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February 11, 2007

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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February 2007 InTowner
Peter Wolff, intowner@intowner.com

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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DC Schools
F. Lancaster, Fbhl2@yahoo.com

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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Arrogance
Brigid Quinn, brigidq@yahoo.com

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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Our Threatened Democracy
Leo Alexander, Leo_alexander1@yahoo.com

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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Reaching a Compromise on Schools
Kathryn Pearson, Kap8082@aol.com

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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