Adherents to the New Philanthropy believe that public schools need central direction. They just think they could do a better, smarter, cheaper job of it.
The Charter Management Organization (CMO) exemplifies that strategy - its schools are no more autonomous than those of any traditional district.
In the case of District of Columbia Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, painting her staff as a monolithic class of recalcitrants, and asking for an end to civil service protections so she can be rid of them, simply makes it easier to replace one central office with another more loyal to her regime. Listen here.
