There were a lot of signature moments in Michelle Rhee's three-plus years atop the D.C. public schools. The time she struck that controversial pose on the cover of Time magazine. The time she fired more than 200 teachers on flimsy grounds. The time — no, times — she browbeat the local teachers union.

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Yet one of her less-famous moments sticks with me. It was tucked inside an Atlantic profile by writer Clay Risen. In the piece, Risen was trying to make the point that Rhee does "not suffer fools, gladly or otherwise." Here's how he supported that contention: "When I asked her how she would characterize her ideal relationship with parents, she replied, 'That’s a great question. So often reporters ask me stupid questions. I had one interview yesterday, and I was like, ‘Okay, you are not smart.’"

What a nurturing attitude from the city's top educator — let's just insult the intelligence of people who aren't around to defend themselves. 

If only this fit of official nastiness had been an isolated event. Instead, the rule under Rhee was truculence toward all those perceived as roadblocks to school reform. First on the hit list, of course, was the local branch of the American Federation of Teachers, which Rhee fought for more than two years to ink a new contract. Last week, Washington Post columnist Robert McCartney wrote an excellent piece showing how Rhee-style combativeness isn't a necessary precondition to a labor agreement.

The D.C. Council also withered under Rheeism. In a hearing on Rhee's teacher firings, Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry snapped about how he "resent[s] this attitude we can make change the way we want to — to hell with the council." Leave it to Rhee to turn master rhetorician Barry into solemn truth teller.

The complete list of Rhee-sharp-elbow recipients also includes Post reporter Bill Turque, who worked the D.C. schools beat without getting any comment from the chancellor for a year.

Muddying the picture, of course, is all the good stuff. A partial inventory of Rhee successes, in no particular order:

• Rhee drained the first day of school of all its drama. In a previous epoch, the media geared up for the start of school, ready to pounce on all of the system's administrative screwups. Then Rhee took control, turning the first day into any old day.

• Rhee raised standards, expectations, and test scores.

• Rancor notwithstanding, Rhee did recalibrate the balance of power between unionized teachers and D.C. Public Schools; her successor will thank her.

• Rhee piloted IMPACT, a new method for evaluating teachers. Some say it's unfair and impossible to implement. But who's going to stand up and applaud the old system, whatever it was? Let's call this a start.

• Rhee stopped the skid in enrollment. According to an October report, enrollment in the school system was up 1.6 percent, a welcome turnaround from dips of 3 percent in 2009 and 8 percent in 2008. Five hundred and twenty four of the 743 students were in preschool or pre-K, according to Turque — a data point declaring that young families were throwing in with the Rhee regime.

• Rhee booted strawberry and chocolate milk from school-provided lunches. It takes courage to stand up to the corn industry and whiny, indulgent parents at the same time.

Terrible social skills mixed with stellar achievements: That sound familiar?

There's something fitting about confirmed jerk Mayor Adrian Fenty and lightning rod Michelle Rhee leaving power at the same time. Perhaps I should consult an expert at the International City/County Management Association, but I doubt that a mayor and a top appointee have ever shared leadership traits as closely as Fenty and Rhee.