SACRAMENTO, Calif. –  Speaking to a crowd at the Sacramento Community Center Theater Tuesday night, Michelle Rhee wasted no time talking about meaningful education reform and lamenting what she feels is a loss of the “competitive American spirit.”

The former Chancellor of the Washington, D.C. public school system and current CEO of the nonprofit StudentsFirst spoke for nearly 45 minutes Tuesday about heading up a “dysfunctional school system that was designed to protect jobs at the expense of educating children,” reports the Sacramento Bee.

“I am a strong believer that more moms should run school districts because you have wildly different expectations,” said Rhee, a mother of two.

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Rhee is known for setting high expectations for students, teachers and school administrators.

As chancellor, she led the worst performing school district in the country to double-digit gains in state reading and math scores. She also oversaw a rise in graduation rates and the first increase in student enrollment in over forty years.

“We have to regain the competitive American spirit because, in my opinion, we have gone completely soft,” said Rhee. “We are so busy telling children how great they are that we are not taking the time to make them great.”

Although the U.S. remains among the top dozen countries in terms of education, American students are trailing behind their counterparts in several East Asian and European countries.

Even where U.S. student scores have improved, many other nations have improved much faster, leaving American students far behind many of their peers.

The underwhelming results have raised concerns about America’s future global competitiveness.

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Rhee believes teachers unions and other interests groups have too much influence shaping school policy and often stand in the way of true reform.

Teachers unions often argue that teachers should not be held accountable for student performance, which they say can be affected by factors outside the classroom.

But Rhee said the challenges children bring to the classroom do not serve as an excuse to not provide a quality education, according to the news site.

“We have to make sure every single child is in the classroom of a highly effective teacher every day, because it can change their lives,” said Rhee.

Rhee also called for more money and respect for the most effective teachers.