Kant
Dear Philosophers:
Columbia University philosopher Sidney Morgenbesser, the subject of
many anecdotes about his quick wit, died last weekend. How is this
relevant to themail? Here’s a story in one of Morganbesser’s
obituaries, published in the New York Sun: “Once a
policeman approached Morgenbesser and told him there was no smoking on
the subway. Morgenbesser responded that he was leaving the subway and
hadn’t lit up yet. When the cop said, ‘If I let you do it, I’d
have to let everyone do it,’ Morgenbesser replied, ‘Who do you think
you are — Kant?’ The cop mistook this German philosopher for a
vulgar epithet, and Morgenbesser had to explain it all down at police
station.”
Few, if any, have agreed with me on the Payday eating incident. I
think Meredith Manning, below, has put a finger on what this reaction is
really about. Many Washingtonians are so tired of no-enforcement
policies that we’re ready to embrace the pendulum’s swing to the
opposite extreme. Many of us are ready for the authorities to clamp down
and keep the rest of us in our places, to make us stay in line, keep our
mouths shut, and not talk back, to make us obedient. We’re ready for
the arbitrariness and authoritarianism of zero tolerance policies. The
danger is that we’ll get what we’re asking for, and more. Read the
Slate and Common Denominator articles that are linked to in Ben
Slade’s message below. They give an early glimpse of the future
Washington that we seem to be asking for.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
An interesting article about DC’s “getting a taste of life in a
police state”: “Washington Lockdown,” http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/08/07/police_state.
“The extreme perimeter around the symbols of power in the nation's
capital demonstrates the impossibility of barricading and
random-searching our way to national security.”
[See also The Common Denominator’s article about the
detention of its editor and a reporter and the seizure of a camera from
the reporter, http://www.thecommondenominator.com/080604_update1.html.
— Gary Imhoff]
###############
Where Is 14th and F, NE?
Sharon Cochran, secochran@aoldotcom
Last week, Congresswoman Norton dissed my neighborhood. She was
quoted in the Washington Post as saying, “I have to tell you
that I am not afraid of the terrorists. . . . But I am afraid to go into
the neighborhood where Myesha was shot.” Myesha Lowe was shot eleven
blocks from Norton’s home.
The death of Myesha is a very, very horrible thing and I’m tired of
ignorant politicians using the death of DC children to further their own
agendas of getting their name and pictures in the morning paper during
their election year.
I can think of two reasons for Norton’s statements: she really does
not know DC neighborhoods, or she does not know or understand that
Myesha Lowe could have been killed in front of Norton’s own home.
Neither reason bodes well for a leader that is suppose to represent DC
residents. At a minimum, I think that DC politicians should at least
walk around a neighborhood before making such stupid remarks. For those
folks, that are interested in knowing more about my neighborhood, check
out http://www.6a.org, http://www.hstreetdc.com,
or http://www.thecornerforum.org.
You can also join the neighborhood E-mail list at anc-6a@yahoogroups.com.
###############
Smarter than the Average Superintendent
Rob Gill, rob@mosaic-mountain.com
In response to “School Superintendent Search” from the last issue
[themail, August 4], I am a product of and parent of a student in the
DCPS. There are many well qualified people in the DCPS system and many
more who have left the DCPS system for one reason or another. I continue
to ask myself how can someone who has never lived in DC, attended a DC
school, or even worked in the DC schools effectively run it? A school
system is not like the Wal-Mart chain, with the same merchandise in
every city. It does not make dollars or sense to keep hiring people from
outside of the system who continue to come in here and reinvent the
wheel. A little policy consistency would nice.
But you have to think about this: maybe, just maybe, the officials of
the DCPS are smart enough not to apply, knowing the trash and politics
that they will have to endure. Why advance in to a position in a system
which is set up to fail? Just watch the DCPS hearings on DC Cable and
you will see for yourself. One last question: when did the system become
more about dollars, cents, and testing; and not about the health,
education, and welfare of the children of the nation's capital? Put that
in your pic-a-nic basket, BooBoo.
###############
A Particularly Galling Aspect of the MLB’s
Meeting
Ed Delaney, profeddel@yahoo.com
[From Denise Barnes, “Literacy Effort Challenges City,” The
Washington Times, August 6, 2004, http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20040805-104638-4391r.htm]:
“DC officials and literacy advocates yesterday kicked off a program to
improve the low adult literacy rate in the District, where one in three
residents reads at or below a third-grade level. . . . DC Mayor Anthony
A. Williams could not attend because he was dealing with homeland
security, said Neil Albert, the city's deputy mayor for children, youth,
families and elders.”
Rather, he should have been dealing with homeland security or should
have been present at this literacy initiative, but instead was again
batting eyelashes at Major League Baseball officials behind closed
doors, adding to the already staggering amount of time and dollars city
officials have tossed after these fickle barons of private business --
time and dollars that could've been better spent elsewhere as it
would've been yesterday.
