The DC Voter
League of Women Voters of the District of Columbia
Vol. 79, No. 3, March 2003

Homeland Security Examined
Tues., Mar. 25th 6:30 pm (See below)

Rent Stabilization Forum
Wed.. Mar. 26th 6:45 pm (See below)

Both Held at Sumner School, 1201 17th St., NW
Street parking available. Farragut North Metro

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WELCOME NEW MEMBERS: We welcome new members: Edith Valrie Amerchih, Sharon Baskerville, David Catania, Vanessa Dixon, Brenda L. Emanuel and Finiana S. Joseph.

CONTRIBUTIONS: We gratefully. thank and acknowledge contributions from our members: Nelson Rimensnyder & Lisa M. Nickerson, Kathryn Ray, Anne Meredith Smoke.

CONDOLENCES: We are sad to report Mary Drob, formerly an active member of the International Relations Committee of our DC League, died in Ann Arbor Michigan on February 3. She was 87. While in Washington, she was also active in the Women's National Democratic Club and did volunteer work for libraries. Mary moved from Washington to Ann Arbor in 2000 to be near her family. We also send our condolences to the family and friends of Ingleside resident Helen Wolcott who recently passed away.

Sincere condolences are sent to member Paula McKann on the recent death of her sister and to member Constance P. Tate on the recent death of her brother.

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Along with others, DC Vote is supporting the DC City Council legislation to move the Presidential primary to January 10, 2004, the first in the nation. DC Vote also continues to work with Council members to add temporarily "Taxation without Representation" to our flag. Both actions are to increase awareness throughout the United States in our disenfranchisement.

February 25 D.C. Council members Jack Evans and Adrian Fenty announced that along with the 11 other Council members they will be introducing the "Commuter Tax Act of 2003." One of the 10 core messages which are listed in support of the legislation is that we have this unique prohibition only "Because D.C. has no representation" in Congress.

March 4 Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton will hold a Voting Rights Town Meeting. It will discuss the best strategy for the next two years. Call 225-8050 for time and place.

April 15 DC Vote will sponsor an event at Freedom Plaza to emphasize on Federal Income Tax Day that D.C. citizens pay the second highest in the nation per capital federal personal income tax but do not have a vote in Congress. Circle the date. — Kathy Schmidt (237-5550), DC Vote Liaison

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Unfortunately almost all February Unit Meetings were canceled or postponed due to the snow. We are hoping for Spring-like weather in March to discuss information gathered from the Education portion of the Jan. 25t Health and Education Forum entitled "Leave No Child Behind." Some Units may also discuss "DC's Healthcare Safety Net" which was scheduled for February. We encourage members to look at the meeting schedule below and attend the Unit Meeting most convenient for them.

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The DC League Committee on Affordable Housing will host a forum on Rent Stabilization on Wednesday evening, March 26th 6:45 pm 9:00 pm at Sumner School, 1201 17th Street, NW. One of the questions to be addressed is: "Can changes in the city's rent stabilization program help preserve affordable housing?"

A panel of experts will discuss all sides of rent stabilization. The panelist include: Raenelle Zapata, Rent Administrator, DC Housing Regulation Administration; long time rent control advocate Ken Rothchild, and a member of the Apartment and Office Building Assoc. of Metropolitan Washington. This forum is free and open to the public. Street parking is available after 6:30 pm. The nearest Metro stop is Farragut North. Contact the League office at 3473020 for more information. Sharron Hines, Affordable Housing Committee Chair

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On Tuesday, Feb. 25th Councilmembers Fenty (D-Ward 4) and Evans (D-Ward 2) introduced the "Commuter Tax Act of 2003" at a press conference held at the John A. Wilson Building. The "Commuter Tax Act of 2003" would amend Chapter 18 of Title 47 of the District of Columbia Official Code to impose a tax on salaries and wages earned in the District of Columbia by nonresident individuals. The tax would be distributed in the following format: If the taxable income is not over $10,000, the tax is .5% of the taxable income; over $10,000 but not over $40,000, the tax is 1% of the taxable income; and over $40,000, then the tax is 2% of the taxable income.

