The Phony Solution
Dear Problem Solvers:
The Council of the Great City Schools, a nationally respected group
with real expertise on urban school districts, has issued two highly
critical reports on the Washington, DC, school system. It is
significant, therefore, that this month it has issued an even more
critical analysis of Mayor Adrian Fenty’s plan to take over management
of the city schools (http://www.dcpswatch.com/mayor/0702.htm).
Colbert King summarized the findings in his column on Saturday (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022301673_3.html):
“The analysis concluded that Fenty’s plan, rather than reducing
decision-making layers, makes decision-making more top-heavy and harder
to coordinate. It suggests that Fenty’s plan lacks a clear vision
about the direction of the school system and that it actually relies on
Janey’s master education plan and other school system special
education plans. It also charges that Fenty’s proposal to give the DC
council line-item authority over the budget will only worsen an already
cumbersome process. Finally, the Council criticizes Fenty as not
presenting a specific plan of action.”
This severe criticism explains why the city council has largely
avoided inviting national education experts to testify in its series of
hearings on Fenty’s school takeover bill -- it doesn’t want to hear
what education experts have to say, since the purpose of the Fenty plan
isn’t to improve education. Just in case some councilmembers do put
the interests of the children ahead of the interests of the development,
construction, and business groups behind the Fenty bill, however, here
in full is the summary of findings in the Council of the Great City
Schools’ report (numbering added):
“1) The fundamental problems of low student achievement and
dysfunctional finance and operating systems that were identified by the
Council of the Great City Schools in two previous analyses of the
District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) are not cured or solved in
the mayor’s current proposal to restructure the school system. 2)
Mayor Fenty acknowledged in testimony before the DC Council that his
proposed legislation does not address the basic reasons for the school
district’s low and stagnant student achievement or fix weak
instructional practices in the schools. 3) The mayor’s proposed
legislation alters governance arrangements and the organizational
structure of the school system but does not appreciably reduce multiple
layers of bureaucracy overseeing the school system. To the contrary, the
proposed bill may make it harder to coordinate across agencies. The
complicated new structure, in fact, could require the mayor and/or
deputy mayor to have to personally reconcile operational disputes that
should be settled at a lower level of authority. Finally, the plan could
lead to yet more turnover in school system leadership. 4) The mayor’s
plan does not streamline the budget process to any measurable degree,
reduce layers of budget approval or interference, or make it easier to
align instructional goals with financial resources. In fact, the
proposal may cost the city considerable amounts of money just to move
the organizational boxes. 5) The mayor’s plan creates a separate
school facilities authority to handle building renovation and repair,
but the plan lacks a critical mechanism by which infrastructure
decisions are coordinated with the schools or discussed with the public.
6) Similarly, the mayor’s bill is not likely to streamline or
accelerate operations. Indeed, it appears that some operations may
actually slow down under the proposed new structure. And the bill is
silent on payroll, procurement, and human resources. 7) Finally, the
mayor’s bill places more accountability in the hands of the mayor, but
the bill is unclear about how the mayor actually is to be held more
accountable to the public than the school board has been.”
The final city council hearing on the Fenty plan, in which the mayor
will testify, will be held on Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. (a half-hour earlier
than previously announced) in the council chambers.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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City Council Chairman Discovers the Remedy for
Elections
P. Walters, kontidy@gmail.com
Listening to Kojo’s DC Politics Hour (sans Kojo) last Friday, I was
stunned to hear Council Chairman Vincent Gray’s explanation of why the
Fenty “emergency” school takeover did not need to be put to the
voters in a referendum (http://www.wamu.org/audio/kn/07/02/k1070223-12986.asx).
According to Gray, the hearings on the plan that he orchestrated were,
in themselves, a “referendum,” and no further vote was needed. Now
the logic of this is, that if the Council listens to its friends’
choreographed testimony for a little while, then the peoples’ voice
has been heard. By adopting this rule, we’re going to save a ton of
money and grief in the future. (Hey, no more campaign poster litter!) We
don’t need council or mayoral elections — just a few hours of
testimony from the coalition of the willing and, abracadabra, the
Council will appoint the mayor and themselves to office. They could even
have that pesky District Charter testified out of existence.