###############
Another One Bites the Dust
Larry Seftor, larry underscore seftor .the757 at
zoemail.net
If one looks at Washington, DC, one would think that the movie
industry is in its death throes. Since I have lived here the following
movie theaters that I frequented have closed: the Biograph, the
Cerberus, the Fine Arts, the Inner Circle, the Jennifer, the Key, the
MacArthur, the Paris, the Studio, the Tenley, and the West End. To this
sad list we can now add the Outer Circle. Fourteen screens at the
Georgetown cannot compensate for the loss of these movie houses, each
with its own character, that dotted the city.
###############
I woke up this morning to read the Washington Post story about
the Metrorail operator who abandoned her train at the Van Ness station
Monday night, leaving the door to the conductor’s compartment wide
open. The passenger-filled train sat there for twelve minutes until the
control center finally noticed it. (Memo to metro head Richard White:
put a loud buzzer in the control room to alert them when the computer
shows a train not moving for twelve minutes.) According to the article,
the station manager had not been authorized to enter the cab or make
announcements over the train’s public address system, following Metro’s
long-standing rule of not communicating with passengers in situations
like this (such as when trains are stuck in tunnels, apparently on
fire). Taking my chances, I took the bus to the Dupont Circle station,
where the air conditioning still doesn’t seem to work. Metro probably
purchased the air conditioners from the same company that supplied the
malfunctioning escalators. I arrived at L’Enfant Plaza, where an
inaudible announcement was being made, in the typical garbled Charlie
Brown school teacher voice. Returning home that evening, I found the
platform at Gallery Place unusually crowded, so I figured something was
up. The LED sign said there was a ten minute delay between Glenmont and
Silver Spring. Now if the delay was only between those two stations —
and I’m sure the sign was accurate — then why on earth was the
platform so crowded at Gallery Place? Then an announcement came on,
telling us they were single tracking and that we needed to cross over to
the other side of the platform. As we passed through Metro Center, we
saw the disabled train. (Or perhaps it had simply been abandoned by the
driver?) At Dupont, the passengers behind me realized that they weren’t
headed to Brookland after all, so they exited. Of course, if the
conductor had bothered to announce to the boarding passengers that the
train was headed to Grosvenor, they might not have gotten on in the
first place. Exiting myself at Woodley Park, a woman’s voice announced
the various Red Line stations that were having delays. Again, mind you,
only certain stations on the Red Line were experiencing delays — the
rest were running on time. I didn’t quite hear her, so I looked at the
LED sign for the information. It was pitch black.
###############
Smoking on the Metro
John Vaught LaBeaume, Dupont Circle, jvlab@yahoo.com
All this brouhaha over “eating in the Metro” has brought up the
sorry subject of those riders who light a cigarette the moment they hit
the escalator. The smoke blows back down into the hole, of course, and
if you are unlucky enough to find yourself riding up one of Metro's
marathon escalators (such as the Dupont Circle station's Q Street exit)
and stuck behind a smoker, you might well choke for your whole trip.
This seems to be more offensive, physically, to other riders than a
“nibble” here or there. If this isn't behavior proscribed by Metro,
let's lobby for it.
###############
Don’t Eat, Drink, or Smoke
David Sobelsohn, dsobelso -at- capaccess -dot- org
In the August 4 issue of themail, Gary Imhoff argues that Metrorail
“prohibits eating because that makes its job of cleaning the system
easier. The rule is for WMATA's convenience.” Gary, since Metrorail no
longer provides platform trash cans, can you share with us your estimate
of how much lifting the ban on eating and drinking would cause our fares
to increase to pay for sufficient staff to clean up after everyone who,
without access to a handy trash can, would leave food or food containers
on the benches or floors or in the cars? What would really happen if
WMATA lifted its ban on eating and drinking? I note that Gary didn't
even address my point about smoking on Metrorail escalators, which
function like wind tunnels. If the escalators are just
"transitional" for eating, how about smoking? And how about
Metrorail elevators — aren't they just as “transitional”? It
should make no difference if someone is starting to eat or finishing up,
or seems to "intend" to continue: I wouldn't want Metrorail
staff to have to discern, from twenty feet away, a passenger's
“intent,” or whether a passenger is starting a snack or finishing.
Simple rules based on easily observable conduct make for more consistent
enforcement.
###############
Gary Imhoff said [themail, August 4]: “A woman who finishes the
last bite of her candy bar on the escalator clearly does not intend to
eat inside the station or on the train” and “it prohibits eating
because that makes its job of cleaning the system easier” and
“people have to be able to transport leftovers from restaurant meals,
food from carryouts, and groceries from markets.”
First, while escalators are indeed transitional zones, it's still
worth preventing candy bar crumbs, coffee, ice cream cones, etc., from
falling on the steps and into the machinery. The escalators are fragile
enough — and apparently not even impervious to being rained on — so
why allow more risky substances than rainwater to threaten them? Second,
dismissing no-eating rules because they “merely” make cleaning
easier seems to also dismiss costs associated with cleaning. Metro
finances are shaky enough, why should riders be allowed to increase
Metro's cleaning expenses for their own selfish reasons? And I'd
certainly rather not sit or step on the residue of others' meals if
Metro hasn't increased its cleaning budget to match peoples' appetites.
