Gov. Chris Christie has reportedly offered the soon-to-be-former head of D.C. Public Schools the job of New Jersey education commissioner, the Associated Press is reporting. But the Star-Ledger of Newark reported that family concerns may prevent Michelle Rhee from taking the job.

Continue reading

Two people familiar with the negotiations told the Star-Ledger that Rhee is still seriously considering the offer.

The job opened up when Christie fired Bret Schundler after a mistake helped cost the state a $400 million federal grant.

Newark school officials said when Rhee was initially approached, she quickly turned down the offer thinking Christie wanted her to run the Newark schools. Rhee has declined to comment on the report.

Since she announced last week that she is leaving her post at the end of this month, Rhee has been on whirlwind television media tour, and launched an Internet media campaign, but has been very nonspecific about her future.

Rhee, who is engaged to Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, is leaving after overseeing a major shake-up of the District school system. She fired hundreds of teachers, shuttered schools, sparred with members of the D.C. Council (including Gray) and the teacher’s union, and left some administrators, instructors and parents feeling bruised, neglected or ignored in her wake. Her decisions, including the termination of the principal of her daughters’ school, were often questioned and her brusque manner occasionally drew the ire of local residents and educators.

Through it all, outgoing Mayor Adrian Fenty stood beside Rhee, calling her a “transformational figure” during a televised debate with Gray earlier this year and touting her aggressive reforms during the primary campaign. He and Rhee scored a major victory when the District was awarded grant funding in the competitive Race to the Top program, and her efforts are featured on the documentary Waiting for "Superman."

“I am going to be taking a little time off and figure out what’s next,” Rhee said, when asked about her future plans. “Definitely be traveling a little bit to Sacramento. But my goal it to continue to be able to serve the children of this nation, I think that one of the things I’ve learned over the last three-and-a-half years is that there is a tremendous amount of work to be done across the nation, lots of communities that want to put these reforms forward and so I look forward to serving America’s children in my next role as well.”

Other notable Rhee supporters: Oprah Winfrey, who called Rhee a “warrior woman,” and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who has said he is a fan of her work.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs recently said that he didn’t think Duncan’s boss, President Barack Obama, had any regrets about not weighing in on the mayoral race. Fenty had unsuccessfully sought an endorsement from Obama, whom he had endorsed during the presidential campaign. Gibbs said the “important work of people like Michelle Rhee and Arne Duncan” has to continue “regardless of the outcome of elections.”

In the aftermath of the Democratic mayoral primary, rumors swirled about Rhee’s possible departure. She didn’t help quash the speculation much when she declared the results of the election “devastating” for District schoolchildren, a comment she later clarified. Rhee emerged from a highly anticipated meeting with Gray looking shaken and glum, but the chairman said no decisions had been made about her future.

“I put my blood, sweat and tears into the children of the District of Columbia for the last three-and-a-half years,” Rhee said during her resignation speech, “and I have completely enjoyed every minute of it.“