MICHELLE RHEE PROFILE

At Mile 147, Tom Brokaw met with Michelle Rhee for the second American Character dispatch.

Michelle may hold a government position and correspond with the mayor of the nation's capital on a daily basis, but she isn't your typical government bureaucrat. The Korean-American single mom doesn't consider herself a politician, isn't interested in the media, and dodges the insults (and objects) hurled at her by irate parents with aplomb. Because what matters most to Rhee isn't popularity or taking the easy road – it's helping improve the educational system for the 46,000 students in her district, the kids who have for so long been overlooked and underserved by the politicians and power brokers with whom they share a city.

Raised in Toledo, OH by South Korean parents, Rhee was a high-achieving child, and was encouraged to pursue a career in medicine (her father was a doctor) or law. But upon graduating from Cornell, Rhee instead began a career in education, as a second-grade teacher in one of the lowest-performing schools in Baltimore. It was an eye-opening expereince for Rhee, who says that the experence "has shaped every single day of my life since then." She went on to found the New Teacher Project in 1997, a nonprofit organization devoted to recruiting better teachers for inner-city schools, and it was there that she caight the eye of new Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty, who appointed her as chancellor in 2007.

Rhee attracted attention from the outset with an action plan that included the firing of many district teachers and principals, the closing of two dozen underperforming schools, the proposal of a merit-based pay contract for Washington, D.C. teachers, and "Capital Gains," a cash incentive program that provides cash rewards to middle schoolers with good records of attendance, behavior and performance. Rhee's policies haven't always been popular, but her hard work, determination, refusal to accept the status quo and dedication to overhauling the floundering Washington, D.C. public school system have proven that Rhee is a fearless (and tireless) advocate for students, and a true American Character.