Third, dragging restaurant leftovers and groceries into this episode
is a misleading distraction. The woman was eating on an escalator, not
carrying a closed leftovers package or a bag of groceries. We're
discussing an activity that does risk escalator damage and does risk
littering Metro and should be prohibited.
###############
Eating on the Metro Is Gross
Firoze Rao, firoze.rao@lmco.com
This undermined the arguments for public transportation. We have
rules and these rules are designed to make and keep the Metro system
friendly, clean, and inviting to all users. Bending or changing the
rules to accommodate one group or another sends a message that our
system is for sale. I for one would not want to ride on a dirty, smelly
system (think NY). If that were the case I would rather drive and give
up the Metro system to the chow hounds, until their restaurant on wheels
grinds to a permanent halt for lack of funds.
Metro gets precious little funding anyway; we can choose to spend
that money on cleaners to pick up the trash left behind, more police to
enforce the laws and mediate between arguments of who spilled their
drink on whom; or we can use our money to buy more Metro cars and expand
the system to give DC residents more opportunity in accepting jobs
further a field and accessibility issues.
To me, the Metro rail system has always been much more than
transportation, it is tool for making jobs out in the 'burrs available
to city dwellers and vice-versa. Lets be honest, not many CEOs ride the
Metro, it is the working class that this system belongs to. To even
contemplate a change in rule on eating is to punish the large silent
law-abiding majority in favor of a few vocal, even sensational cases (a
single chip or Payday) who hold themselves above the law. Our Metro
system should not be for sale for the price of a candy bar.
###############
Once We’re Out of High School
Larry Seftor, larry underscore seftor .the757 at
zoemail.net
Perhaps it is because I spent time in the Air Force. Perhaps it is a
reflection of the time and place where I grew up. Or perhaps it is
because I have to make a living in corporate America. But whatever the
case, Gary and I live a different reality. I understand that an
authority figure, whether it is a senior officer in the military, a
police officer, or a superior at work, represents not just themselves,
but the organization. Our institutions, and the fact that these
institutions deputize people to act for them, are an element of our
society. Understanding that, and showing respect to people for the
position they hold rather than who they are, is a measure of maturity.
So no, I don’t believe that “ … once we’re out of high school,
we’re allowed to talk back to people who are being officious to us.”
[Gary Imhoff, themail, August 4] Those who show insufficient respect in
their careers do not get ahead. And those who show insufficient respect
for police officers get arrested.
###############
I don't think the Metro officer acted disproportionately to arrest
the person eating the Payday. The escalators are part of Metro property
and people should obey the rules that thus far have helped us maintain a
clean Metro system. My out-of-town friends are often impressed with the
cleanliness and orderliness of the Metro system. And people who think
that they are above following the same rules that the rest of us have to
abide by really make me mad. Since I don't like to confront people I
usually don't say anything to eating violators but on the few occasions
that I have requested that someone refrain from eating, the person just
ignored me with the same blitheness with which they ignore the rule. I
say bring on more enforcement so we can all enjoy a clean Metro system.
###############
I see in an August 4 press release from Metro that that are spending
2 percent of a $49 million grant to install bomb proof trash cans at all
Metro stations near the fare gates, http://www.wmata.com/about/MET_NEWS/pressroom/archived_releases/pr_safety.cfm.
If only they would spend a little more on this and put trash cans
back on the platforms instead of adding yet more K-9 dog patrols. It
might alleviate a lot of the snack issues (i.e. arresting people for
eating a candy bar) if there was a place to discard trash.
###############
Regarding Metro's ban on food an drink, I think that the real problem
is not food or Metro, but instead lies within Metro's riders. The
citizens of DC are generally pigs, this can be demonstrated by a cursory
examination of any neighborhood outside of hopelessly uptight
Georgetown. From Chevy Chase to DuPont to Petworth to SouthEast, DC is a
mess; Washingtonians are just too lazy to pick up after themselves.
Broken beer bottles, chicken bones, wrappers, it all abounds on our
streets. In many neighborhoods people still do not put bagged trash into
trash cans — given it would help if the city would actually deliver
trash cans after promising to do so — and some even go so far as to
carry their trash to public trash cans daily. If it weren't for the rats
and roaches hauling off much of the trash after dark, we would be buried
in it!
Metro's riders from Virginia and Maryland aren't much better when in
the city. Bureaucrats brimming with self-importance hold themselves
above decency and scatter garbage to the wind, business people are too
busy running off to meetings with clients and lawyers to stop and use
trash receptacles. And I won't even get started on the tourists; well,
actually, I will. The tourists downtown and on the Mall are actually
pretty good about stopping to sit, eat, and toss the trash in a rubbish
bin, and they know that they won't be coming back to see the trash the
next day!
It's no wonder that Metro refuses to allow food; perhaps if
Washingtonians would try a little harder to pick up after themselves
like civilized people Metro would treat us as such. Anyone looking for a
better example needs to take a trip to Paris or New York. Those cities
may be dingy, but their citizens know how to use a trash can, and also
have the privilege of eating on public transports.
