Fleecing

Dear Sheep:

The next massive fleecing of the people will be another big stadium giveaway, a government financed and underwritten stadium for the new owners of the DC United soccer team (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/05/AR2007010500755.html, http://www.washingtontimes.com/blogs/storyview.php?StoryID=20070109-021810-7709r&TopicsID=sportsbiz, http://www.examiner.com/a-498107~Fenty_is_noncommittal_on_new_D_C__United_stadium.html). These newspaper stories all suggest that the new team owners are more interested in the real estate and development opportunities that will come with the new stadium at Poplar Point in southeast than they are in the team, and there’s no reason to doubt that.

In a list of suggested questions and answers that was prepared for the Victor MacFarlane, the lead DC United owner, to use at his press conference yesterday, one of the answers is, “DC United cannot be profitable in its current venue. There is every possibility that will change — and I look forward to working with the mayor and the city council on that. We need to put the team in a new venue to make it profitable, and make for the best possible fan experience.” In a “messaging” document, the new team owners say, “DC United Holdings is fiercely supportive of the DC United team players, the organization management and the fans. As such, as the opportunity to build a better stadium is determined with and through Mayor Fenty’s office, MacFarlane and Chang will both participate in bringing an improved venue to fruition.”

In the wake of the public’s outcry over the wasteful and massive giveaway of the baseball stadium, there will be some delay as city officials figure out how to hide the subsidies and pretend that the city isn’t giving them a massive amount of land for and around the stadium and also paying the construction costs. The mayor and city council will probably be able to do that, judging by how easily they hid in full sight a two-million-dollar gift to the Lerners to decorate their baseball stadium. Instead of giving the money to the Lerners to buy the art, they gave it to the DC Arts and Humanities Commission. Then the Lerners generously donated space in the stadium to display the Arts and Humanities Commission’s art. In fact, I wonder whether the Lerners are getting a tax deduction for their public-spirited gift of exhibit space to the District.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Another Stupid Idea
Ralph J. Chittams, Sr., chittams@sewkis.com

Catania and Cheh have introduced a bill requiring all girls under the age of thirteen to get a new “nationally debated vaccine against HPV.” Catania and Cheh claim the vaccine will prevent cervical cancer. That is a lie! Catania and Cheh want to force all girls younger than thirteen years of age to receive a shot to prevent a sexually transmitted disease — HPV. That is the truth! If you don’t want to get a sexually transmitted disease, don’t have sex. Wow, was that so difficult? Catania stated: “With January being National Cervical Cancer Awareness Month, now is the perfect time for the District to lead the nation in the fight against what is in essence a preventable disease.” He can’t possibly be that stupid. This shot will not prevent cervical cancer. HPV is not the universal precursor to cervical cancer. This shot will not prevent cervical cancer. The shot is a prophylactic measure against HPV, a sexually transmitted disease. Vaccine is defined as “any preparation used as a preventive inoculation to confer immunity against a specific disease.” Therefore, by definition, this shot is not a vaccine against cervical cancer; it is a vaccine against HPV.

So, because some sexually promiscuous, morally challenged individuals in our society make bad choices, we are now going to force all of our young girls to receive this vaccine, regardless of any possible negative long-term effect this drug may have on their bodies. Give me a break. I have a better idea. Instead of closing the barn door after the horse has escaped, let’s teach our children how not to make bad decisions in the first place! Instead of teaching elementary-aged children the proper method of using a condom, introduce a system-wide true love waits program which will teach everyone (boys and girls) how to respect their bodies. And for you anti-Christian zealots, the program does not have to contain a religious element.

No amount of legislation at the back-end can correct poor decision-making at the front end. If we are truly going to make a difference, we have to address the cause, not the effect.

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Where’s the Beef
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

Last week, in addition to announcing his education initiative, Mayor Fenty also unveiled “his Administration’s strategy for optimizing the city’s community policing efforts.” Fenty’s press release detailing his public safety initiative and Acting Chief Cathy Lanier’s statement outlining a series of “goals and action items” are at http://www.dcwatch.com/mayor/070105.htm.

After a review of both documents, it is apparent that the administration does have a list of goals, which can be boiled down to reducing crime and the fear of crime, but that is no real public safety plan. There are some new slogans and there are some new names for old programs, such as returning to decentralizing the homicide division, which was tried and failed under Ramsey. But there is no plan and no strategy.

