Rhee's Plan B for Union Busting - Greatness In The Making

In today's Washington Post there is an article titled "Long Battle Expected on Plan to Fire Teachers" about DC schools chancellor Michelle Rhee's "plan B" to get rid of "ineffectual teachers". While I agree that there are ineffectual teachers that need to be moved out of the school system, I do not think that "ineffectual teachers" are the sole cause, nor even the primary cause, of the problems in DCPS. What Ms. Rhee's "plan B" really is to me is a plan to bust the teachers' union and by extension to strike a blow to public employee unions in general. While I have my problems with unions in general, I think a unionized world is far safer for collective security than a non-unionized world. I do not see management as inherently benevolent.
The Post article can be found at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/24/AR2008102403630.html
This is the comment I left:
First, I have two children in DCPS - that doesn't make my comments any better than anyone else's but it does mean that I am not someone who wants to use DC schools as a way to bash Democrats, cities, unions and whatever other agendas get expressed in these comments.
Yes, unions act in ways that can benefit the ineffective and those deserving to be fired. And management does the same thing when it serves managements purpose. The people who think unions are just obstructionist and should be smashed miss the abuses of management. Unions and management could all use some retooling.
Many things need fixing in DC schools. There are also, amazingly based on some of the comments here, some things that work in DCPS, even work well (for those who find that to be too ludicrous to stomach, ever heard of Banneker High School?).
One of my children attends an elementary school that did not make AYP. Rhee fired the principal. My view of the process, including choosing the new principal, was that it was very much orchestrated by Ms. Rhee without any accountability or input from parents beyond a very small elite. In a meeting I had with Ms. Rhee (just me and her), her main message was that the new principal would be great and I could expect greatness. Two plus months into the school year, I do not see greatness nor do I think the new principal is great. I continue to see that the school administration sort of listens to a select group of parents and ignores the rest - all while preaching greatness.
People say that teachers should be accountable and I agree. I also think that administrators should be accountable. The only person Ms. Rhee is accountable to is Mayor Fenty. Someone referred to the Atlantic article about Rhee - in that article Ms. Rhee clearly expresses her view that she is above accountability (going to City Council meetings is a waste of her time). Her anti-union views are also very clear. Her attitude, supported by Fenty, is extremely paternalistic - she knows best and of course she does everything for the best interests of the children, so who are you to question anything? And it will be great.
Time longer than rope. I wish her the best of luck while I have not an ounce of confidence in her abilities or her vision of a temporary non-career teacher corp that is in it for the money.