Has the Revolution Left Egypt's Workers Behind? (Time.com)

No one in Zagazig wants to talk about what happened last week. The hundreds of railway workers who maintain the old, trash-ridden tracks and trains in this Nile Delta town whisper hurriedly about a strike that briefly disrupted rail traffic across the country of 80 million. But the workers won't give their names or discuss it at length for fear of retribution from the soldiers and security forces that so swiftly put an end to it. And the man they point to as their labor leader says nervously that he knows nothing about a strike.

But maybe it's better that way, say some Egyptians - particularly political leaders and the railway's managers. "We're against stopping business like this, because we're trying to get stability back," says Mansour al-Shitry, an accountant for the state-run railways. "Of course the government can't meet the demands of all the people at once, and we don't want to give the military council more of a burden than they already have." (Lightbox [EM] Egypt In Flux: Photographs by Thomas Dworzak)

That's the rationale echoed by many of Tahrir Square's liberal, intellectual youth, politicians and, indeed, the military leadership. It's an opinion that predominates among the educated classes in the debate over where the line should be drawn between revolution and transition. Protests for political reform are crucial, many argue, because the system of governance will define Egypt's future on all levels. Labor strikes, on the other hand, can and should be postponed: it's not the right time, they say; Egypt's floundering post-revolution economy needs all the work it can get.

But the laboring classes - many members of whom have not received their salaries in months - feel otherwise. Dozens of strikes and sit-ins have stalled business across the public and private sectors in recent months. And to union leaders and labor activists, the core revolutionary demands of the working classes have yet to be acknowledged. Minimum wage has been raised and promises have been made, but most have yet to see concrete change on the ground. And indeed, amid the cracks, crevices, and gaping political and ideological fault lines that have shattered the early unity of the February revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, is a divide that increasingly seems to define other debates as well. It's about class.

"There is total class warfare going on in Egypt right now that I don't even think [the liberal movements] can see," says Joshua Stacher, a political scientist and Egypt expert at Kent State University. "If middle upper class, urban people in Cairo and Alexandria get some of their demands met, they could care less about minimum wage, or the fact that the healthcare system is complete crap," he says of the competing array of post-revolutionary demands. "The dominant discourse that's coming out on TV is that it's not the right time to protest for these things. Like 'You shouldn't have a living wage right now, you're being greedy.'"

Instead, political elites have prioritized political reforms. And one of the most prominent debates to grip Cairo's political scene in recent weeks centers around the question of what needs to come first on the roadmap to a prosperous and democratic Egypt: a new constitution or a new, elected parliament. The debate has largely been split along Islamist versus liberal lines. The latter, fearing an Islamist majority in parliament, wants to ensure that certain rights and laws are guaranteed first. The Islamists argue that only an elected parliament can determine the next constitution, and a national referendum passed overwhelmingly in March specified as much. "Some people are trying to take a detour around the popular decision in the referendum," says Mohamed Ezzat, a local Muslim Brotherhood official in Zagazig. "But the people have chosen a road map for what happens next in this country, and they want that to be respected." (See TIME's Exclusive Photos: Turmoil in Egypt)

For others, however, it's not about religious ideology or road maps at all. "Mostly their demands are political like 'Freedom' and the debate over what comes first - constitution or elections," says labor activist Adel Zakaria of the urban elite, who he describes as middle class. "Workers don't care about that. They have their own problems - mainly they need to eat."

The April 6th Youth Movement, one of the most prominent liberal groups, say it recognizes the deep economic concerns felt by most Egyptians. And last month, in an effort to mobilize Egyptians for a "Second Revolution" protest in Tahrir, the group handed out a flier that promoted economic demands first. "The people just move with us if we talk about economics only," said the group's leader Ahmed Maher at the time. "We know the constitution is more important than the economic demands because we know that the things in the street are organized after that. But the people in the street don't know that."

