Civility
Dear Civil Speakers:
In the last issue of themail, Dorothy and I wrote about the
incivility of councilmembers toward citizens in the hearings over the
mayoral power grab for the schools. Civility is important in civic
affairs and in themail, too. I encourage active debate in themail, but I
discourage personal attacks. Attack other contributors’ ideas and
positions as energetically and enthusiastically as you want, but respect
them as individuals. In other words, act like adults and better than
your elected representatives, and maybe they’ll learn from your
example.
Late today, Eugene Volokh, who hosts the blog The Volokh Conspiracy,
wrote about a commentator who regularly posts remarks that are
personally insulting to other commentators. Since comments on his blog
are posted automatically, he regularly has to delete comments, not only
from that commentator, but also from other posters who respond to him.
So Volokh asks people not to respond, but then he explains his policy:
“By the way, just to remind people why I take the view I do about the
need to maintain civility in comments, and the propriety of deleting
commenters: comment threads (unlike, say, all the videos on YouTube or
generally even books in a bookstore) are a coherent conversation; for
the conversation to be readable and pleasant to participate in, people
have to maintain some minimum level of politeness. The analogy I give is
a party that I host -- if people are rude enough to other guests, they
won’t be invited back, because that’s how one keeps parties
pleasant. I generally don’t try to exclude people for their
viewpoints, though I reserve the right to do that if the views are nasty
enough. But I have and will exclude people who express their viewpoints
in needlessly offensive ways, for instance by personally insulting
fellow commenters” (http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2007_02_11-2007_02_17.shtml#1171257224).
Sounds right to me.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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CRS Report Finds DC Voting Rights Act Likely
to Be Unconstitutional
Timothy Cooper, worldirght@aol.com
The Congressional Research Service (CRS) has issued an analysis of
the DC Voting Rights Act (HR 328) and concluded that “it would appear
likely that the Congress does not have authority to grant voting
representation in the House of Representatives to the Delegate from the
District of Columbia as contemplated under HR 328.” This legal
analysis notes that “it is difficult to identify either constitutional
text or existing case law that would directly support the allocation by
statute of the power to vote in the full House to the District of
Columbia Delegate. Further, that case law that does exist would seem to
indicate that not only is the District of Columbia not a ‘state’ for
the purposes of representation, but that congressional power over the
District of Columbia does not represent a sufficient power to grant
congressional representation.”
It remains unclear why DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton and Rep. Tom
Davis (R-VA) never requested a CRS analysis of their bill in light of
the potential long-term detrimental consequences to the DC voting rights
movement should their legislation be declared unconstitutional. Such a
declaration could result in Utah, a traditionally Republican state,
being granted an additional seat in the House of Representatives and an
extra electoral vote, without the District, a traditionally Democratic
stronghold, receiving its vote in the House in view of the fact that the
bill’s non-severability clause cannot necessarily be enforced by the
courts.
In light of the stark conclusions of the CRS’s report, the DC
Voting Rights Act should be withdrawn and replaced by an equal DC voting
rights bill that is both constitutionally sound and politically
principled. “The Constitutionality of Awarding the Delegate for the
District of Columbia a Vote in the House of Representatives or the
Committee of the Whole” can be found at http://opencrs.cdt.org/rpts/RL33824_20070124.pdf.
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DCPS School Budgets for SY 2007-08 out Tuesday
Erich Martel, Wilson High School, ehmartel at starpower
dot net
Attention DC Public School LSRT and SCAC members and teachers and
parents: on Tuesday, February 13, DCPS principals will receive their
budget information for next school year, SY 2007-08. Your principal
should inform the school community of all details and of the LSRT
meetings where the decisions regarding the allocation of funds will be
discussed.
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Second Math Video Out
Barry Garelick, barryg99@yahoo.com
I posted a video done by the Washington state group “Where’s the
Math” that focused on Everyday Math. The group has released a second
video, “Math Education: A University View,” that talks more broadly
about the math education problem. It is twelve minutes long and worth
watching. It is located at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymvSFunUjx0.
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For the Vertically Challenged
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
Metro has added hand grabs for the new Metrorail cars to allow the
vertically challenged to reach a place where they can hang on. New York’s
subways have had them for almost one hundred years and those who use
them are called straphangers. The new hand grabs in the Metrorail cars
are suitable for those up (down?) to five feet two inches. For those
more vertically challenged than that I suggest carrying a U-handled
umbrella to hook onto the hand grab. The umbrella also serves a dual
purpose as it can be used to ward off muggers.