###############
First, the escalators into a station serve a single purpose: to bring
people to and from the station/trains. There's no reason to assume that
a person who insists on finishing her candy bar on the escalator won't
drop the wrapper in the station, or dig into her purse for another
Payday once she's on the train. Second, transporting unopened food on
Metro is allowed. I know because I have asked, before taking a
"doggy bag" into the station at Dupont Circle. Third, WMATA
isn't a person who can be inconvenienced, it's a service-providing
system. Anything that frees up the time, attention, effort and operating
expenses needed to keep the system safe and secure contributes to the
riders' comfort. Fourth, perhaps if we returned to a social norm of
politeness and respect — not just for authority, but for ourselves and
each other — we wouldn't have to worry about so many people carrying
weapons. Talking back isn't illegal, but it is a gateway to attitudes
and activities that often are. At least that's what I learned once I was
out of high school.
###############
Eating a candy bar in the Metro system is not a “bodily
function.” Although I do think it is excessive to handcuff someone and
arrest them in the subway for eating a candy bar, this is not the entire
issue. Her “in your face” attitude and immaturity created the
problem. Perhaps I am in the minority here when I say that the
“Payday” woman was asking for it. Everyone knows that you are not to
eat in the subway. According to what I read, she was blatantly gnawing
on a candy bar on the down escalator when a transit officer on the up
escalator warned her to finish before she got in the system. Most
reasonable people would have stopped right there and put the candy away.
But the woman wasn't reasonable. She had to finish her snack,
dramatically tossing the wrapper away in the trash can in front of other
passengers and the station's manager's kiosk, and haughtily entered the
system still showily chomping on the last of her candy. Then she
continued to show her negative attitude and hostility by refusing to
acknowledge the transit officer who called her on her bad attitude. I am
only amazed that in this town of “the rules don't apply to me” this
doesn't happen more often. If passengers like that have their way, the
rest of us would be more miserable than we already are with a Metro
commute. The officer did what she had to do in an unfortunate situation
where a passenger was immature and intentionally belligerent and
contrary and refused to have a touch of class. When the woman refused to
cooperate, she escalated the situation. She brought it on herself. She
was uncooperative and hostile from the very start. She was wrong and she
knew she was wrong. 'Nuff said.
###############
Proportionality and Metro Enforcement
Meredith Manning, meredithmanning@verizon.ne
I'm fascinated by the exchange about the “Payday” incident and
Metro's vigorous enforcement of the no-eating rule in this case. I'm
surprised by the support for a “no tolerance” policy with respect to
eating on Metro. I won't weigh in on that incident but wonder whether
the response to Gary Imhoff’s comments indicates that D.C. residents
are fed up with the lack of enforcement of many other important rules,
particularly health and safety regulations.
Indeed, we live in a city that has no enforcement of what I consider
to be extremely important safety rules and regulations — those that
govern traffic and the safety of our roads. Every day I witness what can
only be described as complete lawlessness on the roads — speeding,
running red lights, turning right from the left lane, turning left from
the right lane, cabbies and bus drivers letting passengers out in the
middle of the street, valet "parking" from the traffic lanes,
etc. These behaviors are both endemic and extremely dangerous. A few
weeks ago, I saw a cab let a tourist out in the middle of 15th Street
next to the Treasury building. The poor guy almost got hit by an SUV
with Virginia tags flying down the lane to the right of the cab. Of
course, a traffic back-up formed almost immediately behind the cab,
slowing traffic on a major artery during rush hour. Result: a traffic
jam, a speeding SUV, and a tourist within seconds of a major injury.
There had to be three legal violations in play, probably more. The MPD
response? Absolutely nothing. Why? There is no traffic enforcement
division within MPD. They don't enforce traffic rules unless there is an
accident with injuries. When an accident occurs, the “major crash”
unit is called in to investigate and issue a ticket to the offender. But
no officers are dedicated to routine enforcement. None. I raised this
issue with Jim Graham a few weeks ago. He acknowledged that traffic
enforcement is virtually nonexistent and that there was no traffic
enforcement division. I asked him what would have to change in order to
get some service in this area and he stated that MPD would have to alter
its enforcement priorities.
Given that many of themail’s readers seem solidly supportive of
strict "food" enforcement on Metro, I wonder whether people
would be interested in seeing MPD change its enforcement priorities with
respect to traffic rules. I, for one, would wholeheartedly welcome a
“zero tolerance” policy on moving and parking violations (and on
cyclists on sidewalks, jaywalkers, etc.). Others?
###############
Not surprisingly, DC's “failing” schools or schools with stagnant
standardized test scores have been a lead story over the last week at
the Washington Post. Two reports outlined the initial
announcement of “failing” schools and questioned whether or not
money was available to pay for the tutoring that was due to the students
in those schools. For those owning stock in the Washington Post Company,
this was good news both locally and nationally. But for those outside of
the Post's corporate lair, doubts linger as to whether or not
this will be a continuation of bad public policy.
