Michelle Rhee, the Korean-American chancellor of the Washington, D.C. public school system, is engaged to former NBA star and current Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

Rhee gained fame and controversy for her tough-minded reforms of the city's school system, which involved laying off hundreds of teachers in 2008, including the principal of her daughter's school. Johnson was a point guard for the Phoenix Suns from the late 1980s to the late 1990s.

Kevin Johnson (left) and Michelle Rhee

There had been rumors that the two were dating, but they had never been confirmed. At the end of last year the Washington Post asked Rhee if she was dating Johnson, but she declined to comment on her private life. On Saturday, media in the U.S. reported that their engagement was official. The Washington Post confirmed the fact with Rhee at an education reform event earlier in the week, and reported that she was wearing an engagement ring.

The couple has not yet set a date to tie the knot, and is reportedly planning to make it a long-term and long-distance engagement as both will stay in their current jobs on opposite sides of the country. Rhee has two daughters from a previous marriage, and Johnson has never married.