###############
On Wednesday (themail, February 21), I wrote about PR 17-0117, the
Verizon Center Sales Tax Revenue Approval Act of 2007, which had just
been introduced in the city council by Jack Evans, Vincent Gray, and
Marion Barry. It will provide $50 million in public funding to Abe
Pollin to underwrite renovations at the Verizon Center. As I have
already noted, the legislation is very detailed with regard to the
revenue bonds the District would issue, but silent on the benefits the
city would receive. According to Charles Barbera, Deputy General Counsel
in the office of the Chief Financial Officer, the major thing that has
been mentioned in newspapers as a benefit of this deal -- the transfer
of ownership of the Center to the District in 2040 — was already
provided for in the original December 1995 agreement between Pollin and
the District government, which purchased the land for Pollin and leased
it to him. The other two elements were promises made by Pollin,
described by Wilson Building sources as “the consummate dealmaker,”
in private meetings with city leaders. In his private meeting with Mayor
Fenty about a month ago, Pollin proposed giving the mayor the use of a
twenty-four-seat luxury suite at the Center. In his private meeting with
Council Chairman Gray, Pollin added an offer to host this year’s city
championship game at the Center. That means the only real long-term
benefit the city will get for $50 million is that the mayor and
councilmembers will be given the use of a luxury suite at the Center and
won’t have to spend their own money for sports tickets.
In the February 21 edition of the Downtowner newspaper, Jack
Evans wrote in a column titled “Sports Venues in DC”: “In three
years, RFK Stadium will be vacant. My proposal is to tear down RFK,
lease the land to Dan Snyder for $1.00 per year, and have him construct
a new stadium at his cost. His financing will come from the sale of the
land where Fed Ex Field now sits in Landover, MD. The new stadium could
have a retractable roof to host the Super Bowl and other Bowl games or
special events — in fact, make a more productive venue year round. The
parking and Metro stop are already in place. Having the Redskins back in
our City in a place easy to get to is a very popular idea.”
According to the daily poll of the Washington Express on
Thursday, February 23, Evans’ idea of a $50 million giveaway to Abe
Pollin is not so popular: 89 percent of the respondents did not believe
that public funds should be spent to finance Verizon Center upgrades.
###############
High School Sports at Verizon, RFK, Etc.
Christopher Jerry, jerrydc@gmail.com
I’m a big high school sports fan and over the next few week I
expect to be at basketball championship games in big arenas at George
Mason University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Maryland’s
Comcast Center. However, it’s always bothered me that the one place in
the area where high school basketball supposedly matters most, the city
of Washington, is relegated to having its championship title game played
in George Washington’s Smith Center. It’s a nice 5,000 on-campus
place to play, but its a gymnasium, not an arena.
That brings me to an article I read in the Washington Post
about negotiations to play this years city basketball championship games
at the Verizon Center [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/21/AR2007022101691.html].
The powers-that-be are trying to negotiate to have the game played there
in two weeks, but Abe Pollin, the guy asking for a $50 million handout
from DC to upgrade Verizon, instead of making an offer too good to
refuse, has made an offer too bad to take. In order for the game to be
at Verizon, Pollin is willing to let them play there free of charge. So
far, so good. But then he wants to keep all gate receipts, and have the
DCIAA (DC public schools) and WCAC (Catholic schools) pay for security.
Last time it was played at Verizon (then MCI Center), in 2002, with
Pollin getting a large chunk of the money, the charge for tickets was a
staggering $15, more than double the cost of a ticket for Maryland’s
and Virginia’s state championship games today. In addition to playing
for a championship, one of the main reasons for playing this game is as
a fundraiser for the respective leagues. There is no money to be made
for either league in an arrangement with Pollin’s Verizon Center in
which Pollin’s WSC gets all money from ticket sales and concessions,
while the high school leagues pay for security.
Maybe it time to go back and play the city championship in the
suburbs, at either GMU or Maryland. When I watch regional sports
broadcasts of high school sports around the country on DirecTV, most
cities and states, including New York City (Madison Square Garden), use
one of its top of the line facilities to host its championship games.
Not here in DC. It’s really remarkable that the city has invested
millions in Verizon Center, RFK, and the new baseball stadium for the
Nationals, and is trying to gift DC United with a soccer palace at
Poplar Point, yet none of these organizations can make a charitable
donation of their arenas or stadiums (including letting the schools keep
the funds raised for those events) for one event a year. Perhaps that is
something the city, at a minimum, should insist from the
owners/operators of these stadiums financed in part by public funds. It’s
done in every other city and state and there no reason basketball,
baseball, football, and soccer championship games can’t be played at
stadiums in the city the pro teams play in.