The disconnect has emerged in the results of popular polls as well. Liberal political leader Mohamed ElBaradei topped a Facebook poll by Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces this week to gauge popular preferences for 18 prospective presidential candidates. To some, it suggests that the majority favors liberal, "Constitution First" politics, of which ElBaradei is an advocate. But in the streets and fields, and on the railway tracks, Egyptians suggest the poll may have more to do with who uses Facebook than with popular opinion.

A less publicized poll released the same week by the International Peace Institute offered a total reversal of rankings, listing former Arab League chief and popular icon Amr Moussa first among the contenders, followed by the country's top military general.

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

Still, while they lack political clout, the lower class masses - at least in the form of striking workers - have been loud. A new $83 billion budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 released by the Egyptian finance ministry on June 22 says as much about reform priorities as it does about who's making noise. The budget pours money into social welfare spending and subsidies, apparently attempts to address working class unhappiness. And on Friday, workers groups that established the country's first independent labor union federation in March are calling for a million man protest to demand that the government crack down on cronyism in job hiring and uphold its promises to establish better worker rights.

In Zagazig, the railway workers say they want overtime compensation and better pay. Some say they make little more than 500 Egyptian Pounds ($84) a month - hardly enough to raise a family on, and still 200 Egyptian Pounds below the new national minimum wage. "We normal people are calling for our rights," explains one train air conditioner technician plainly.

After security forces cleared the tracks last week, railway workers received a promise from the national Railway Committee, the governor, and the local security chief, that their demands would be met. "They've spoken, but we'll see if they'll pay," says one accountant at the Zagazig train station. "To be honest, how will they pay if there is no income? The economy is in a bad state."

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

View this article on Time.com

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Has the Revolution Left Egypt's Workers Behind? (Time.com)

No one in Zagazig wants to talk about what happened last week. The hundreds of railway workers who maintain the old, trash-ridden tracks and trains in this Nile Delta town whisper hurriedly about a strike that briefly disrupted rail traffic across the country of 80 million. But the workers won't give their names or discuss it at length for fear of retribution from the soldiers and security forces that so swiftly put an end to it. And the man they point to as their labor leader says nervously that he knows nothing about a strike.

But maybe it's better that way, say some Egyptians - particularly political leaders and the railway's managers. "We're against stopping business like this, because we're trying to get stability back," says Mansour al-Shitry, an accountant for the state-run railways. "Of course the government can't meet the demands of all the people at once, and we don't want to give the military council more of a burden than they already have." (Lightbox [EM] Egypt In Flux: Photographs by Thomas Dworzak)

That's the rationale echoed by many of Tahrir Square's liberal, intellectual youth, politicians and, indeed, the military leadership. It's an opinion that predominates among the educated classes in the debate over where the line should be drawn between revolution and transition. Protests for political reform are crucial, many argue, because the system of governance will define Egypt's future on all levels. Labor strikes, on the other hand, can and should be postponed: it's not the right time, they say; Egypt's floundering post-revolution economy needs all the work it can get.

But the laboring classes - many members of whom have not received their salaries in months - feel otherwise. Dozens of strikes and sit-ins have stalled business across the public and private sectors in recent months. And to union leaders and labor activists, the core revolutionary demands of the working classes have yet to be acknowledged. Minimum wage has been raised and promises have been made, but most have yet to see concrete change on the ground. And indeed, amid the cracks, crevices, and gaping political and ideological fault lines that have shattered the early unity of the February revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, is a divide that increasingly seems to define other debates as well. It's about class.

"There is total class warfare going on in Egypt right now that I don't even think [the liberal movements] can see," says Joshua Stacher, a political scientist and Egypt expert at Kent State University. "If middle upper class, urban people in Cairo and Alexandria get some of their demands met, they could care less about minimum wage, or the fact that the healthcare system is complete crap," he says of the competing array of post-revolutionary demands. "The dominant discourse that's coming out on TV is that it's not the right time to protest for these things. Like 'You shouldn't have a living wage right now, you're being greedy.'"

