the detrimental impact of late hiring practices and school staffing rules in urban teachers’ union contracts. The reports triggered policy changes at local, state, and national levels. In 2007, Rhee helped California State Senator Jack Scott successfully pass Senate Bill 1655 empowering low-performing schools to hire the most qualified teachers. Rhee is currently the superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools and is responsible for 50,000 students and 146 schools. Read more about Rhee in One Day.