(Postscript: I was glad to read in Saturday’s Post that a
deal was crafted that now gives the first $15,000 of ticket receipts to
the schools of the DCIAA and WCAC, the next $30,000 to Pollin, and
splits anything after that, after security charges, between the schools
and leagues. If I am going to get fired up enough to write to themail as
well as all councilmembers to complain, the least I can do is give
credit when the right thing is done. Though, with all the money Pollin’s
Verizon Center is going to take in on concessions, he still could have
let all the money for tickets to the schools, but in this case, I’ll
not hit a ugly gift horse in the mouth.)
###############
Anyone else having garbage woes? Ours wasn’t picked up last week,
despite one call midweek and another at the end of the week. The second
time, they had no record of the previous call or the reference number.
This week, the garbage finally got picked up, but the recycling is in
its third week of sitting out there. Is anyone getting satisfaction from
making on-line reports instead of calling in problems? I’ve always
gotten bupkis from those automated E-mail query programs.
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Crime Wave in Southeast DC
Joan Eisenstodt, jeisen@aol.com
From the Patrol Service Area 105 meeting on February 24: “Today’s
PSA105 meeting was devoted exclusively to the recent rash of robberies
around Fifth Street, SE, between East Capitol Street and Pennsylvania
Avenue, SE. The meeting was attended by over thirty local residents, six
Business Improvement District (BID) ambassadors, and ten MPD officers,
including our 1D1 Lieutenant. To recap, the home burglaries in question
occurred in late January and early February. The suspect is described as
an African-American male in his mid-30s with a round face, about 5’8"
to 5’10". He sometimes wears glasses and has usually been seen in
dark clothes and a knit cap. He has carried either a duffel bag or book
bag. His M.O. is to use a chisel or other tool to chip away the wood
around the front door lock and then kick the door in. He tends to steal
mostly laptops and jewelry, although he has been known to leave
expensive jewelry and overlook cash. This appears not to be an
especially professional thief, but he has been unusually prolific. He
rings doorbells or otherwise checks homes for occupants and leaves
quickly when confronted. He has not been reported to be seen carrying or
using a weapon.
“Since the first week of February, it appears that the burglar may
have moved across East Capitol Street to the NE side. All neighbors are
asked to be extra-vigilant for this suspect, who is likely responsible
for a one-man crime wave. If you see anyone resembling the suspect,
please call 311 or the 1D1 substation at 698-0068 immediately. The
police are on high alert for this individual and will respond rapidly.
He has been observed by others checking doors up and down blocks. If you
see anyone engaged in this type of suspicious behavior, again, please
call 311 or the 1D1 substation as quickly as possible.”
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MPD Seeks Your Thoughts with New Community
Survey
Kevin Palmer, kevin.palmer@dc.gov
The Metropolitan Police Department is conducting a community survey
designed to identify ways to improve services to all community members.
Information from the survey will be used to help understand the specific
needs of the community and determine which programs have been successful
and those that may need additional attention.
District residents and business owners, commuters, and visitors are
welcome to participate in the survey. Members of the community may
complete the surveys online at http://www.mpdc.dc.gov/communitysurvey
or via a paper form. Collection boxes for the hard copies of the survey
are available in every police district station and substation, as well
as in all twenty-two DC public libraries. To find the MPD facility
closest to you, visit http://www.mpdc.dc.gov/districts.
A list of public library locations is available at http://www.dclibrary.org/branches.
Additionally, hard copies may be completed and mailed to MPDC
Headquarters. Survey respondents are asked to complete the survey by
March 14, whether they do so electronically or via a printed form. Your
answers are confidential and will be used only to help the Department
understand community issues. MPD plans to track its progress over time
through additional surveys just like this. For more information about
the survey, please contact Annie Russell, Director of the Policing for
Prevention Division, at 727-1585 or E-mail her at annie.russell@dc.gov.
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Why So Many Candidates?
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
Just read in today’s Post that there are thirty-nine
candidates who have filed for the Council seats in Wards 4 and 7. Must
be a lot of basketball fans in those Wards.