Universal principle of taxation is that the primary right to tax income belongs to the jurisdiction that the income is earned. Two-thirds of all income earned in the District of Columbia is earned by non-residents and 57 percent of all real property located in the District (by land area) is made nontaxable by reason of federal ownership. Since the District can tax only one-third of the income earned here, the citizens of the District of Columbia are taxed at higher rates than other jurisdictions. The burden on our citizens' income tax rates in the District range from 6 percent to 9.3 percent while the rates in Virginia are from 2 percent to 5.7 percent. Maryland rates are from 3.2 percent to 7.76 percent. These higher District tax rates are borne by District residents and as a result, many individual taxpayers have left the District, further shrinking its tax base. This bill would not cost the commuter anything because they would receive full credit on their own state's tax returns. Commuters are provided the protection of the District's Police Department, Safety from the Fire Department, and cleanliness from the Department of Public Works. "What is not fair is to get a service and not pay your fair share for it," stated Fenty and Evans. — E. Pat Hallman

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Tuesday, March 25 at 6:30 pm The International Relations Committee will welcome a speaker from Lockheed Martin, Mr. Lee Hein, Program Director, Justice-IPT, at its March 25th meeting. Mr. Hein will discuss his division's work for the new Dept. of Homeland Security, including border control, biometrics (fingerprinting and other physical identifying characteristics), and data input on foreigners entering and leaving the country. Lockheed's Justice-IPT provides communications and information technology connectivity for the Dept. of Justice, including US marshals, the FBI and the Bureau of Prisons.

Please join us at Sumner School (1201 17th St., NW, Farragut North Metro) from 6:30-8 pm for this fascinating topic. A question and answer session will follow. For further information, please contact Susan Rao at 636-1688.

Great Decisions: Nine articulate and well-informed members of the In Town Great Decisions group met on February 12 to discuss Multilateralism vs. Unilateralism. The group will meet again on Wednesday, March 12, to discuss The Uneasy U.S.-

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In a joint press conference on February 10, 2003, DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) and Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA) announced that they are introducing a bill to bring "functional budget autonomy" to the District. The bill would allow the city's budget to become law on time at the start of the fiscal year, regardless of the status of other appropriations. Norton said: "The most significant feature of the bill is the elimination of the requirement that the DC budget be enacted by Congress. Instead, the budget could come to Congress for a layover period of thirty calendar (not legislative) days so long as the District submits its budget by September 1. Thus, our bill would guarantee that the DC budget would always go into effect at the start of the fiscal year on October 1." 

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The issue discussed at this Council Public Hearing is a bill that would reschedule the DC presidential primary, advancing the date from mid-May to mid-January, making the DC primary the first in the nation. The bill was presented by Councilmember Jack Evans. The two persons who conceived the idea, Tim Cooper of Democracy Now and Sean Tenner of DC Fund for Democracy, testified first. Several issues relating to the proposal were discussed. Over 30 people testified in a series of 10 panels throughout the day.

The strongest impetus for this bill is to focus national attention on the lack of voting rights in the District. The example given was of Iowa, which was able to put the issue of ethanol on a national basis by being one of the. first to have a presidential choice, in this case a caucus. Ray Browne, (Shadow U.S. Representative) and Tony Norman, (Ward 1) Democratic Party added that, besides our voting rights, we would also have the opportunity of raising issues relating to urban settings early on in the campaign. Several panelists and Councilmember Evans agreed that the candidates would come for the primary if for no other reason than to prevent someone else from winning.

The process for accomplishing the change is, first, for the Council to pass the bill, which then would go to the Mayor for approval. From the Mayor's office, it would have to go to Congress for approval. The panelist and members who discussed this issue felt that it is a "win-win" situation. If Congress approves, we get an early date. If Congress does not approve, they all see a national outcry against a Congress which will not allow the will of the citizens to prevail in such a basic issue. This outcome too would focus national attention on our lack of full voting rights. Jimmy Bell, an attorney, emphasized that the issue is "about the money".

A potential difficulty is the politics of the issue, which takes several forms. There are two states which pride themselves in being the first in the nation: New Hampshire and Iowa. It seems there has been some contact with New Hampshire, and they have no objection. The Republican Party, however, has as a national bylaw a statement that no primary shall take place before February 3. The Chairman of the Republican Party testified and, when pressed said, "if the date is changed to before February 3, there will be no Republican primary." (She clearly supported an earlier date, just not one before February 3.) However, Councilmember Evans made the point that it is the prerogative of the Council to set the date of the primary.

There is a similar rule in the Democratic bylaws concerning the election of delegates to the national convention. The proposed solution was to elect the delegates after the primary, presumably in the time frame of the bylaws. Nevertheless, the local Democratic Party did not support this bill. Without the support of the parties, it is possible that the DC delegates would not be seated at their conventions.