Hey Gary. Remember my caution about Snidely Whiplash, alias Vincent
Gray?
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This is to advise that the February 2007 on-line edition has been
uploaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com.
Included are the lead stories, community news items and crime reports,
editorials (including prior months’ archived), restaurant reviews
(prior months’ also archived). The text from the ever-popular
“Scenes from the Past” feature will be uploaded by sometime on
Monday morning, although it can still be read (and its pictures viewed),
by opening the February issues PDF file in the Current and Back Issues
Archive. Also included are all current classified ads. The complete
issue (along with prior issues back to March 2003) also is available in
PDF file format directly from our home page at no charge simply by
clicking the link in the Current & Back Issues Archive. Here you
will be able to view the entire issue as it appears in print, including
all photos and advertisements. The next issue will publish on March 9
(the second Friday of the month, as always). The complete PDF version
will be posted by the preceding night or early that Friday morning at
the latest, following which the text of the lead stories, community
news, and selected features will be uploaded shortly thereafter.
To read this month’s lead stories, simply click the link on the
home page to the following headlines: 1) DC’s Great Streets: Avenues
of Opportunity — Lower Georgia Avenue Initiative Transportation and
Streetscape Improvements Program One of Seven City Projects; 2) Collapse
of Building Wall During Reconstruction for Condominiums Rattles Adams
Morgan Neighbors; 3) Columbia Heights Residents Moving Forward with
Plans to Establish a Heritage Trail.
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While I agree with you far more often than not, and I have the
greatest admiration for Colby King and his diligence in holding DC
government to account, your latest rant on the proposed
"takeover" (some might say "rescue") of the DC
schools by the mayor recalls the old aphorism: “Insanity is defined as
doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”
Get over it. How long, in how many different ways, do we have to
watch the DC school board system fail? We have a young, energetic new
mayor, who dares to put himself on the line and try something new. Let
him have at it. With DC schools already vying to be worst in the
country, he can hardly do any worse, and odds are good he will do
better. The serious question: will he have the courage to take on the
teachers union?
[To me, the aphorism cuts the other way. Ten years ago, the Control
Board usurped the power of the Board of Education and replaced them with
a board of their own chosen appointees. Five years ago, Mayor Williams
cut the size of the school board and replaced half its elected members
with his own appointees. Now Mayor Fenty again blames the educational
problems of DC on the school board and proposes a third takeover. We’re
doing the same thing over and over, and I’m not crazy enough to expect
a different result this time. — Gary Imhoff]
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Perhaps I’m missing something in the “who should run the dc
public schools” debate. I read some of what is written on the subject,
mainly in the Washington Post and on this site, but admit I haven’t
read everything. Even so, I am prompted to weigh in by two sentences in
Ron Linton’s comments on the subject that seem to define the debate to
date. If I am missing something, I figure themail readers won’t be shy
about setting me straight. Here are the motivating Linton sentences:
“How does all this relate to our situation? First, if what we have
doesn’t work and hasn’t worked, then why not try yet another way.”
What is “another way”? In Linton’s context and in so much of
what I read on the topic, the debate doesn’t seem to be about
comparing another way to educate children, such as the board’s/superintendent’s
curriculum versus the Fenty curriculum. or the differences in their
approaches to the social services infrastructure that is needed to
produce the proper learning environment for so many in the DC public
schools, or how one side views the length of the school day or length of
the school year in comparison to the other. It seems to me that the
other way is “give the schools to Fenty, no questions asked” and the
only choice is between Fenty and the superintendent/Bobb, not between
two actual plans to educate children. It also seems to me that without a
concrete comprehensive plan for change no one is going to succeed in
improving the schools for our children, no matter how young, energetic,
and enthusiastic one contestant might be, or how well connected in the
community the other. The DC city council should not be taking sides
based on “another way,” and certainly shouldn’t be voting, without
seeing and evaluating comprehensive concrete plans from each side. Also,
it wouldn’t hurt the council’s efforts to hire, or at least consult,
independent experts in the field of education to help them make its
decision. The outcome shouldn’t be driven by personalities or
"trust me" promises. The decision is far too important and has
far too many long-term effects on the city, from whether or not we have
a workforce that is prepared to fill the jobs being created in the area
to the safety of our streets.