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DC’s Transportation Infrastructure Crisis
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
While attention remains locked on DC’s real or imagined public
education crisis, the city’s transportation crisis is unfolding
largely unnoticed. It is well on its way to a ‘breaking point’
because the lead times to add urban infrastructure are so long, the
decisions so difficult, and the necessary vision so scarce. DC’s
growing, predictable transportation problems are apparently staying
under the purview of the Council’s Public Works and Environmental (and
Alcohol Regulation?) Committee. That committee is now chaired by Ward 1’s
Jim Graham, who has had a singularly unremarkable stint as DC’s rep on
WMATA’s Board. His first act as chair (on February 27) will be to
approve the appointment of Emeka Moneme as Director of DDoT. Moneme has
had a short and relatively undistinguished career as a “management
consultant”; as a Department of Public Works staffer who helped
Tangherlini create a separate DDoT; and then as chief of staff to
Tangherlini in his own short, undistinguished career at Metro.
Moneme’s first big splash at DDoT has been to kick off a “master
plan” for DC pedestrians (“now that we are becoming a walking
city...”). Graham’s first big splash in his new role is to replay
his predecessor’s locally-focused mid-November roundtable hearings on
the future of the Whitehurst Freeway, a key regional arterial. Neither
has demonstrated any particular technical, analytical, or planning
expertise. Meanwhile, there are extensive plans to redecorate DC’s
surface transportation infrastructure, but no plans for improving
vehicular traffic flow in and around the city; no plans to increase the
availability of, or revenues from, municipal parking; no plans to extend
Metrorail’s coverage to DC’s underserved, still impoverished, areas;
or to increase its capacity and redundancy in and around the vulnerable
downtown area. If you like our national capital’s indifference to its
current mobility problems and the need for major decision-making, stick
around for another ten years of inattention and watch it choke off its
own economic future and regional leadership.
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Why the Metrobuses Are Badly Driven
Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com
Bus drivers tell me two problems are the cause of the bad bus driving
we’ve all seen. First, the labor pool. Once you’ve eliminated drug
users, alcoholics, criminals, illiterates, and sociopaths, you’ve got
graduating classes of five out of thirty.
Second, because of the shortage of good people, Metro is short of
personnel — and, just like the police did in 1989, they’re hiring a
lot of people and training them too quickly.
The drivers know that many of the bus drivers aren’t trained
properly, but they’ve been threatened with firing if they expose what
Metro is currently doing.
###############
Blaming the Victims
Ken Katz, kskatz at toad dot net
In response to Nancee Lyons’ post (themail, February 21): of course
there are dangerous pedestrian, cyclists, and drivers, all of whom ought
to repent. However such a general point is totally irrelevant to the
specific case of the two women struck down at 7th Street and
Pennsylvania Avenue, at least so far as the public facts remain. They
were within the cross walk and had the walk signal (at least when they
started across, which is appropriate). In July 2006, while crossing
Connecticut Avenue at Fessenden Street, NW, I was also within the
crosswalk (already about a third across the street) with the cross
signal when a school bus driver making a left turn onto Connecticut
Avenue ran me down. Having lived in our neighborhood 8.5 years, crossing
Connecticut on average four times a day, I can only say I am surprised
it took so long before I was injured in such a fashion. I watch vehicles
drive through both the stop sign where 36th Street meets Fessenden and
the red light at the Fessenden/Connecticut intersection every single
morning and most afternoons during the rush hours. The astonishingly
naive assumption that traffic cameras mitigate such behavior at
intersections other than the one where the cameras are situated is
easily shown to be wishful thinking, as one watches the very same
vehicles stopping one block north of Connecticut at Nebraska Avenue when
there is a red light and a camera, and not even slowing down before
going through the red light at Fessenden Street.
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Bullpens and the School Takeover
Paul Wilson, dcmcrider-at-gmail-dot-com
I read with interest the long Post piece on the new Fenty (and
staff) digs in the Wilson Building [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/19/AR2007021900984.html].
While the comparison may seem superficial, I think there’s a
connection between this new office environment and the hasty and
ill-conceived schools takeover. Both appear to make ceaseless movement
and youthful energy substitutes for thoughtful and sober
decision-making. Both seem to display little patience for traditions, or
the kinds of detail-oriented tasks, retail politics, and stakeholder
buy-in that comprise effective and long-lasting public policy.