This provided a dramatic moment. Republican Party Chairman Betsy Warren Werronen, was giving her testimony when Councilmember Carol Schwartz (Republican) entered. She was recognized, and after giving support to Ms. Werronen in general, Ms. Schwartz continued at length that she "enjoys going to the convention as a delegate, but she would gladly sacrifice that position as a small price to pay for the opportunity to bring the issue of voting rights to a broader national understanding." She said in strong terms, as did others, to both parties testifying, "Where have you been?" and indicated that the parties should have been working all this time for voting rights for the District.

LWVDC President E. Patricia Hallman testified on one of the panels. In response to Councilmember Orange's question, "Does the LWV have a position on moving the primary election to be first in the country?" Ms. Hallman stated not at this time and we are consulting with our members, as well as the state Leagues & National LWV to secure a strong commitment from the League. Councilmember Evans referred to a historic example of League activism - before DC had the right to vote even for President, the League sponsored a primary election as an exercise in democracy. He asked if the League would be willing to perform such a service again, if the worst-case scenario prevailed. Ms. Hallman said she would consult and follow up on the matter. The other panelists, representing various voting rights organizations, supported the bill, each emphasizing a different aspect. The two shadow senators were there. The president and founder of Latino Voters Association Hector Rodriguez testified in favor, as did Heidi Kotzlan, a Republican voting rights activist. — Cecile Jones, LWVDC Member

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The following testimony of the League's Education Committee was presented by Gladys Weaver on Feb. 13th to Mayor Anthony Williams' Public Hearing on the Education Budget funding for Fiscal Year (FY) 2004. More than 74 individuals and one or two organizations were grouped into panels of 4 to speak before the hearing that lasted past 11:00 pm.

The proposed budget for FY2004 is $847.9 million, an increase of $107.4 million over two years. Thirty percent of the requested increase is for teacher contract pay increase of 9%. The school building repairs and asbestos abatement is an increase of 23%. Instruction and management improvements) is a 19% increase. Other mandatory increases of $31.1 million include union contracts, automatic step increases, inflation and legal mandates. —

I am Gladys Weaver of the DC League of Women Voters Education Committee. The League is vitally concemed with all aspects of D. C. Community Life. Our Education Committee, a standing Committee, is conversant with the educational concerns and regularly attends meetings and hearings held by the School Board and the D. C. Council Education Committee.

In recent years, our study of the D.C. schools has included curriculum items, teacher professional development, charter schools and vouchers.. In a meeting with the D. C. League of Women Voters, Mary Levy, formerly of the D.C. Schools and presently with Parents United, presented a publication in which she clearly states the need for increase in Principal and Teacher salaries. We heartily endorse this view. Her recommendations, approved in concept by the Mayor and City Council, were not given the requested funds; but rather, the funds were downsized for these items.

The LWV Education Committee is disturbed that annual salaries for beginning teachers lags $9, $9,000/year and those of experienced teachers lag $13,000-14,000 per year behind teachers' salaries in nearby suburban districts. We believe that teacher and principal salaries should receive top priority in any school budget. If downsizing becomes necessary in budget preparation, deductions should not come from teachers' salaries nor staff development.

The legislation in the National movement, "Leave No Child Behind," requires every school district to develop. a plan for the professional development of its teachers and the upgrading of the curriculum.

Presently, D.C. Schools are unable to fully comply with this requirement due to lack of appropriated funds. The plan will include D.C.-developed standards for all subjects. Mathematics and reading standards must be

None of this can occur without the FUNDING necessary to develop the plan. The Committee strongly recommends immediate release of funds for the implementation of the D. C. professional development plan.

An analysis of budget recommendations and per student spending figures are other areas that need immediate attention. It is the recommendation of the Committee that budget items related to education be given full consideration. Thank you.

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Rider on DC Appropriations Bill: Gladys Weaver noted that the DC appropriations bill has been passed, this year with a rider providing for school vouchers for D.C. students, in spite of the fact that local D.C. government officials oppose vouchers:

Brown Bag Dialogues: Anna Marsh said that although attendance at the dialogue on genome research was light, the participants were excited by the quality of the discussion. — Frances Gemmill

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Former LWVDC President Joy Simonson, now President of the Clearinghouse on Women's Issues, invites League members to attend the March 25 meeting of the Clearinghouse when the discussion will focus on Women in the United Nations. The speakers will be Dawn Calabia, Deputy Director, UN Information Centre, and Leila Milani, Co-Chair of the CEDAW working group (see National Program). The meeting will be held from noon to 1:30 pm at One Dupont Circle, 8th Floor; no reservations required. Bring brown bag if you choose. ID is required to enter the building.

