When Washington voters declined to give Mayor Adrian Fenty a chance at a second term in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, it rattled the education-reform world. Four years ago, Fenty carried every precinct in the city and was talked about alongside rising Democratic stars like Newark Mayor Cory Booker and a little-known senator from Illinois named Barack Obama. Now, Fenty’s loss to City Council Chairman Vincent Gray leaves in doubt not only the status of Washington’s revolutionary school chancellor, Michelle Rhee, but the national momentum for her brand of ambitious — and aggressive — education reform.

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