In 2002, Michael Sherer at The Columbia Journalism Review
reported (http://www.cjr.org/archives.asp?url=/02/5/scherer.asp)
that the Washington Post Company had paid lobbyists $80,000 to monitor
the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation in 2001. Sherer overlooked
the fact that the Post Company has journalists at not only its namesake
newspaper the Washington Post, but at Newsweek and many
other media outlets who could "monitor" and report on the
legislation. But Sherer was getting at a point regarding the
journalistic integrity of the Post Company and its media outfit because
of a certain conflict of interest. The Washington Post Company is not
only a family newspaper but is a company with a very profitable
non-media subsidiary called Kaplan Educational Services.
The Washington Post Company's 2003 Annual Report (http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/62/62487/reports/AR_2003.pdf)
breaks Kaplan down into two divisions: Supplemental Education and Higher
Education. The more profitable of the two is Supplemental Education,
which has a long history as a test prep provider. Sherer infers that the
Post lobbied Congress to get legislation into NCLB that would
further the profits of Kaplan and therefore the Post Company and its
shareholders. Sherer goes on to state " Overall, the newspaper’s
editorials have supported [NCLB's] interests, calling for higher school
standards, the use of vouchers, and further exploration of online
education."
The Post Company's Kaplan is one of nineteen approved NCLB
supplemental service providers on the District of Columbia Public
Schools' list from which parents have been able to choose. By 2003,
Kaplan had already received at least one $90,000 contract for services
from DCPS or $10,000 more than the Post Company reportedly paid a firm
to lobby Congress on NCLB in 2001. Post articles this week
pointed out that the number of eligible students could burden the cash
strapped school system. This line of questioning certainly plays into
the corporate interests of the Post Company. But no mention of the
relationship between the corporation paid reporter on the beat and the
extent to which that same corporation stands to profit from the money is
mentioned. The Post puts the number of eligible students at roughly
33,000. The statutory spending cap for DCPS on these services was $1,960
per student in FY2003. The Post reports that DCPS is paying $1,570 per
student. The articles calculate that expenditures could be in the
millions of dollars.
Outside of the District of Columbia, Kaplan is equally perched to
take advantage of the situation. In January 2003, Buffalo Business First
ran a story on the 13,000 plus students in the Buffalo school district
who were eligible to receive tutoring: At least one segment of the
education market has no qualms with NCLB. For profit-oriented teaching
businesses, the legislation could be a treasure chest. “The
accountability provisions in general are a huge opportunity for
us," says Seppy Basili, vice president of Kaplan K-12 Learning
Services. Now, with the NCLB provision that repeatedly failing schools
offer supplemental educational services to low-income students, the
for-profit learning centers have a new line of taxpayer-funded
clients.” (http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2003/01/13/focus3.html?page=1)
Due to NCLB mandates on supplemental services, estimates on the
amount of potential taxpayer-funded revenue that companies like Kaplan
could draw are in the billion of dollars. The net effect of these public
dollars made available for Kaplan and other service providers is that
the money is not available for other purposes. Money that has been
traditionally set aside for particular educational programming will be
reprogrammed for tutoring. Michael Casserly of the Council for Great
City Schools wrote in the March 2004 EducationNext: "The
vast majority of districts required to provide supplemental services are
using only Title I funds to pay for these services and for choice
programs. So far, most of the expense has been covered by the sizable
increases in federal Title I funds districts have received over the past
two years. For instance, Denver is setting aside $2.5 million for choice
and another $1.7 million for supplemental services, or about 18.8
percent of its Title I allocation, but the total has absorbed the lion’s
share of the district’s $5.5 million increase in Title I revenues in
the first year of NCLB — leaving about $1.3 million or about $29.15
per student for overall program improvement. " (http://www.educationnext.org/20043/32.html)
Perhaps more troubling than profit motives and inadequacy of
resources is that the effectiveness of the tutoring both in DC and
nationally has drawn questions. The Council of Great City Schools report
Restoring Excellence to the District of Columbia Public Schools in
January 2004 stated, “There is a very weak link between the district’s
regular-day instructional program and its after school and supplemental
service providers, including those who are providing Title I services
under NCLB.” (http://www.cgcs.org/pdfs/DCPSReportFinal.pdf)
On April 14, 2004, Sam Dillon reported in The New York Times
that NCLB tutoring services in Chicago were off to a shaky start. “I
just don't think they're prepared to deal with challenging inner city
children,” Mrs. McHenry said of the company, talking past the
supervisor to a visitor. “I think they expected to find children who'd
just sit down and wait for them to expound. These kids aren't like that.