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CALENDAR: MARCH 2003

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REPORT OF THE HEALTH & EDUCATION FORUM HELD JAN. 25, 2003
Paul Vance Learning Annex, The Logan School

PART I - HEALTH
10 am - 12 noon: D.C. Healthcare Safety Net

A panel of three: D.C. Councilmember David A. Catania, Sharon Baskerville, Executive Director of D.C. Primary Care Association, and Brenda Emanuel, Deputy Director of the Health Care Safety Net Administration, presented information about the status of healthcare in D.C. Vanessa Dixon served as moderator, and she followed the presentation of each panelist by summarizing it. Those who attended (approximately 50 people) learned that 200,000 D.C. residents are uninsured, that emergency room problems are nationwide, and that the District is not using federal Medicaid support to its full extent because no integrated system now exists.

Ms. Brenda L. Emanuel presented a summary and First Year Overview of the Health Care Safety Net Administration (HCSNA), defining goals and identifying progress toward the goals, reflected in a booklet with statistical graphs and pie charts showing data. The purpose of the HCSNA is to "provide the oversight needed to ensure that DC's uninsured residents are provided full access to healthcare that is of high quality and is cost effective, through the DC Healthcare Alliance." As the first year ended, its coverage had expanded to include 37,614 people. Its goals are to improve the health outcomes of District residents, to decrease inappropriate use of ER and inpatient care, to increase primary and preventive care, and increase the use of the "medical home" model (that is, the concept that each patient should have a medical home through which continuity of care can be provided). Next week a financial report of the 18 months during which the program has existed will be released.

The Alliance was formed after D.C. General Hospital was closed, as a public/private healthcare provider for for those uninsured citizens who earn less than 200% of the poverty level. Services are delivered through an array of clinics in various parts of the city. There are six network hospitals, 44 clinics, and some 820 primary care providers and specialists. The Alliance pharmacy program began in July 2001, and the DC Department of Health was granted a contract with the Department of Defense that enables purchase of pharmaceuticals for all Alliance patients at reduced rates. There has been a steady increase in pharmacy service utilization. Previously, 60% of ER users were there for non-emergency care, for example, because they had run out of medication. As the utilization of the pharmacy service increases, the use of ERs should decline.

Sharon Baskerville of DC Primary Care Association (PCA) agreed that DC coverage for the uninsured is very good. She said that almost all children eligible because their families earn less than 200% of the federal poverty level are enrolled in the program. She played a major role in founding the nonprofit clinic consortium overseen by the PCA. She said the District is not using federal Medicaid support to its full potential, because no integrated system now exists, and she noted that Medicaid is 1/4 of the city's budget. Nursing homes and hospitals account for the largest part of medical expenses, and we have the highest use of ER in the country. As to the question of CareFirst (its proposed sale to a for-profit company, WeIIPoint, from California), Sharon thought this sale would increase the number of uninsured in DC by 11,000. She believes it is tragic NOT to have a public health care system. People are dying for lack of primary care.

Councilmember. David Catania believes DC General was worth saving, because it covered everyone. He suggests that DC should sever its contract with Greater Southeast Hospital and develop a Community Healthcare system. He mentioned the overloading of ERs in other hospitals, often leading to blackouts in emergency service, as a result of the closing of DC General. A hospital is needed in that part of the city. Importantly, we need a national system.

Now he will look for an amendment to give the Council the authority to override a decision by the Insurance Commissioner that would agree to the sale. He believes WelIPoint, like Greater Southeast, is unreliable. Catania is concerned about pharmaceutical costs. He would propose a purchasing agent, a not-for-profit pharmacy benefit manager (PBM), similar to the Canadian system, which produces a 70% saving in the cost of pharmaceuticals. These savings could be used to fund a purchase plan for seniors, and Catania would open up the PBM so that employers and others could benefit. In addition, Catania emphasized the following points:

In response to the question how many of the 37,624 people enrolled in the Alliance are duplicates, Ms. Emanuel said that this list is unduplicated - it has been screened to eliminate duplication.

