An article about Rhee welcoming the new teachers in DC:

Day One for the District's 400 or so newest public school teachers began in a not-quite-air-conditioned auditorium Wednesday with a welcoming gift from Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee: her pity.

"I know what you are about to go through, and I feel really, really bad for you," Rhee said somewhat tongue in cheek. Her audience was dominated by faces so improbably young they looked as if they should be out buying binders and calculators.

Rhee also struck other more inspirational themes as she began a three-day orientation at the Columbia Heights Education Campus for the corps of new teachers, who are preparing for school to open Aug. 23. She said, as she often does, that there is no more important work than what they've chosen and that their success will depend on their ability to listen to students.

"If you do your jobs well, I guarantee you the children will exceed your expectations," she said.

Whether they fully realize it, the newcomers are walking into one of the most closely watched and politically charged education-reform efforts in the country. In all likelihood, they will be observed, assessed, poked and prodded more intensively than their peers in other urban school systems.

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