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This past election cycle illustrated to me just how misguided the
emphasis certain corners of this city places on who is and who isn’t a
native Washingtonian. In the race for mayor, native-born Adrian Fenty
won in a landslide. Native son Vincent Gray captured the office of city
council chair. And last but certainly not least, native daughter Eleanor
Holmes Norton won her ninth term as our delegate to Congress. A sense of
great irony struck me about the perceived importance of being a
Washingtonian while watching the school takeover debate in council
chambers. We often hear how home rule is like the Holy Grail to
native-born Washingtonians, but after witnessing the drama over the last
few weeks of testimony, you have to question their sincerity. For those
of you who haven’t caught this theater — the end game is clear. The
majority of the council plans to vote for the mayor’s takeover of DC
Public Schools (DCPS). Here’s the problem. After getting the council’s
blessing, our Washingtonian mayor plans to take his case, not before the
people who elected him, but straight to Congress — forget about the
Home Rule Charter and its required public referendum.
We all want a world-class public school system, but my question is
how will the mayor’s proposal affect student achievement, given that
the failure of schools east of the park are directly linked to
socioeconomic ills and the failures of District agencies to proficiently
provide safety nets for children of at-risk families? This question hasn’t
been answered and, until the mayor addresses the agencies that are
already under his authority, student achievement will continue to
suffer. I suspect a review of the District’s procurement and DCPS
preventative maintenance processes would immediately reveal a direct tie
to the current facilities and heating problems at some of our schools --
which calls for collaboration between the mayor and the school board,
not a takeover. Knowing that this is the case, why would any
Washingtonian support an end run around home rule for the benefit of a
mayoral power grab? And furthermore, what’s the hurry? Why does this
vote have to happen before 25 percent of the Council’s ward
representatives take their seats? In order to truly grasp the stakes
here, you must question the motivation. Is this takeover about student
achievement, or a larger plan of, who ultimately controls DCPS property
and the distribution of contracts?
On Saturday, January 27, I attended the Ward 7 Democrats’ monthly
meeting and heard an address from the Honorable Delegate Norton. There
is no question that our esteemed Representative has mastered the art of
public speaking without answering any direct questions. However, one
observation was crystal clear — she has no intention of using her
influence to protect the sanctity of home rule on this issue. Delegate
Norton showed she has little interest in the matters of local politics
by arriving late, pacing the entire time, and then leaving early. The
impression left was that she could care less that the people of Wards 4
and 7 will not be represented on this critical takeover vote. During her
performance, I wondered if that standing-room only crowd of
disenfranchised, disillusioned, and disrespected voters would remember
this in 2008; when she’ll be seeking her tenth term?
That leaves the responsibility of stopping this runaway train to
former Ward 7 Councilman and now Chairman Vincent Gray. So far, he has
fast-tracked public hearings for this proposal and allowed the citizenry
to be verbally abused by his colleagues on the dais. I’m sorry, but I
couldn’t imagine such an exhibition of boorish behavior from a Linda-Cropp-led
Council. The neophyte chairman has said the public hearing process
affords all an opportunity to be heard. Then hear this; if you’re
really sincere about our democracy, then postpone this legislation until
after the May 1 elections. Following a complete committee of the whole
vote, then and only then should this initiative be taken before the
people. That’s the beauty, as I understand it, of home rule.
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Disappointment
Ralph J. Chittams, Sr., Ward 7, minchittams@gmail.com
If what Mayor Fenty is proposing — illegally amending the District’s
Home Rule Charter and disenfranchising 25 percent of the District’s
electorate in the process — were being proposed by a white mayor,
Vincent Gray, Kwame Brown, Harry Thomas, Jr., and Marion Barry would be
screaming racism. If the mayor were a Republican, the entire city
council, except maybe Carol Schwartz, would be in an uproar. However,
since Fenty is a Democrat, and a Black one to boot, I guess that makes
it okay. I am sorry, but the color and political affiliation of my
abuser is irrelevant to me.
