Education reformer Michelle Rhee said struggling schools need to rethink how they operate, including who's at the blackboard -- and whether teacher tenure is a good idea.

"We don't have 20 to 30 years to fix things -- we have today, and that is why we are here," said Rhee, who was in Fresno on Thursday for the third stop on her "California listening tour." The tour is organized by StudentsFirst, a national reform group she founded that aims to improve education in the U.S., and by the California Mayors Education Roundtable.

Nearly 400 Fresnans turned out at Yokomi Elementary School in central Fresno to hear from Rhee, the former schools chancellor in Washington, D.C., and from Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin, who spoke briefly.

Some questioned Swearengin's motives in bringing Rhee to Fresno.

Earlier Thursday, Sabina Gonzalez, a representative for Communities for a New California, questioned whether Swearengin was signaling her intention to take control of Fresno Unified School District, as her predecessor, Alan Autry, attempted to do.

"We're concerned why the mayor invited a lobbyist to be the center of attention at an educational forum," Gonzalez said. "Parents and teachers are more important to this discussion than a lobbyist from Washington, D.C."

Swearengin said her goal at the forum was to support education in Fresno.

"This is every bit as important an issue that we can take up here in Fresno -- and I don't mean that I want to run the schools; it just means that I care about the fact that our schools go in the right direction," she said.

Rhee, who was accompanied by her husband, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, said she was pleased that participants at the event remained civil during discussions, even when they disagreed about topics such as teacher tenure.

"People were talking about the issues and were interacting in a positive and productive way, and that doesn't necessarily always happen," she said.

Others expressed excitement about what the forum could mean to Fresno.

"It would be good to have talks ... to seriously look into the issues parents are bringing up," said Olga Ville, a Fresno Unified teacher.