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Oops. Now Guess Who Pays
Leo Alexander, leo_alexander1@yahoo.com

Congratulations to the residents of North Portal Estates for winning the fight to raze an eyesore (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/09/AR2007010901753_2.html?sub=AR). My only concern is that the owners of this property will ultimately profit to the tune of $400,000 because of a mistake made by officials at DCRA. I have no problem with anyone being “made whole,” with reimbursement of all legal and construction expenses, but why should we, the DC taxpayer, ultimately give them a windfall of nearly a half-million dollars over what they paid for the land and building the house?

In October 2006, at a meeting attended by residents of North Portal Estates, Minh Vu (the property owner), and District officials, everyone was agreed that a dreadful mistake had been made, and the District committed to fixing it. During the meeting Mrs. Vu insisted that all she wanted was to be “made whole” after this blunder. The Post article pointed out that residents would be reimbursed for the legal fight and that neighbors adjoining the property would be allowed to purchase the land. None of these neighbors stand to profit from this mistake, so my question is, hearing that Mrs. Vu merely wanted to be reimbursed for all her costs associated with this deal, then who negotiated this one-sided six-figure payout? I didn’t know that that meant the rest of us would have to ante up. Thanks, DCRA.

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I Say Watch Out for Ed Barron
Brigid Quinn, bridigq@yahoo.com

I think you usually do a good job of keeping unnecessary pejoratives out of themail. The latest from Barron (on Council Chairman Vincent Gray, January 7), however, is mean spirited schlock that does nothing to further the debate on District-related policy or issues, and thus doesn’t deserve its space in the mail.

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The DMV and SSNs
Clare Feinson, cfeinson at erols dot com

The last time I went to the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew my license, I was told I could no longer have my Social Security Number on it and I was required to have a random number. I liked having my SSN because it was easy for me to remember, although of course the security problems mentioned by Ralston Cox in themail last week are a very real problem. But it seems that at the DMV, the number you get is not a standard policy, but sort of a toss-up, depending randomly on the clerk you end up with.

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Takeover of DC Public Schools
Harold Goldstein, mdbiker@goldray.com

Even if the proposed Board of Education is more streamlined, or whatever, why does anyone think that that will make a lick of difference in the final product? What matters is what happens in the classroom, and I see no reason to prefer the new structure to the old structure, or vice-versa, in terms of providing a quality classroom experience.

This reorganization will only succeed in drawing attention and resources away from where it needs to be directed.

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Beware of Mayor — He Speaketh with Forked Tongue
Ralph J. Chittams, Sr., Ward 7, chittams@sewkis.com

Whether a Mayoral takeover of the schools is good or bad is not the subject of this posting. This posting deals with “mayoral schizophrenia.” Note to the lawyers: I am not saying that Mayor Fenty is mentally ill.

In Fenty’s inaugural address he affirmed voting rights for the citizens of the District of Columbia and threw his support behind the movement for DC Statehood. Then, less than one week later, the same Mayor Fenty publicly announces his intent to circumvent, and thereby disenfranchise, the citizens of the District of Columbia by obtaining Congressional approval to amend the DC Charter.

What? How do you do that? If Fenty wants to take over the schools without the support of the citizenry, then stop talking about voting rights for DC citizens. If Fenty is serious about voting rights for DC citizens, then he should take his case for wresting control of the schools directly to the people and have them vote in a referendum. Remember Mayor Fenty, the same way you were voted in, you can be voted out. You can’t amend the DC Charter to change that — or can you?

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Why I Support a Mayoral Takeover of DCPS
Wendy Sefsaf, wfelizali@aol.com

First and foremost I support the idea of change because, as you know, the current system is not working, nor has it worked for many, many years. However, we are likely in for a grand debate over this takeover, which I invite. What I fear though is an all-out war. The longer the fight over governance wages, the less time we will have for tackling the real issues. We need to urge the council not to draw this out. What I see as the biggest issue this new authority will address is inaction. While Dr. Janney is a smart man who has come up with two fairly good strategic plans for our system by way of the Master Facilities and Master Education Plans, (MFP and MEP) he has failed to make progress in funding and executing them. I believe a direct line to the mayor can change this.

For example, the MEP calls for innovative schools and more autonomy for high performing schools. Two years later nothing has actually happened on that front. Wilson Senior High School publicly went after more autonomy but didn’t get it. (I know there are many reasons for that, but, alas, nothing has happened). Ross and Mann Elementary Schools have signaled interest but have not been able to get any traction. The MEP also has some other great ideas, like every school must have a librarian, art program, and carefully outlined special education and custodial services. It calls for turning select high schools into academies and has plans for fixing the special education crisis, but these things cost money. We don’t need additional "unfunded mandates" (we got those from No Child Left Behind). What we need is action!