Instead, political elites have prioritized political reforms. And one of the most prominent debates to grip Cairo's political scene in recent weeks centers around the question of what needs to come first on the roadmap to a prosperous and democratic Egypt: a new constitution or a new, elected parliament. The debate has largely been split along Islamist versus liberal lines. The latter, fearing an Islamist majority in parliament, wants to ensure that certain rights and laws are guaranteed first. The Islamists argue that only an elected parliament can determine the next constitution, and a national referendum passed overwhelmingly in March specified as much. "Some people are trying to take a detour around the popular decision in the referendum," says Mohamed Ezzat, a local Muslim Brotherhood official in Zagazig. "But the people have chosen a road map for what happens next in this country, and they want that to be respected." (See TIME's Exclusive Photos: Turmoil in Egypt)

For others, however, it's not about religious ideology or road maps at all. "Mostly their demands are political like 'Freedom' and the debate over what comes first - constitution or elections," says labor activist Adel Zakaria of the urban elite, who he describes as middle class. "Workers don't care about that. They have their own problems - mainly they need to eat."

The April 6th Youth Movement, one of the most prominent liberal groups, say it recognizes the deep economic concerns felt by most Egyptians. And last month, in an effort to mobilize Egyptians for a "Second Revolution" protest in Tahrir, the group handed out a flier that promoted economic demands first. "The people just move with us if we talk about economics only," said the group's leader Ahmed Maher at the time. "We know the constitution is more important than the economic demands because we know that the things in the street are organized after that. But the people in the street don't know that."

The disconnect has emerged in the results of popular polls as well. Liberal political leader Mohamed ElBaradei topped a Facebook poll by Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces this week to gauge popular preferences for 18 prospective presidential candidates. To some, it suggests that the majority favors liberal, "Constitution First" politics, of which ElBaradei is an advocate. But in the streets and fields, and on the railway tracks, Egyptians suggest the poll may have more to do with who uses Facebook than with popular opinion.

A less publicized poll released the same week by the International Peace Institute offered a total reversal of rankings, listing former Arab League chief and popular icon Amr Moussa first among the contenders, followed by the country's top military general.

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

Still, while they lack political clout, the lower class masses - at least in the form of striking workers - have been loud. A new $83 billion budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 released by the Egyptian finance ministry on June 22 says as much about reform priorities as it does about who's making noise. The budget pours money into social welfare spending and subsidies, apparently attempts to address working class unhappiness. And on Friday, workers groups that established the country's first independent labor union federation in March are calling for a million man protest to demand that the government crack down on cronyism in job hiring and uphold its promises to establish better worker rights.

In Zagazig, the railway workers say they want overtime compensation and better pay. Some say they make little more than 500 Egyptian Pounds ($84) a month - hardly enough to raise a family on, and still 200 Egyptian Pounds below the new national minimum wage. "We normal people are calling for our rights," explains one train air conditioner technician plainly.

After security forces cleared the tracks last week, railway workers received a promise from the national Railway Committee, the governor, and the local security chief, that their demands would be met. "They've spoken, but we'll see if they'll pay," says one accountant at the Zagazig train station. "To be honest, how will they pay if there is no income? The economy is in a bad state."

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

Yahoo! News

Has the Revolution Left Egypt's Workers Behind? (Time.com)

No one in Zagazig wants to talk about what happened last week. The hundreds of railway workers who maintain the old, trash-ridden tracks and trains in this Nile Delta town whisper hurriedly about a strike that briefly disrupted rail traffic across the country of 80 million. But the workers won't give their names or discuss it at length for fear of retribution from the soldiers and security forces that so swiftly put an end to it. And the man they point to as their labor leader says nervously that he knows nothing about a strike.