Q.Where do the homeless fit in?
A. The Alliance has no sliding scale, that is, there is no charge for services. The Unity Clinics offer sliding scale fees.

Q.Where does the data re emergency room blackouts come from?
A.The data comes from the Fire & Emergency Service. Unless there is a bed at the ER available for the patient, the ambulance can't go back in service - the patient must stay on the FEMS bed.

PART II - EDUCATION
1 - 3 pm: "No Child Left Behind" legislation

Constance Tate of the D.C. League opened the afternoon session of the forum, stating that the book produced by Marian Wright Edelman and the Children's Defense Fund, "The State of Children" provided background for the Act. Raul Gonzalez of the National Council of La Raza, a civil rights organization, and James Ruff, a consultant to the D.C. Public Schools, gave presentations describing the legislation and the potential impact of its provisions.

Mr. Gonzalez, a former teacher in Brooklyn , said many think tanks were involved in developing the NCLB Act. Some think tanks want more state flexibility, while others want to emphasize closing achievement gaps; as a compromise, the Act provides for a process called "devolution" - each state will come up with its own plan.

In many ways, he said the NCLB Act of 2001 is not too different from the 1994 legislation, when the movement toward lots of testing was initiated. With regard to the usual warning that a test should not be used as the sole measure of student achievement or school system accountability, he said "yeah, don't use guns to shoot people." Thus, people need to keep an eye on accountability as schools work toward the requirement that all sub-groups must make academic progress and the Act provides specifically for the role of the community, for example with fundamental questions for parents to ask. Measuring the academic performance of English language learners (ELL) accurately may be particularly difficult. The Act provides that ELL students must be tested, to the extent practicable, in the language and form most likely to yield accurate results, and that they must be tested each year for English-language acquisition.

Presentation by James Ruff of the D.C. Public Schools

How public and public charter schools are complying, anticipate complying, or are having difficulties with provisions of the legislation:

Now you might ask what does the fact that we are operating under a Continuing Resolution have to do with the No Child Left Behind Act, Public Charter Schools, compliance, the federal program plan, accountability, assessment activities, or achievement gaps?

The short answer is that the grants are included in the DCPS budget that is approved by Congress. This means that the new parts of the No Child Left Behind Act cannot be spent until the grants are re-appropriated by Congress and signed by the President. This means that not one single dollar of new money that was given to the 50 States, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico under the NCLB is available for use as I stand before you today. The District of Columbia Public Schools is forced to implement NCLB without the resources that are available to every State. DCPS and the States received their 2003 grant awards in July of 2002. Almost every State had immediate access to all of the grant funds that were provided. DCPS was forced to spend out its 2002 grant money until September 30, 2002. And you know a funny thing happened to that money on September 30---IT DISAPPEARED. And it didn't reappear until late December after the city finished its fiscal year closeout.

We've learned to bend to this pressure and to do what is necessary to keep the school system running as smoothly as possible; but it is doubly difficult to act like a State Education Agency when the most precious tool of all is eaten up doing patchwork and playing catch up. That most precious tool is of course TIME. DCPS starts last when it doesn't have the required grant money to do the basic implementation steps required by Federal law and funded in the other states.

Now let me bring you up to date on some of the NCLB-related strands of activity that we have been working since last January when the President signed NCLB into law.

DCPS called together representatives of the Charter schools and DCPS SEA and SEA to complete the application. I call it an application, not a plan, because it was a content-free roadmap or schedule of the things that DC needed to do for the ensuing five years to bring the NCLB requirements to life in the District of Columbia. After securing the consent of the Mayor with the assistance of the State Education Office in the Executive branch, we submitted the application on time and received approval in early July. Our grant awards came shortly thereafter.

First, we don't have the money to do it yet. Refer to my first comment. There is grant money to improve our accountability system that we can't access.

Meanwhile, DCPS has designed the complete new Report Card at the SEA level, which will include each school on a new APDS system (Automated Pupil Data System). The design has been sent to the Superintendent for review and it has been cleared for submission to the Board of Education for approval. (Joel Klein Chancellor of the New York City public schools threw out the report card for NYC because it was too complicated. A new one was designed and is entering use.) Ours is complicated and may need simplifying. The goal is to have it approved so that we can try it out this year after the money is approved.

This is one of the biggest challenges educators face across the country and if there is one good thing about the NCLB act, it is that it will finally penalize schools for ignoring the issue of achievement gaps.