For the past two years, the superintendent has failed to ask for sufficient funding for our schools. This year we will be short $13 million; last year we were short about $10 million. (This is one of the reasons they want to cut the small school subsidy to schools like Stoddert, Mann, Ross, Hearst, and Hyde, so they could realize some savings.) The superintendent has some great ideas, but he hasn’t been able to execute many of them, and the board of education has done nothing to address this inaction (and frankly, they have been part of the problem). I believe with a direct line to the mayor, who creates DC’s budget, he will have more success in getting the funding to support his vision, as he will have more of an opportunity to market his plan to the mayor and council — the folks who hold the purse strings!

With mayoral control, the superintendent (or chancellor, which is the new title) will have to meet with Fenty weekly to outline his goals and will have to provide weekly progress reports. (This is what all the city agency leaders will be required to do.) In my view, the Board of Education has never provided this kind of rigorous oversight or management of the school system. My confidence in the initiative also comes from seeing who Fenty has chosen to run the Deputy Mayor of Education’s office. Victor Reinoso served as the BOE rep to Wards 3 and 4 for two years. It took him a little time to get his feet wet, but he has shown himself to be an intelligent and responsive steward of our concerns at the local schools.

Additionally, Eric Lerum, Reinoso’s new chief of staff, served as Kathy Patterson’s legislative counsel for education and previously worked at the BOE. As you remember, Kathy Patterson chaired the education committee. Eric Lerum was the lead staffer behind the original School Modernization Act. He was also at every BOE meeting I ever attended. He understands the issues very well. Another great gain comes through Bonnie Cain. Bonnie is an education activist and was also one of the grassroots drivers behind the School Modernization Campaign, and she is on Victor’s senior policy team.

On another note, the argument is being made that anything brought before the federal government will be tinkered with, by them, to our disadvantage. (They would have to approve this change to the DC charter). This is always a risk, but if we show the Feds an action plan to reform our school system, we are more likely to slow down an eventual federal takeover of our school system, which is in a downward spiral. Some have expressed concern that Mary Landrieu will tinker with anything sent to Congress and invite more charters into the system. Well I have news for them -- parents put their kids in charter schools because the traditional public schools aren’t serving their kids. The fastest way to stop the growth of charters is to fix our public schools.

Do I have concerns? Yes! Where will we go to complain? Who will hear us parents? This is an issue they say they are currently working to address. They are devising a plan to create an ombudsman for public education that we can call who would work from complaint to resolution with parents. They say it works in other places. And we would also have our normal route -- our councilmembers and the mayor’s office, who some argue have been more responsive than their Board of Education representatives in the past. My other concerns are: will the DC council step up to educate themselves on the issues and look for ways to resolve them? Will they ever stop saying that our school system is overfunded and continue to refuse to fund us adequately? Or will they go find the supposed waste and do everything else in their power to get us the resources we need?

Also, will the modernization funds be well used? The school modernization campaign committee looked at the concept of a construction trust/authority versus keeping it under DCPS control. We found that other cities who used construction trusts did have schools built on time and usually within budget, but the issue of whether the buildings built were educationally sound came up? That issue can be resolved on the front end with plenty of input by parents, teachers and principals. An oversight board appointed by the Mayor, Council and BOE is in the original legislation and needs to be utilized!

What has DCPS done so far to prove to us that they should keep the construction in-house? They have developed a Master Facilities Plan, which has come under fire by parents and education activists for not being well thought-out. But most importantly, they have shown us through their actions that they have not ramped up their ability to do this or work with other agencies necessary to execute it like DCRA. Their inability to get the Filmore trailers open on time and their last minute decision to bus kids to Hamilton while Hardy was being renovated have eroded confidence in their ability to execute this long-term modernization plan.

We elected this mayor so overwhelmingly because we are looking for a new way, a fresh outlook and hopeful alternative to the way things were being run. By creating a deputy mayor of education and staking his reputation on improving our schools, Fenty is taking a huge political risk. He would be much smarter to let the status quo stand, but that isn’t what we elected him to do. Some say this could be the final nail in the DCPS coffin, but I believe it may just be our last best chance.