But maybe it's better that way, say some Egyptians - particularly political leaders and the railway's managers. "We're against stopping business like this, because we're trying to get stability back," says Mansour al-Shitry, an accountant for the state-run railways. "Of course the government can't meet the demands of all the people at once, and we don't want to give the military council more of a burden than they already have." (Lightbox [EM] Egypt In Flux: Photographs by Thomas Dworzak)

That's the rationale echoed by many of Tahrir Square's liberal, intellectual youth, politicians and, indeed, the military leadership. It's an opinion that predominates among the educated classes in the debate over where the line should be drawn between revolution and transition. Protests for political reform are crucial, many argue, because the system of governance will define Egypt's future on all levels. Labor strikes, on the other hand, can and should be postponed: it's not the right time, they say; Egypt's floundering post-revolution economy needs all the work it can get.

But the laboring classes - many members of whom have not received their salaries in months - feel otherwise. Dozens of strikes and sit-ins have stalled business across the public and private sectors in recent months. And to union leaders and labor activists, the core revolutionary demands of the working classes have yet to be acknowledged. Minimum wage has been raised and promises have been made, but most have yet to see concrete change on the ground. And indeed, amid the cracks, crevices, and gaping political and ideological fault lines that have shattered the early unity of the February revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, is a divide that increasingly seems to define other debates as well. It's about class.

"There is total class warfare going on in Egypt right now that I don't even think [the liberal movements] can see," says Joshua Stacher, a political scientist and Egypt expert at Kent State University. "If middle upper class, urban people in Cairo and Alexandria get some of their demands met, they could care less about minimum wage, or the fact that the healthcare system is complete crap," he says of the competing array of post-revolutionary demands. "The dominant discourse that's coming out on TV is that it's not the right time to protest for these things. Like 'You shouldn't have a living wage right now, you're being greedy.'"

Instead, political elites have prioritized political reforms. And one of the most prominent debates to grip Cairo's political scene in recent weeks centers around the question of what needs to come first on the roadmap to a prosperous and democratic Egypt: a new constitution or a new, elected parliament. The debate has largely been split along Islamist versus liberal lines. The latter, fearing an Islamist majority in parliament, wants to ensure that certain rights and laws are guaranteed first. The Islamists argue that only an elected parliament can determine the next constitution, and a national referendum passed overwhelmingly in March specified as much. "Some people are trying to take a detour around the popular decision in the referendum," says Mohamed Ezzat, a local Muslim Brotherhood official in Zagazig. "But the people have chosen a road map for what happens next in this country, and they want that to be respected." (See TIME's Exclusive Photos: Turmoil in Egypt)

For others, however, it's not about religious ideology or road maps at all. "Mostly their demands are political like 'Freedom' and the debate over what comes first - constitution or elections," says labor activist Adel Zakaria of the urban elite, who he describes as middle class. "Workers don't care about that. They have their own problems - mainly they need to eat."

The April 6th Youth Movement, one of the most prominent liberal groups, say it recognizes the deep economic concerns felt by most Egyptians. And last month, in an effort to mobilize Egyptians for a "Second Revolution" protest in Tahrir, the group handed out a flier that promoted economic demands first. "The people just move with us if we talk about economics only," said the group's leader Ahmed Maher at the time. "We know the constitution is more important than the economic demands because we know that the things in the street are organized after that. But the people in the street don't know that."

The disconnect has emerged in the results of popular polls as well. Liberal political leader Mohamed ElBaradei topped a Facebook poll by Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces this week to gauge popular preferences for 18 prospective presidential candidates. To some, it suggests that the majority favors liberal, "Constitution First" politics, of which ElBaradei is an advocate. But in the streets and fields, and on the railway tracks, Egyptians suggest the poll may have more to do with who uses Facebook than with popular opinion.

A less publicized poll released the same week by the International Peace Institute offered a total reversal of rankings, listing former Arab League chief and popular icon Amr Moussa first among the contenders, followed by the country's top military general.