They need challenging instruction.” The report continued,
"Classroom discipline is a challenge. It is not easy to get
students to attend the after-school sessions, which usually cost
taxpayers $40 to $80 an hour per student, in settings that range from
one-on-one instruction to large classes. And with most companies paying
instructors $18 to $25 per hour, and some as little as $12 per hour, far
below what most public school teachers earn, even getting the tutors to
class is a problem. Turnover is often high." The article did not
cover Kaplan's supplemental service provider contracts in Illinois but
two of its competitors, The Princeton Review and Ed Solutions. (http://oldweb.uwp.edu/academic/criminal.justice/educbk01.htm)
Across the continent from DC and Buffalo, the Portland School
District in Oregon uses Kaplan as a service provider. The Kaplan website
provides a one district performance analysis for test takers in their
Portland programs. (http://www.kaptest.com/pdf_files/EIM-Portland%20PS-%20OR.pdf)
The report uses the word “success” but individual student rankings
are not given. Rather improvement is gauged in a pre-NCLB standard in
disaggregated school averages. Whittaker students improved on average
11%. Roosevelt students improved on average 20%. Marshall students
improved on average 23%. But no range of scoring is given or whether or
not some students actually lost ground in these programs. Ironic, since
the name of the legislation forcing these services and the standard by
which school districts are being held is called No Child Left Behind.
Even though the impact of the supplemental service providers is being
felt nationwide, doubts exist as to who will actually gain from the new
policy. Because of socio-economic variables in education, certain
districts are getting harder hit by the implications of the NCLB
mandates. Researchers Gail Sunderman and Jimmy Kim at Harvard
University's Civil Rights Project published Increasing Bureaucracy or
Increasing Opportunities in February 2004. The study looked at the civil
rights implications of the supplemental service provider policy that was
not based on scientific research of any kind: “Apart from
implementation issues, it is unclear whether supplemental services will
improve the education of low-income and minority students. There are no
models of this program in existence prior to NCLB and no research on how
it might work. Furthermore, these services are likely to impose
additional burdens on districts unless there is a corresponding increase
in the resources needed to implement them. Supplemental services may
weaken the organizational capacity of Title I schools to deliver a
coherent instructional program by diverting resources away from schools
and limiting the flexibility of school professionals. By emphasizing
accountability for individual student achievement, this provision risks
leaving behind large numbers of students unable to access the additional
services. From a civil rights perspective, since this remedy for low
performance is untested, it is important to understand the potential
consequences for minority and low-income students.” (http://www.civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/esea/increasing_bureaucracy.pdf)
The report goes on to recommend, among other things, that the
mandatory conditions of the legislation be removed until research is
done to prove the effectiveness of the supplemental services.
Outside of scientific research, there is a belief that the market
nature of the service provider provisions will increase opportunity in
the arena of public education. The underlying intent of the NCLB in
relation to its supplemental service provider mandates is well described
in The Invisible Hand of Leaving No Child Behind by Siobhan
Gorman. The January 2004 web publication of the American Enterprise
Institute says “In this Darwin-meets-public-education school reform,
performance will (hopefully) matter a lot, too. That detail is not lost
on most large providers. "The playing field has grown tremendously.
Those that will rise to the top will be those who are getting
results,” said Huntington’s [another national service provider]
Miller. “They’re going to gauge the results by their test scores’
going up. That’s going to be the bottom line: Did the scores improve,
and if they did, which provider did the student work with? That’s the
ideal, anyway.” (http://www.aei.org/docLib/20040120_Gorman.pdf)
And that is the wager that Kaplan and the Board of the Washington
Post Company are making. Short of knowing whether test scores or student
academics will improve, the Post Company's Kaplan is poised to make
millions nationwide on NCLB supplemental service provider regulations in
the next few years. CEO Donald Graham in the Post Company's Annual
Report for 2003 said, “In a few years we expect Kaplan to be our most
profitable business.” The operating income of the supplemental
services division of Kaplan rose 62% last year. In dollar for dollar
operating income, Kaplan's Supplemental Education outpaced Kaplan's
Higher Education division. Kaplan as a whole is at the breach in which
it will earn more in total revenues than the Washington Post
paper itself especially as NCLB measures take effect. Graham's
prediction may come true even sooner.
###############
Those who have bird-dogged the effort to force-feed us VLTs (a.k.a.
“slots”) — especially Dorothy Brizill and Ron Drake - are to be
commended. But, we should all recognize that -- as with almost anything
electoral in this town — the root problem is, well, more deeply rooted
than what is happening just with this one initiative. What is called for
is root (sorry for the redux of the redux) and branch reform of the
electoral process in the District. (And, no: I mean things we need to
shape up even before we get Congressional representation, or even full
local self-government.)
I mean, we shouldn't be all that surprised that some fly-by-night
hustlers who couldn't even secure a gambling license in, of all places,
Las Vegas, thought they could get away with their carney operation here:
recruiting people from homeless shelters and outpatient facilities
(which shocked me because I didn't know Marble-Man Williams had left any
of these in operation. . .) and using bait-and-switch tactics such as
telling older citizens they were signing a petition to lower
prescription drug prices, all to pull the election day wool over our
eyes and — in the words of the Nevada Gaming Commissioner — turn DC
into “Mafia Bank, Incorporated.”
They tried to pull this off for the obvious reason: they thought they
could get away with it. And they thought that because our electoral
mechanics have been steadily deteriorating since the laudable reforms of
the Emmet Primeaux era began to age and wither in the shadows of
advancing technology and the more recent need for all of us to learn
lessons from Al Gore's electoral lynching in Florida in 2000. What we
really need in this town is an old-fashioned turn-of-the-(20th)-century
good government reform effort.
