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Michelle Rhee Says She’s ‘Not Pursuing’ Education Secretary Job Under Trump

By Andrew Ujifusa — November 22, 2016 1 min read
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Former District of Columbia Public Schools chancellor Michelle Rhee has said she isn’t seeking to be President-elect Donald Trump’s education secretary, but said she appreciated the chance to discuss education issues with him.

Rhee met with Trump last Saturday, ramping up speculation that she would be Trump’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Education. Here’s what Rhee said on Twitter Tuesday afternoon:

Her statement about “many colleagues warning” her not to deal with Trump seems to be a response to the argument put forward by Democrats for Education Reform, which recently urged Democrats not to be Trump’s education secretary unless he renounced his statements about race, gender, and religion. Rhee’s Tuesday statement on social media does not address those concerns directly.

In a statement to the press after meeting with Rhee, Trump said they “enjoyed an in-depth discussion about the future of education in our country. This included the possibility of increasing competition through charter and choice schools. They also brought up the idea of merit pay for teachers going above and beyond in their classrooms.”

Trump met with national school choice advocate Betsy DeVos, the chairwoman of the American Federation for Children, on Saturday as well.

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