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

Still, while they lack political clout, the lower class masses - at least in the form of striking workers - have been loud. A new $83 billion budget for fiscal year 2011-2012 released by the Egyptian finance ministry on June 22 says as much about reform priorities as it does about who's making noise. The budget pours money into social welfare spending and subsidies, apparently attempts to address working class unhappiness. And on Friday, workers groups that established the country's first independent labor union federation in March are calling for a million man protest to demand that the government crack down on cronyism in job hiring and uphold its promises to establish better worker rights.

In Zagazig, the railway workers say they want overtime compensation and better pay. Some say they make little more than 500 Egyptian Pounds ($84) a month - hardly enough to raise a family on, and still 200 Egyptian Pounds below the new national minimum wage. "We normal people are calling for our rights," explains one train air conditioner technician plainly.

After security forces cleared the tracks last week, railway workers received a promise from the national Railway Committee, the governor, and the local security chief, that their demands would be met. "They've spoken, but we'll see if they'll pay," says one accountant at the Zagazig train station. "To be honest, how will they pay if there is no income? The economy is in a bad state."

TIME's Complete Coverage: The Middle East in Revolt

View this article on Time.com

Most Popular on Time.com:

Yahoo! News

U.S: Shiite militia likely behind killings

An Iraqi police officer works at a checkpoint in Baghdad, a day after five U.S. soldiers were killed.A Shiite militia is claiming responsibility for the deaths of five soldiers in IraqOfficial: "We have been anticipating that we would see an increase in attacks"U.S. troops in Iraq have increasingly been targeted by roadside bombings and mortar attacksThe U.S. military says it will continue it efforts to find those responsible

(CNN) -- An attack that killed five American soldiers in Iraq is likely the work of a Shiite militia attempting to take credit for driving forces out of the country, the U.S. military said.

The attack was followed by a purported claim of responsibility for the killings by one such group.

The Monday killings were the single largest loss of life among U.S. troops in Iraq since 2009. More on the killings

They come as Iraq debates whether to request American soldiers stay beyond a January 1, 2012, deadline that requires 46,000 forces out of the country.

"We have been anticipating that we would see an increase in attacks as U.S. forces prepare to transition our mission," Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Buchanan, spokesman for U.S. Forces-Iraq, told CNN late Saturday in an e-mail.

"Our assessment is that groups like the Iranian-backed militias: Kataib Hezbollah, Asaib al-Haq, and the Promise Day Brigade, are attempting to claim credit for driving US forces out of Iraq to garner prestige by conducting these attacks."

Congressman reportedly asks Iraq to consider repaying U.S.

In a statement posted on one of its websites, Kataib Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack at Camp Loyalty, on the outskirts of Baghdad that killed five soldiers and wounded at least five others.

CNN cannot independently verify the legitimacy of the claim.

The U.S. military maintains that Kataib Hezbollah and the other Shiite militias are backed by Iran, a charge it has long denied.

U.S. troops have increasingly been targeted by roadside bombings and mortar attacks, largely in Baghdad and southern Iraq -- a Shiite stronghold.

While al Qaeda in Iraq -- predominantly Iraqi Sunni insurgents -- continue to launch strikes, the U.S. military has said that militia attacks against American troops are designed to flex their strength and take credit for an anticipated U.S. withdrawal at the end of the year.

In the e-mail, Buchanan said the U.S. military would continue to take steps to protect its troops in Iraq.

"We will not tire in our efforts to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice," he said.

Under a U.S.-Iraqi security pact, which set a timetable to withdraw American forces, U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by Jan. 1, 2012.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is consulting with members of his government about whether to ask American troops to stay beyond the deadline, though the U.S. military says there has been no official request by al-Maliki to President Barack Obama about any such extension.

Many in Iraq are vehemently opposed to U.S. troops staying beyond the deadline.

Radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has threatened to end a 2007 cease-fire and "escalate armed resistance" of his militia, if U.S. troops remain beyond the deadline.

