E-Mail from Mayor Williams and Councilmember Ambrose
School Governance Charter Amendment
June 2000

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Accountability * Leadership * Change

A Message From Mayor Tony Williams and Councilmember Sharon Ambrosia:

When we ran for office in 1998 and were elected to represent you, we pledged to work with you to build a better city. Your message was loud and clear: one of our first priorities must be to make our schools work well for all of our children. The June 27th Special Election provides us all with an opportunity to make urgently needed changes in the way our school system is governed. We urge you to vote YES on the School Governance referendum.

A YES vote will create a new Board of Education:

• The roles and responsibilities of the Board and the Superintendent will be more clearly defined -- resulting in policy-making, not politics.
• The total number of Board members will be reduced from eleven to nine -- a reduction in size that will ensure more effective consensus building on the Board.
• Four new school election districts each made up of two neighboring Wards will be created and each school election district will have one representative on the new Board -- this ensures geographic representation.
• The President of the Board will be elected city-wide, effectively giving citizens two elected representatives on the Board -- the President and their own school election district representative.
• Four Board members will be appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Council, enabling us to search out individuals with the expertise necessary to provide leadership for a diverse, changing urban school system.

We have worked hard with members of the Council and with Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton to craft a new approach to school governance that will improve our schools. Everyone agrees that change in our school system is desperately needed. This referendum will move us toward a school system we want and that our children deserve.

Come out to the polls and vote with us on June 27th. Vote YES for accountability NOW!

Sincerely,

Anthony A. Williams
Mayor

Sharon Ambrosia
Councilmember - Ward 6

Paid for by the New School Leadership Committee: Mary Levy, Chair, Bill Lightfoot, Treasurer, 1443 Pennsylvania Ave, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20003, (202) 546-3010