George Santayana is credited with saying, “Those who cannot learn
from history are doomed to repeat it.” Thomas Jefferson in 1776 wrote
these famous words, “all men are created equal.” Those words,
however, did not include women, and they most certainly did not include
Blacks. Blacks received the Constitutional right to vote in 1870 (the
Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution), although we all know that
universal Black voting enfranchisement did not occur until almost one
hundred years later. American women received the Constitutional right to
vote in 1920 (the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution).
Residents of the District of Columbia did not receive the right to vote
in Presidential elections until 1961 (Twenty-Third Amendment to the US
Constitution). And now, in 2007, we are going to allow our elected
representatives to rip away a right that others marched, bled, and died
for.
There are many residents of the District of Columbia who remember not
having the right to vote. After all, it was just forty years ago that
District voters became fully enfranchised. And now, for the sake of
political expediency, we are going to blithely sit by and watch the
clock get rolled-back on us. I am disappointed in my fellow
Washingtonians. I am disappointed in my elected officials. I am just
disappointed.
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Stop the takeover madness! Let’s forget the diplomacy and
civilities and call it what it is — a power grab. And the byproduct of
the power grab is the ability to dole out patronage jobs and contracts
and whatever other goodies can be thought of. Somewhere in all of this
fall the kids’ educational achievement, which so far seems to be the
least mentioned interest. Instead of looking to a model in NYC, try the
US General Services Administration as an example of what could be done
in terms of an independent building authority. Put all DC property
procurement and management and school building upkeep, renovation, and
special transportation under a DC General Services Administration. Make
it different from the federal government by establishing a board of
directors with members appointed by the Board of Education, city
council, and mayor’s office. Throw in a presidential or congressional
nominee for good measure if you like. Include a student or two. Since
students are supposed to be the priority, then maybe the school board
could have the most members on the board of directors and the Board
would appoint the chair, or the chair of the Board of Education could
have that pleasure.
DC has a lot of independent or quasi government authorities, so what
is one more. For example, we have the DC Housing Authority and the Water
and Sewer Authority. Perhaps DC should set up an independent DC
Commission on Parks and Recreation like the Maryland and Virginia
suburbs have. They have some of the best recreation programs. DC would
have to cut out the costs to use the facilities, though. Recreation
tends to get cut a lot in the DC government, but I must admit that at
least Mayor Williams worked hard to get the city new recreation
buildings and that was a big plus and major achievement that will become
part of his legacy.
By the way, make physical education a priority in schools. America is
becoming too obese. When building new schools or renovating old ones,
ensure that there are indoor swimming pools and racket sports amenities
like tennis. Have an indoor running track and exercise equipment. Backus
Middle School on South Dakota Avenue, NE, has an enormous parking lot.
Surely an addition could be put there with the right amenities. Join the
school services with the community. With all the apartment development
going on in the Backus area, it seems like the developers could
contribute to this effort. Developers have clearly found upper northeast
Washington. And get them to help out with vocational education programs
as well. Vocational education programs are really needed in our schools.
Designate a direct revenue stream for the schools so that they do not
have to go to the District government via the city council to beg for
funding. For example, dedicate an automatic percentage of the revenue
obtained from property and/or income taxes and maybe the Lottery Board.
But, please don’t raise taxes. The public school system would know
each year what it has to work with. Align the school year up with the
fiscal year to help with spending properly. Take the Office of the Chief
Financial Office out of the finance equation. That set up makes little
sense anyway and they don’t seem to be doing such a bang up good job,
but they cast a lot of blame from their lofty office.
The takeover seems to be part of a new city management fad that some
other big cities have adopted to show their political strength.
Supposedly it is about accountability and that might be an issue in
their cities. It might also help with getting reelected or pursuing
higher office. In DC, there is no higher office, but places like NYC,
there are options.
These fads or experiments get a lot of media attention. Psychology
class 101 shows us that when subjects are aware that they are being
observed, then there can be improvements/changes based on the interest
in being observed. There don’t seem to be any controls on the studies
of New York City and the results may be influenced by the fact that they
are being watched and not because of any takeover. Additionally,
sometimes the media can be so one sided and nonobjective.