CNN

Bilderberg: The Uber Powerful Global Elite Meet Behind Closed Doors In St. Moritz (Time.com)

This post is in partnership with Worldcrunch, a new global-news site that translates stories of note in foreign languages into English. The article below was originally published in Le Temps.

(ST. MORITZ) - Dominique Strauss-Kahn will not be stepping out of a limousine this year. That much is sure about this year's Bilderberg conference, which the former IMF chief, awaiting trial for alleged sexual assault of a hotel maid in New York, is said to have attended several times in the past. But little else is known about this secretly organized, unofficial meeting of some 100 powerful figures, slated to take place June 9-12 in a luxury hotel in the Grison station. Indeed, not even the dates of the gathering are confirmed.

The canton is to ensure the tranquility of its guests with the help of the Federal security service. Two of its ministers will take part in some of the discussions. But the canton is not commenting on the measures in place or the cost of the operation. (See pictures from Dominique Strauss-Kahn's legal battle.)

The Bilderberg group is one of the world's most famous clubs, it gathers bankers, politicians, industrialists, media moves and shakers, scholars and billionaires in a different location each year, usually in Europe. All the attendees share one condition of membership: discretion.

Created in 1954 by Prince Bernhard of Holland in order to bring together European and American elites, this annual meeting is named after the hotel of the Dutch village Oosterbeek where it took place for the first time. Henry Kissinger, Helmut Schmidt, Gerhard SchrOder, Daniek Vasella, the heads of Coca-Cola, Shell, Fiat and even the Queen of Holland are among the participants regularly mentioned. What do they do there? What do they want?

Decade after decade, the Bilderberg group has fueled all kinds of speculation. Multiplied on online forums, these hypotheses, sometimes denounced as "conspiracy theories", spread the idea that a powerful minority is carrying out its plan for a new world order. The idea is that important political and economic decisions are being made behind closed doors, with no democratic control. With the Bilderberg conference bringing together important politicians from left and right, some rumors say the group recommends future heads of state. Bill Clinton, Lionel Jospin, and even JosE Manuel Barroso, were invited to join shortly before they came to power.

"The conspiracy theory is absurd," said the former federal counselor Pascal Couchepin, one of the Swiss politicians to have participated in these conferences. "We spend three days trying to better understand the world thanks to meetings that I would describe more as intellectual than political. We are away from any pressure." (See pictures of world leaders on vacation.)

Le Valaisan, invited "four or five times", mainly remembers fascinating discussions about French history, or encounters with people like Olivier Roy, an expert on Islam. Another Swiss politician, Christoph Blocher, is usually skeptical about international collaboration, but shares the same opinion. Invited to a meeting in Athens where he rubbed shoulders with the head of Coca-Cola, the King of Morocco's daughter and the Swedish Secretary of State Carl Bildt, he appreciated "the excellence of the orators and the frankness of the debate". A vestige of the Cold War, the only drawback of the meeting could be that the Chinese and the Russians are still missing.

But the St. Moritz conference does disturb certain representatives of the Swiss political party UDC. In March, the national counselor Dominique Baettig filed an interpellation cosigned by Oskar Freysinger and Yves Nidegger, among others, denouncing "sopra-national and non-transparent governance." The politician justifies his action: "this kind of gathering of powerful people of the globalized world goes against our principles of sovereignty.

See the world's most influential people in the 2011 TIME 100

Criticisms about circumventing democracy are especially sharp this year, in the context of the Arab revolutions. Moreover, the cost for the Swiss taxpayer is kept secret. The Federal Council answered that it was not part of its role "to pass judgment on information policy carried out in relation to private manifestations."

Much more exclusive than Davos

This exclusive version of the Davos World Economic Forum has already been held twice in Switzerland. It is organized by a steering committee of about 20 people, which now includes Josef Ackermann, CEO of Deutsche Bank, and Daniel Vasella, CEO of Novartis. Experts are invited along with the guests. Each participant has a limited speaking time and the debates are graded to guarantee their quality. Another tacit condition is a command of the English language. (See 50 remarkable years of Europe.)