First, the petitioning process needs to "localized" and
simplified. Only District citizens should be allowed to canvas for
petitions to place items or candidates on the District ballot. No more
of this business of citizens “officially observing” the canvassing
or signing off on some guy from Portland or Tampa or St. Croix lying to
single mothers about VLT/slots money going to the public schools or
lying to my mother about gambling revenue cutting her Medicaid bill in
half. Now, limiting petitioning to DC residents doesn't ensure honesty:
people who live in Petworth can lie to someone from Southeast or
Palisades about a ballot initiative or candidate, perhaps more
convincingly so, just as someone from Portland can. The point here is
that there would — and should — be some local accountability to what
people are being told when they're asked to do something that we should
all understand and value more than we apparently do: ask our fellow
citizens to vote an issue or a candidate up or down in November. And the
Board of Elections should be prepared to fully enforce the penalties for
violating the law, in general, or the terms of canvassing for voters'
signatures, in particular. Let's hope they throw the book at those who
shammed, scammed and shamed us all during the VLT/slots hustle.
And, while we're at it, let's require a certain number of petition
signatories from each of the City's eight wards. (Something I believe we
once required but no longer do.) People like Marble Man should like
that, since a legitimate recall drive would then require a probably
unworkably large number of signatures from the wards that constitute his
die-hard base. (No need, I suspect, to cite those particular ward's
here.)
Second, we need to end the minor league-major league process some
candidates use to get into elective office in this Town. Sitting
candidates must resign from one office before formally declaring their
candidacy for another. A member of the Board of Education, for example,
would have to resign from the board before running for city council or
for mayor. And they would have to do so far enough in advance as to
permit others time to run for the office being vacated. Let's say
180-210 days before the next election. That way, someone could run for
an office not normally up for reelection in the next electoral cycle,
which in turn would keep the mayor or Council chair building in
incumbency advantages to unelected individuals that would otherwise be
appointed to serve out the unexpired term. (Also, this would cut down on
the need for and cost of special out-of-cycle elections to fill vacated
offices.)
We have few enough elective offices as it is. It should be
intolerable to us, as people constantly agitating for both a fully
constituted Congressional delegation and complete, unqualified local
rule, that some individuals regard, say, the Board of Education or a
single-member Councilmanic district as a way to position oneself to run
for, say, city council chair or mayor, much the way someone playing for
the Bowie Baysox dreams of one day leading off for the Orioles at Camden
Yards. Harold Brazil's electoral vagabonding, from Ward 6 councilman to
at-large, just to be in the so-called mayor's election cycle while still
holding a Council seat, is only the most recent and brazen example of
this “minor leaguing” of some electoral offices in the District. The
rule here ought to be sugar-simple: get serious about the office you're
already elected to, or get out of it. Now.
Third, either go to runoff elections or institute instant run-off
ballots. Personally I favor the instant run-off ballot (IRB), since it
obviates second elections with their attendant costs and logistical
hassles. IRBs had their fifteen minutes of fame after the mess in
Florida in 2000, although they are more commonly used for legislative,
not executive, electoral positions, both here and elsewhere in the
world. They are sometimes called preference ballots and a common
variation on them is called cumulative (or allocated) balloting.
Whatever it is called, it is long overdue in this Town. And before the
reflexive put-offs start, I should note that had we had IRBs (or
preferential ballots or plain old second-round run-off elections or
whatever) before now, at least two mayoral (1978 and 1990) and several
councilmanic elections would almost certainly have turned out
differently than they did. In fact, for all you ABMers out there, it
almost certainly would have shortened or even foregone the entire
mayoral run of Mr. Barry, since he almost certainly would have lost a
run-off election in 1978, had there been one.
And, incidentally, IRBs go a long way toward creating far, far more
of the electoral competitiveness in this Town, within if not between
political parties, that we're constantly told we need to have before
being taken seriously to receive the same national legislative
representation that almost 1,000 US soldiers have died, supposedly, to
bestow on our opposite numbers in Baghdad.
Although it has been pretty decisively put to bed, I will also head
off the complexity argument at the pass here and now. Post-election
survey after survey has shown that: 1) IRBs are viewed by all classes,
races and both genders of voters as no more complex than other kinds of
ballots; 2) once the broadened electoral options they afford become
clear(er), IRBs tend to produce higher voter turnout since voters can
see that their vote isn't wasted on either a candidate who will win
anyway or, what is more common, a candidate who the voter agrees with
but who has little chance of actually winning an election; and 3) IRBs
have a very strong co-relation with higher voter turnout among
African-American and, especially, Latino voters since — again —
those voters don't feel their vote will be wasted on either a sure-thing
who doesn't need their support or an appealing, but electorally hopeless
overmatched, candidate. Since DC still has, for the moment anyway, a
“majority minority” electorate, perhaps the issue here will be
whether IRB would encourage (ever) greater voter turnout among and by
whites. But the more significant long-term value may be the attraction
it creates to participate in the electoral process as more Latinos
either get old enough to vote or otherwise qualify for the franchise.