Both are also connected in that they represent the apotheosis of a
management fad and novelty for novelty’s sake. The bullpen arises from
the heady days of the late-90s dot-com bubble and, prior to that,
Carville/Clinton-era “war rooms.” City school takeovers are of
similar vintage. Of course, it bears mentioning that as fads go, the
schools takeover is a bit out of date and Washington has showed up at
the party very late. Going out of date quickly is the nature of fads,
after all, as the gaudy circus parade moves on to the next new thing.
What happens when the mayor, just like his predecessor, tires of
“school reform” and moves on to something more interesting and
perhaps a little easier? If he tires of the bullpen or finds it
unworkable, it’s a matter of moving a few partitions and some wiring.
The collateral damage of a failed mayoral schools takeover will be a bit
more severe.
On the other hand, the conference rooms in the mayor’s bullpen have
large windows, as symbols of openness and citizen access. Perhaps the
council’s “executive session” and “breakfast” meetings could
be held in similar surroundings, in the absence of effective open
meetings laws. The press could take crash courses in lip reading.
###############
We all talk against the takeover of the public schools by Fenty’s
Marauders, but what each of us must understand is that it is not about
the education of the children, as we are led to believe. It is about the
greed of the developer friends of the Heralds (councilmembers) and
Marauders (developers and want-to-be’s) who are in lockstep in the
belief that they can bamboozle the residents of this city into siding
with them in their quest to once more shake the money tree without
anyone suspecting what they are up to. When you look at the amount of
money budgeted for school building construction/maintenance and the
number of vacant school buildings and the property they sit on, it
becomes very clear why the business community is so enamored of the
prospects of getting their little grubby hands on that much
profit-making business. Once they can extend their influence upon the
Congress to invoke their will on the residents of this city, entitling
them to proceed with the takeover, the education of the children will
become a low priority in the vast money grubbing scheme. Ask yourselves,
if this so called plan of theirs doesn’t work, what will become of the
education of the children? Will they blame themselves or will they give
back to a school board the remnants of a failed effort to have their
cake and eat it too? Just think what they could do with Cardozo High
School property if they could close it. It would be the largest
development project in the whole city, with condos, apartments, and an
enclosed mini shopping mall with underground parking. What a deal this
would be. Developers have long had their eyes on that property. My
advice to all is to stop focusing on the hole in the donut, but keep
your eyes on the whole donut.
###############
School Board’s “Plan” — Not
Ed T Barron, edtb1@macdotcom
Today’s Post headlines that the school board’s plan for
reforming the District’s schools is unveiled. It’s not a plan. It’s
a vision and not even a mission at this point, much less a plan. A real
plan has specific, time oriented, measurable goals with a back up set of
objectives for each goal. Then, showing who is responsible and
accountable for each of the goals, the plan has some real meat. When all
of the goals are met, then the mission is accomplished. I’m still
waiting for the opposing forces, who want to control the schools, to
show us the beef.
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Lead in DCPS Water: School Sampling Reports
Erich Martel, Wilson High School, ehmartel at starpower
dot net
Recent testimony before Councilmember Jim Graham’s Committee on
Public Works and the Environment disclosed that several DCPS schools
still showed levels of lead in some fountains and sinks that exceeded
EPA standards.
The following links were provided by Prof. Marc Edwards, the Virginia
Tech civil engineering professor and specialist on EPA standards for
lead in drinking water. 1) Link to pdf files on the following schools:
Bowen, Deal, Ferebee-Hope, Hamilton, Hearst, Janney, Kenilworth, Mann,
Marie-Reed, Sharpe Health, Shepherd, Simon, Stuart-Hobston, Taft,
Watkins, Wilkinson: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/edwardsm/.
2) Link to evidence that a child was poisoned by lead from drinking
water at Wilkinson elementary in 2004: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2006/11/27/lead/index_np.html,
http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/nov/policy/rr_dcwater.html.
3) WAMU story about another child who was lead-poisoned: http://wamu.org/news/06/09/lead_questions.php.
4) Story about the sampling process used in DCPS a year ago that did not
follow EPA lead sampling protocols: http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2006/may/science/rr_mislead.html.