In the past few years, the mystery surrounding the Bilderberg group has faded slightly because of interest from journalists. Despite the confidentiality protecting it, the group publishes its discussion themes and participants after the meeting online at www.bilderbergmeetings.org. But the defenders of the "conspiracy theory" who keep denouncing the "Illuminati" are still active.

"This conspiracy spirit is also due to an official authority crisis. It is no longer confined to the myth of the Jewish conspiracy, but it now touches all population categories", says Bruno Fay, journalist and author of a book on the "plot-cracy" who met the current Bilderberg director, the Belgian Etienne Davignon. Rather than making decisions, the Bilderberg meetings are a way to sound out opinions on current affairs, some say. "And the members are also asked to identify rising personalities in their country." (See TIME's report on the World Economic Forum: Davos 2010.)

Another custom evoked is the invitation of the president of the host country. The communication services of the President of the Confederation say that "Micheline Calmy-Rey will not participate in the Bilderberg meeting which will take place next week in St. Moritz." For their part, the young socialists will be present behind the scenes of the meeting. For several weeks, they have called for a demonstration on June 11, on the main square of St. Moritz, to sign a manifesto in favor of greater democracy. Lukas Horrer, president of the Social Democratic Party's youth organization Grison Jusos explains: "We don't agree with the conspiracy theory. We just want to remind people that democracy has to prevail in the economic world."

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Ex-D.C. schools chief '100%' behind test scores probe

By Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP

Michelle Rhee, then-D.C. public schools chancellor, talks to third-grader Kmone Feeling at J.O. Wilson Elementary School on Aug. 23.

EnlargeCloseBy Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP

Michelle Rhee, then-D.C. public schools chancellor, talks to third-grader Kmone Feeling at J.O. Wilson Elementary School on Aug. 23.

In a taped interview to air this weekend on Bloomberg Radio, Rhee, a national figure in education reform, said she "absolutely" supports the decision to investigate high rates of answer changes on standardized tests during her tenure. "If there were isolated instances of this, those should be dealt with properly and we should actually discount those scores in those classrooms," Rhee said in the interview, according to a press release issued by Bloomberg.

D.C.: Digging deeper into test score irregularitiesREVIEW: Score gains called 'plausible'The USA TODAY investigation, part of a national examination of standardized testing, found that D.C. public schools showed statistically improbable rates of changed answers— from wrong answers to right ones — on student tests from 2008 to 2010, during Rhee's time as schools chief. The high test scores earned Rhee and the school system national recognition, but some teachers and parents interviewed by USA TODAY said the abilities of students didn't always match their high test scores.

On Monday, when USA TODAY published its investigation, Rhee released a statement that USA TODAY's story was "an insult to the dedicated teachers and schoolchildren who worked hard to improve their academic achievement levels."

TESTING: USA TODAY's investigationDOCUMENTS: A look into years of testingAlthough Rhee has given interviews to PBS, The Indianapolis Star and Bloomberg Radio, she has not agreed to be interviewed by USA TODAY, despite more than a dozen requests that included an offer this week to interview her in Columbus, Ohio, where Rhee was meeting with state officials.

Rhee told Bloomberg that "the vast majority of teachers in our system ... would never think to do anything like that. Can I guarantee that every single person held that same high standard? No, I can't." The full interview is scheduled to first air today at 10 p.m.

Acting D.C. schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson called on D.C.'s inspector general Tuesday to review district test scores from 2009, one of the years that USA TODAY examined. That year, district officials brought in an outside firm, Caveon Test Security, to investigate testing issues at eight schools. The company found no evidence of cheating but has said it could have gone deeper with its data analysis.

For more information about reprints & permissions, visit our FAQ's. To report corrections and clarifications, contact Standards Editor Brent Jones. For publication consideration in the newspaper, send comments to letters

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