And since Latinos are far less co-related with one political party or
the other than are either African-Americans or whites in this Town, we
(again) increase the institutional competitiveness of the electoral
process here. (An excellent reference on IRB and other forms of more
inclusive balloting processes is Fair and Effective Representation?,
by Mark E. Rush and Richard L. Engstrom, Rowman & Littlefield.)
Fourth, go to proportional representation for at-large Council seats.
Now, before you scream (again) let's remember that the so-called home
rule charter, in effect, mandates a backdoor kind of proportional
representation now since the Democrats cannot run two at-large
candidates for both seats in the same electoral cycle. That was a dog
biscuit thrown to win the support of then-kingmaker Republican
Congressman Anchor Nelsen (Minnesota) for the 1973 charter. The
assumption back then was that the non-Democratic seats on the Council
would, by the workings of this restriction in the charter, be almost
guaranteed to Republicans, an assumption ruined by the popularity of the
late Julius Hobson and the longevity of Hilda Mason, both from the
(original) Statehood Party. So. Let's recognize and — to anglicize a
common Spanish term for this — regularize the proportional
representation. It might be better if we have three, rather than two,
at-large seats up for grabs in each cycle, but a thirteen-member Council
is unwieldy and awkward enough as it is. Perhaps all four at-large
candidates could run in the same cycle, with the seats apportioned to
parties rather than individuals based on the proportion of the vote each
party got. I admit this idea needs work. But, hey: at least I finally
talked myself out of an all at-large Council elected by proportional
representation. So I am making some progress, right?
Anyway. I have some more ideas and may soon announce a formal
organizational effort to get at least the most important of these
reforms on the table, if not the ballot. Well? What do you all think?
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS AND CLASSES
Ronald McDonald at DC Public Library
Debra Truhart, debra.truhart@dc.gov
Ronald McDonald will visit children participating in the DC Public
Library’s Summer Quest: Readers Rule during the month of August. He
will read to children in a fun, educational program. Ronald McDonald is
the world’s most recognized children’s ambassador! He has welcomed
visitors to over 359 McDonald’s restaurants in the District of
Columbia and has made special appearances at many local schools,
libraries and community events. Ages 4 – 9. Public contact: 645-4297.
Thursday, August 12, 10:30 a.m., Francis A. Gregory Neighborhood
Library, 3660 Alabama Avenue, SE
Thursday, August 12, 1:30 p.m., Anacostia Neighborhood Library, 1800
Good Hope Road, SE
Wednesday, August 18, 10:30 a.m., Washington Highlands Neighborhood
Library, 115 Atlantic Street, SW
Wednesday, August 18, 1:30 p.m., Lamond-Riggs Neighborhood Library,
5401 South Dakota Avenue, NE
Thursday, August 19, 10:30 a.m., West End Neighborhood Library, 1101
24th Street, NW
Thursday, August 19, 1:30 p.m., Northeast Neighborhood Library, 330
7th Street, NE
Friday, August 20, 10:30 a.m., Georgetown Neighborhood Library, 3260 R
Street, NW
Friday, August 20, 1:30 p.m., Martin Luther, King, Jr., Memorial
Library, 901 G Street, NW, Children’s Room
###############
Capitol Hill Arts Workshop
Jonathan Darr, jonathan@chaw.org
Fall class schedules are out for the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, and
themail readers should mention DCWatch for a 10 percent discount. The
Arts Workshop is a nonprofit community arts center offering acting,
Pilates, yoga, watercolor, sculpture in clay, ceramics, hip-hop, piano,
quilting, life drawing, voice, and many other classes — all just a
two-minute walk from Eastern Market (Orange and Blue lines).
If you have any questions, feel free to visit http://www.chaw.org
or E-mail general@chaw.org.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Bright, Roomy House to Share
Courtney Knauth, Coknauth@aol.com
Two bedrooms available September 1 with own bath and full use of
house. Includes family room, garage with storage space, fireplace, and
plenty of privacy. On quiet street with excellent parking. Ideal for
grad student (or two), mature employed person (or two), or employed
single parent with child (Lafayette school district). Rent, utilities,
depend on whether two or three of us share the house. Call 694-5383
days, 966-0129 evenings.
###############
Single furnished room available in a house located in a quiet, nice
neighborhood close to American University, Georgetown University, and
George Washington’s Mount Vernon campus. MacArthur Boulevard and
Reservoir Road. All utilities included, laundry, kitchen, central heat
and air, garden, cable, own phone line, high-speed Internet, parking.
Spacious, close to bus, fifteen minutes from Dupont Circle.
Pay my month or longer. Truly nice, very clean. Two dogs on premise.
Rent $740, negotiable in exchange for some help. Serious inquiries only,
please. Contact Erica, 333-0262, nasherica@starpower.net.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Moving/Relocation Assistance Sought
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com
I'm trying to find a local service, with which one of you may have
had experience, that helps people deal with all the hassles of moving
— not the move itself, rather the storage, phones, electricity, etc.
If you know of one, please advise.
###############
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