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Quandry in DC: Revamping Education without Revamping Governance
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net

Mayor Fenty has only been in office a week, his bullpen isn’t broken in yet, and already the cynics and naysayers are challenging everything from his motives to his hat. Both Fenty and Gray ran on education as their top priority, and won strong support citywide. In our representative democracy, they were elected to do what they decide is best, not to protect individual whims, paranoias, fiefdoms, and backyards. In their glibly dismissed inaugural addresses, both clearly enunciate their strategies for alleviating DC’s endemic socioeconomic problems. Gray says: “we must address the health and social influences that [impact on] the lives of children long before they get to school, often predisposing them to failure. Only integrated approaches to education, health and social services can effectively address these concerns.” Fenty says: “. . . our pledge to be the next great world-class city is not based just on locking people up. . . . Thoughtful solutions, rooted in rebuilding the family and the fabric of the community, will be the cornerstone of our city’s future. . . .” (Amen!)

Our capital is threatened more by its dysfunctional social infrastructure than by terrorism or global warming. This decay is rooted in urban poverty and squalor, in turn rooted in inadequate family education. Solutions will require real change: extraordinary measures granting greater line authority with less compromise; better integration of agencies with similar crosscutting tasks; and separation of functionally dissimilar tasks. The US has often used czars to resolve critical problems. Other DC agencies can benefit from the same streamlined solutions (e.g., contracting). Fenty promises accountability for those given the authority to achieve their goals. How about equal accountability for those blocking his way with sneers, negativism, and delaying tactics?

Major efforts to take DC to the next level will necessarily involve significant risks. These could include: lightweight czars; inappropriate targets based on excessive expectations in time and/or performance; and inadequate bases for assessing accountability. To NARPAC, the greatest risk would be to assume that DC schools, comprised mostly of family-disadvantaged kids, can aspire to meet any time soon the (average) standards of schools with mostly family-advantaged kids. There is a world of difference between replacing missing plumbing fixtures and substituting for missing functional parents. Take a look at our 2004 analysis of the huge variation in NAEP scores by school district and racial composition at http://www.narpac.org/PER.HTM#penaep03, and in parental capacity at http://www.narpac.org/PERENTS.HTM.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS AND CLASSES

Videoblogging and Digital Storytelling Classes
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com

Are you interested in learning how to put your own videos on YouTube, Google Video, and the Internet Archive? Would you like to learn the basics of digital storytelling on the web using free and low-cost software tools? I’ll be teaching both subjects in affordable classes via the Takoma Park Recreation Department. These small group classes, for teens and adults, are open to the public and are starting in mid to late January. I also teach these subjects privately and in small groups at other locations in the DC area. Further details at http://2007classes.blogspot.com.

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DC Public Library Events, January 13
India Young, india.young@dc.gov

Saturday, January 13, 2:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room A-5. Poetry extravaganza 2007, honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This program honors Dr. King in dance, poetry, and music. For more information, call 727-1281.

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King Memorial Peace Walk, January 15
Denise Rolark Barnes, drbarnes@washingtoninformer.com

Please come and join others who will commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King and promote his legacy of nonviolence and peace at the Dr. Martin Luther King Memorial Peace Walk on Monday, January 15, at 9 a.m. More than thirty local organizations and a host of individuals will join for a two-mile (more or less) walk from the Big Chair at 2100 MLK Avenue, SE, to Covenant Baptist Church located at 3845 South Capital Street, SW. Rev. Christine Wiley, co-pastor of Covenant Baptist Church, and members of Covenant’s Social Action Committee will provide refreshments and a program honoring Dr. King and addressing our responsibility and role in “Rebuilding the Beloved Community.” We hope to see you and yours there.

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MLK’s Poor People’s Campaign Continues
Kilin Boardman-Schroyer, kschroyer@dc-cares.org

Come to a forum on poverty in the nation’s capital, Wednesday, January 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m. This event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required. To register or for more information, including location, contact Kilin Boardman-Schroyer, 777-4457 or kschroyer@dc-cares.org

In November of 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr., and his colleagues launched the Poor People’s Campaign. This campaign focused on the economic injustice of poverty in a country with such abundant wealth. The campaign, which Dr. King called the “second phase” of the civil rights struggle, transcended racial lines and brought together all people who faced “limitations to our achievements” due to poverty. Unfortunately, Dr. King was assassinated before he could fully pursue this crucial initiative. Over thirty-nine years later, little has changed in terms of our economic disparities. Globally, nationally, and locally we continue to be faced with severe economic segregation. Specifically, DC has some of the worst poverty in the country, topping the charts in terms of our child poverty rates. Close to one in five residents in the District live in poverty today and that number continues to grow.

Join us on January 17 to honor and participate in the pursuit of Dr. King’s goal of economic justice for all. Expert panelists will discuss: our city’s current poverty levels; the undeniable connection between poverty: healthcare, crime, employment, and literacy; and how you can get involved!

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