Rhee Leaving After Tumultuous Period In DCPS

Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is stepping down.

The hard-charging Rhee served three contentious years as chancellor. She became a national symbol for education reform, famously appearing on the cover of Time Magazine with a broom.

And under her tenure, test scores rose and she negotiated a tough, ground breaking contract with the teacher's union.

But some of her decisions, such as firing hundreds of teachers and closing more than two dozen schools, made her a divisive figure. She acknowledged in a recent TV interview her polarizing reforms may have cost Mayor Adrian Fenty his re-election bid to Council Chairman Vincent Gray.

Meanwhile, Fenty is expected to name Rhee's second-in-command, Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson, to take over on an interim basis.

Henderson, in an interview on the D.C. government Web site, talked about how she thinks teachers should be evaluated.

"Teachers who are able to actually teach children and there is some measurable...outcomes when they started to when they finish with that teacher, that's the number one piece of being a highly effective teacher," Henderson says.

Rhee says the decision was not made lightly and adds it will be heartbreaking to leave her role.

"I've put my blood, sweat and tears into the children of the District of Columbia for the last three and a half years, and I have completely enjoyed every minute of it," she says.

Rhee is expected to leave at the end of the month.