Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has gotten engaged to Washington, D.C., schools chancellor Michelle Rhee.
Johnson's office confirmed the engagement in an e-mailed statement this morning. Spokesman Joaquin McPeek declined to say when or where the engagement happened. He said no wedding date has been set and the couple is planning a long engagement.
"This is an exciting time in our lives, and I feel truly blessed," Johnson said in a statement. "Michelle is an amazing person, and I could not be happier."
The Washington Post's Reliable Source blog reported Rhee, 39, was seen at a Democrats for Education Reform/DC School Reform Event Now event in downtown Washington on Wednesday with a "pretty sparkly thing on her left hand."
Johnson and Rhee have been seen holding hands at several public events in recent months, but the mayor has refused to discuss their personal relationship.
Rhee, an Ohio native, spent several years teaching in Baltimore. She served on the board of Johnson's St. HOPE Public Schools in 2006 and 2007.
In March, Johnson invited several public figures to Sacramento for a summit on local public education, including Rhee, who also was his date at an Obama inaugural ball in January.
Rhee was once on the cover of Time magazine as a prominent education reformer.
After Johnson's election, Rhee was in Sacramento almost every other week, screening candidates for Johnson's chief of staff.
Rhee worked as a teacher before founding the New Teacher Project, a nationwide nonprofit based in New York that helps schools recruit teachers. She ascended the national stage when, at 37, she was chosen to run Washington D.C.'s troubled school system.
President-elect Barack Obama has called her a "wonderful new superintendent."
Call The Bee's Ryan Lillis, (916) 321-1085.
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