Prof. Edwards wrote, “That is why we have a national EPA standard
protocol, which unfortunately, never has been followed at DCPS. If you
read the ES+T article from last May, you can read exactly why the lead
looked low back in DCPS in 2004 when it really was not. Some of the
things they did in 2004 to make the lead look low have now been banned
explicitly.” 5) For background read here: http://www.newsobserver.com/114/story/456206.html,
http://www.reflector.com/local/content/news/stories/2007/01/19/1_19_07_lead_in_water.html,
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/06/060630095556.htm.
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The Education Crisis in the Nation’s Capital
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net
Gary’s ability to raise creative, if sometimes contentious, issues
twice a week deserves the admiration of all themail’s readers. Surely
Wednesday’s redefining of the word “crisis” (themail, February 21)
and reframing of DC’s public education problems will bring a variety
of responses. Arguing that the city’s most basic long-range problems
should be addressed objectively and within the framework of our
democratic processes is unassailable. Arguing that if problems are not
abrupt emergencies they are not crises is not semantically correct. The
word’s Greek roots suggest decision-making: a turning point stimulated
by the future consequences of accumulated unresolved problems (viz.,
Webster’s examples of midlife crisis and environmental crisis) and
afforded by current opportunity. DC’s energetic new city
administration provides new opportunity. Continued overproduction of
underachieving residents presents real risks to our national capital
stature. Foreseeing an approaching breaking point beyond which the
likely outcome is unacceptable can surely qualify as a crisis. The real
crux of the decision to act is a valid understanding of the core
problems and practical remedies.
Continued operation of a crumbling school physical infrastructure
which is double its needed size; aging beyond the point of sensible
repair; and being maintained by inept personnel below any acceptable
American occupancy standard, surely constitutes a short-term problem
qualifying for immediate, autocratic, bull-pen-type action. On the other
hand, the consequences of an endemic social infrastructure that destroys
the ability of many DC kids to learn is a cumulative long-term problem
requiring very different citywide, if not regional solutions. It is an
unacceptable fact that the dismal fate of the DCPS Class of 2020 is
already pretty well assured, even if the plumbing is fixed. That is a
truly real crisis, but one that cannot be resolved by a school board,
frenetic bullpen activity, or even a romantic democratic process.
###############
Thank you for writing about this misguided abuse of our meager
political rights as DC residents. As you said [themail, February 21],
there is no hysterical, needed rush. The citizens should vote and while
the issue is being vetted before voted on we can learn and get real
commitments. Giving Councilpersons a line-item veto is a bad sop to get
them to support the plan. However, the biggest issue is the fact that
the mayor will be constantly confronted with balancing claims from
public works, housing, transportation, etc., against the needs of the
students/schools.
###############
I thank councilmembers, our mayor, DC public school officials, and
others for all the wonderful works they partake towards improving the
lives of thousands of diverse constituents, in DC. It is good to have
hearings and other communications to sort out and decide whether to
support or vote yea or nay in regard to whether the councilmembers
should wait for another month to place the school concerns on the ballot
as a referendum or wait until two councilmembers are elected and sworn
into office? Should the DC public school board or our mayor control the
DC public schools?
It is my view, however, that it is not about whether our mayor or the
school board should control the DC public schools, but rather about the
vital and serious business of immediately integrating and implementing
in our schools at some level according to resources available, a system
that has shown high achievements from its students in DC for DC is
unique. It is a the capital of USA and a territory and not a state. Its
governance is unique in regard to funding, infrastructure and other
concerns across the country and elsewhere.
One example of a school that has students with high achievement
standards is St.. John College High School (SJCHS), which has 99 percent
of its students who graduate from the twelfth grade complete their BA or
BS degree. SJCHS has a web site that has software that holds the
teacher, student, and parent or guardian accountable daily for school
assignments, grades, student behavior guidelines, and so forth. Stated
written data is readily available daily so that the teacher, students,
parents or guardians, and wrap-around service partnership individuals
can know what areas that they need to work amicably together on for the
best possible achievement for students.
Our councilmembers, mayor, school board, parents, guardians, and
other public individuals need to visit St. John College High School or
similar schools today and begin to integrate the implementation of
high-achievement programs with firm bench marks that will start working
within thirty to ninety days. I understand that some public schools at
least have E-mail addresses at which parents, guardians, and teachers,
wrap-around service partnership individuals, and others can E-mail one
another about students, and so on. All can build structure around
achievement programs that work, using realistic, respectful to all, but
firm benchmarks with constant feedback to ensure sound footing.