Currently, DC leaders take pride in talking about all the problems
with the DC public schools. The city leadership went so far to have
young people cite a litany/laundry list of what is ailing the DC public
schools. Give any citizen a couple of hours and we could do the same
about other city services. The conclusion did not seem to be that they
want a takeover. The photo ops for city leaders were just great. By
being there when these kids sounded off, they gave the impression that
young people have the greatest priority and besides, they look good for
this lobbying effort to take over the schools. If the city leadership
extended the rules for a takeover to D.C. government by listing all the
problems that occur, then there would definitely be a takeover of the
District of Columbia. Citizens could stage a coup based on the miniature
weapons of mass destruction called guns that are taking so many lives in
the nation’s capital. With an emerging dictatorship in DC that says it
is determined to bypass the requirement of a referendum, the city is
ripe for the US to occupy DC like it did on foreign soil. Oops, DC is
already occupied by higher government powers that do not want to give DC
a vote, but I digress.
Why not try an all-day hearing on crime and issues plaguing
neighborhoods? What about what kids are experiencing in the
neighborhoods that make safety a factor outside of school and on the way
to and from school. Let’s talk about the libraries that have had their
budgets devastated over the years. Based on the takeover logic, rhyme
and reason there should be a takeover of the libraries. Maybe there
should be an independent library authority, or at least the building of
new ones should go under the new DC GSA. The city is moving too slowly
on possibly consolidating all the housing agencies. Affordable/workforce
housing is virtually nonexistent unless $400,000 and $500,000 are
considered modest amounts. Call for a takeover or plan or do they call
it receivership when it comes to the D.C. government?
Scrap the rest of the mayor’s plan. Wrap around services should
already be in place with the existing agencies if they are doing their
job effectively. Social service agencies should be plugged into one
computer system where social workers can gather information to help
students. If the mayor and council are serious about education, they
will work with the elected school board, citizens, and others and give
the current plan the old heave-ho. It’s only building resentment and
distrust in the public. It is not the way to govern and legislate in the
twenty-first century. But if the council and mayor must persist on this
takeover endeavor against the wishes of many, at least have the good
sense to run any changes to the home rule charter through the citizens
via a referendum vote. (Mayor Williams had a referendum vote that lead
us to the hybrid board. At least citizens had input through the vote and
had to accept the results.) Also, wait until Wards 4 and 7 have their
elected council members in place. The special election takes place on
May 1. The mayor’s office is beginning to come across like the control
board, taking over and disenfranchising the District of Columbia
government. Some of its leaders were arrogant too and thought they
walked the water by being the only ones with good sense and intentions.
But then there are some that think those were the good old days. Same
thing with the previous DC Commissioners. Most in DC favor
representative democracy in the District of Columbia, so let’s move
forward, away from potential puppet dictatorships and governing by
Blackberry.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Emergency Student Achievement Act of 2007,
February 12, 13
Robert C. Bobb, robert.bobb@k12.dc.us
The DC Board of Education will be hosting several community meetings
to discuss our proposed legislation “Emergency Student Achievement Act
of 2007.” This legislation, which is an alternative to Mayor Adrian
Fenty’s school takeover plan, has been presented to the DC City
Council for consideration. We invite you to join us for these very
important meetings. We encourage you to provide us with feedback and
ideas on how we can best improve DC Public Schools and student
achievement.
District 3 (Wards 5 and 6), Monday, February 12, McKinley Technology
High School, 151 T Street, NE, Room 150. District 4 (Wards 7 and 8),
Tuesday, February 13, Randle Highlands Elementary School, 1650 30th
Street, SE. The District 2 meeting (Wards 3 and 4) is being scheduled.
Please download invitations (Mckinley at http://www.dfinstitute.org/pdf/mckinley.pdf,
Randle at http://www.dfinstitute.org/pdf/randle.pdf)
for your review. We encourage you to post these documents on listservs
and blogs, as well as distribute them to your fellow residents.
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Folk Singer Spook Handy at the Potter’s
House, February 16
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
Come see Spook Handy, a rising star in the folk music scene,
traveling down from New Jersey for a benefit concert at the Potter’s
House, at 1658 Columbia Road, NW, in Adams Morgan. Hungry? Wholesome
dinner is served from 7 p.m. Parking permits are available for $5 if you
reserve ahead by calling 232-5483. Double park out front, come in to get
your permit. The benefit for this event is Creative Peace Initiatives (http://www.aupeace.org/students/peaceconflictorgs/cpi).
A suggested donation of $10 is asked, but this performance is a
“pay what you can” event. (See http://youtube.com/watch?v=za0UkaX7Gfs
for Spook Handy weaving stories into music into stories.)
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