Students and guardians and others can use the computers in schools,
at libraries, at Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) offices,
Kinko’s, and so on. This is the capitol of the USA, and should be the
educational role model for others all over the world to follow in regard
to our youths receiving the best education possible.
###############
DC Should Focus on Core
Competencies
Kathryn A. Pearson-West, wkpw3@aol.com
Does the nation’s capital always have to lead by crisis management?
Rather than operating in crisis mode as a way to govern and legislate or
branching out with yet another new high priority agency or cabinet
official and begin to mark one’s legacy, DC leaders should take time
to examine its core competencies — providing quality basic services to
DC residents, businesses, the faith community, Federal government,
tourists, commuters, and nonprofits — and master that before branching
out too quickly into other areas.
What does DC do best already and what should it be doing well that it
is not? What has become the role of government and how big does it need
to be to accomplish its mission? How many priorities can it effectively
champion at once and how do priorities get classified as such? How many
special interest groups, special constituent groups, maladies, or
problems will find a new high salaried cabinet level champion for that
cause? How many agencies have been created or split in half or thirds
within the last decade? How many new departments, independent
authorities, and receiverships have been created or imposed in the last
few years and how many are anticipated (e.g., construction authority for
the schools or dividing or collapsing the health or housing
responsibilities) during this four year term? What’s on the table for
these four years? What is the role of the business, faith community,
labor, and general citizenry when it comes to government as a major
service provider or broker or advocate of services? Should government
act as a bully pulpit to garner support and generate interest on a
common agenda, or should it toss out pet proposals that turn neighbor
against neighbor, friend against friend, and so forth rather than
bringing people together to move an agenda efficiently? A new
administration needs to bring people together so that it can govern well
and not alienate the people with proposals that effectively dilute their
rights and usurp the power of some leaders without voter approval. The
school takeover is a prime example of this.
During the first month of this new DC administration, a good thing
was done. The discussion about education was elevated to an all-time
high and positive values toward education were reinforced. In the same
breath of new hope and energy, this same administration managed to
alienate and antagonize half the city’s stakeholders instead of
bringing them together. It essentially started a war with other elected
leaders, stakeholders, and with those that hold the right to vote as
sacred. One could only hope that this administration could manage to
antagonize and engage in war with the criminals and drug lords that seem
to have gotten a new grip on the city in short time. In the first two
months, criminals have sought their share of the attention in the
limelight by increasing their risk taking behavior with more crime.
Instead, the new DC administration -- mayor and council members --
choose to take on the schools before demonstrating that it can handle
such things, like snow removal, public safety, affordable housing
development, healthcare, economic development, Add to that feeding the
hungry, housing the homeless, providing for foster children and
underprivileged youth in and out of jail, reducing unemployment and
training the unskilled, and proving hope to the hopeless. DC has already
expanded into sports management and facility development. It appeared to
be warring with independent economic development independent authorities
and decided to run at least one itself. What one previous administration
giveth, another administration taketh away. To prove itself early in the
new tenure, this administration seems to be trying to take on as much as
possible as quickly as possible to prove to the voters that their
expectations are justified and to take control before citizens learn
that they shouldn’t be the ones to do so. The city is taking on
everything, exacerbating an already full plate and perhaps not doing any
one thing well. DC government should take a minute to develop a brand
identify that says it is able and is doing well, instead of that it is
responsible and accountable yet does little well but screams for more
responsibility. DC can take some time to improve its procurement process
since the General Accounting Office has said that it bears watching. At
least it could do that well.
The school system is one of those independent agencies with its own
governing board that should stay that way, away from the political fray
and priorities of mainstream DC government. The school system is its own
24/7 priority that needs daily attention by an independent authority not
further encumbered by an unyielding, top-heavy bureaucracy. There is an
eighteen-month proposal on the table by the Board of Education. It
should be tweaked a little and milestones/benchmarks made clear and
realistic to stakeholders. The school system under the superintendent
and school board should address the issue of boredom in schools that
lead to young people losing in interest in school or not grasping the
concepts they need to excel. Education must be viewed as the ticket to
the American dream and the ticket out of poverty. Those that achieve a
quality education in the nation’s capital must be seen getting some of
the quality jobs there. Too many of the suburbanites get the jobs when
many of our young people are qualified and have gotten a good college
education. Global competitiveness must be on the table as should the
ability to speak in other key foreign languages and to speak well
grammatically and creatively in the English language.
The new school board must show its responsiveness to the people by
putting the superintendent on the fast track to what our school system
needs. If he is the problem with execution of ideas and management of
resources, and he may or may not be as the jury is still out, then get
someone else to do the job. But then he could be great while there may
be are other stumbling blocks in his way that elected leaders can help
eliminate without changing the governance structure. The city shouldn’t
try to shelve the whole democratic process and governance structure to
get at one school administrator or possibly to get at capable leaders
that threaten the competition. While this new re-energized school board
tackles education in a new light, the city can shore up its core
competencies and make us proud that our city is moving forward. Many
voters and citizens in general are looking for a partnership and
collaboration between the school system and the general DC government,
not a war between them or takeover in the first quarter of new
leadership.
Unfortunately we are in an era where blaming, criticizing, and
pointing the finger is the mode of operation instead of facilitating a
climate where all leaders can work together and voters can rely on
government to protect their rights while making needed changes. DC
citizens are ready any day to talk education, uplifting our school
system and children and families, and empowering our leaders to do more,
not rushing to judgment and a takeover before new leadership gets a
chance to prove itself and ignoring the citizens’ right to say yea or
nay or any proposals to change the home rule. And by the way, citizens
that defend process and rights are not guardians or champions of the
status quo. We want change but want it done right and not at the expense
of our rights based on political rhetoric and game playing. Education is
serious business and so is the right to vote at any level. During this
discourse, one trusts that city leaders will learn that they work for
all the taxpayers and voters, and not for themselves or the special few
special interests. DC citizens matter.
###############
I erred in my letter to themail last Sunday [themail, February 18].
It should have read that Jenifer Street and Wisconsin Avenue has been
deemed one of the most dangerous intersections outside the Central
Business District, rather than the most dangerous intersection in the
city.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Ward 5 Dems Meeting, February 26
Hazel B. Thomas, thomashazelb@aol.com
The Ward 5 Democrats will meet on Monday, February 26, at 7:00 p.m.,
at the Michigan Park Christian Church, Taylor Street at South Dakota
Avenue, NE. The meeting will continue the discussion on school
governance reform with a presentation by Robert Bobb, president of the
DC Board of Education.
###############
The Cabinet of Curiosities
,
February 27
India Young, india.young@dc.gov
February 27, 7:00 p.m., Takoma Park Neighborhood Library, 416 Cedar
Street, NW. Takoma Park Branch Book Club. Enjoy a lively book discussion
of The Cabinet of Curiosities by Douglas Preston and Lincoln
Child. For more information, call 576-7252.
###############
Save Public Property for Public Use, March 10
Parisa Norouza, parisa@empowerdc.org
Help save public property for public use, not private profit. Attend
the Public Property Action Summit and come to build a strong coalition.
Saturday, March 10, 1-4 p.m., Reeves Center, 14th and U Streets, NW. For
more information, contact Parisa Norouzi, Empower DC, 234-9119, parisa@empowerdc.org.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE
Original Hopkins Maps of DC from 1887
Paul Williams, DCHouseHistory@aol.com
I have thirty-three duplicate Hopkins Maps printed and hand colored
in 1887 that I’m selling on eBay this week! These are the large
(approximately 3 by 2 feet) maps that highly document Washington and
show each and every house, carriage house, fuel shed, post box, and
sewer line. They are quite fascinating, and were hand colored to show
the type of building material (wood, brick, stone), as well as type of
street paving, etc. I’m selling them one at a time so you can either
complete your collection, or buy the map where your house or office is
located today. They would look great framed, and each needs a good, new
home. They give a great indication of how Washington looked in 1887; K
Street was then lined with mansions and townhouses, for example, and the
National Mall was mostly underwater. I’ve never seen Hopkins maps on
eBay in the fifteen or so years I’ve been buying, so its easy to find
them: just put in a search at eBay.com for “Hopkins Map” and you’ll
find all thirty-three listed!
###############
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