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June 17, 2007

Judging

Dear Judges:

As an uncritical advocate of and cheerleader for Mayor Fenty’s takeover of the school system, the Washington Post editorial board reached a new low last Friday, in “Judging Ms. Rhee” (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/14/AR2007061401845.html). The editorial writers urged the city council and the voters to ignore the illegal process that was used to nominate Michelle Rhee as chancellor of the school system. In fact, they calculatingly diminished the illegality by saying that the mayor merely “gave short shrift to consultations with the community and the DC council,” and then claiming that concerns over the many illegalities are nothing but “bruised feelings about process.” I can’t remember the last time the Post took such a casual attitude toward public officials’ skirting the law, and was so cavalierly dismissive of it.

The importance of the review process for chancellor candidates was not just that it was legally required by the law that Mr. Fenty wrote; it is that it was the sole vehicle for public input into choosing a chancellor. Fenty not only stacked the review committee with his friends, cronies, and employees; he failed to appoint them officially and then deliberately did not inform them of the candidates or, rather, of the sole candidate. As Post reporters noted in their major series of articles last week, the schools will not improve until and unless every public sector — not just the mayor and his chancellor, but also the city council, parents, and the public in general — work cooperatively. But the mayor does not want to work cooperatively; he does not want to involve the council, parents, and the public in his plans. He wants to go it alone, to work as a lone wolf. That is why he didn’t consult with anyone in choosing Ms. Rhee, and that is why his future moves on the school system will be made without the participation or even the knowledge of the citizens. The determination to exclude the council, parents, and the public from decision making and even from discussions is also why Mr. Fenty and Ms. Rhee will have so much difficulty involving them in their plans for the schools, and getting their cooperation in implementing those plans.

It is now up the city council to hold real confirmation hearings, not just routine pro forma hearings, on the most important nomination Fenty has made. The Post editorialists have signaled that they have prejudged how those hearings should go, and they have already dismissed any negative information that may be uncovered in those hearings as nothing more than “uninformed attacks from those who make a cottage industry of naysaying.” But the closed minds of Post editorial writers should not discourage councilmembers or citizens from doing their duties.

Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com

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Rhee’s “Outstanding Success in the Classroom”?
Marc Borbely, borbely@fixourschools.net

Michelle Rhee may have zero experience running a school district or anything else like it, but at least she worked miracles teaching in a Baltimore elementary school from 1992-1995. Or at least she and Mayor Fenty say she did. “Rhee worked with 2nd and 3rd graders scoring at the 13th percentile on nationally recognized standardized tests. By the end of her second year with the same students, 90 percent of them were scoring at the 90th percentile,” Fenty said in his statement on June 12 (http://dc.gov/mayor/news/release.asp?cp=1&id=1122). His numbers came from Rhee’s resume (also posted at http://www.tntp.org/whoweare/leadershipteam.html). “Her outstanding success in the classroom earned her acclaim on Good Morning America and The Home Show, as well as in the Wall Street Journal and the Hartford Courant,” her web site has said since at least September 2004 (http://www.nctq.org/nctq/about/rhee.html). “Her outstanding success in the classroom earned her acclaim in the national media,” the mayor said in his statement.

A search of Wall Street Journal archives reveals no “acclaim” brought by her “outstanding success in the classroom” — just a brief item on May 15, 2001, announcing Ms. Rhee’s search for a Chief Technology Officer (“Help Wanted: Teacher Group Seeks Tech Help”). Hartford Courant articles on March 20, 1994 (“A Mixed Grade for Private Firm”), and June 6, 1994 (“EAI in Baltimore: A Mixed Report”), simply quote her as a somewhat struggling second-grade teacher, speaking in favor of the changes implemented by Education Alternatives Inc., the for-profit company that was running her school. According to a report by the federal government (GAO/HEHS-96-3, “Private Management of Public Schools”), test scores dropped in 1992-1993, the first year Ms. Rhee and EAI were in Baltimore, and then increased over the next two years. But even with that increase, there was no overall test score improvement, compared to other Baltimore public schools. See http://StateOfColumbia.com for reporting by Jeff Steele.

Did Ms. Rhee really perform the test score magic she says she did? Hopefully the media and city council will ask for details: On what test, and in what years, did her students score at the 13th, and then at the 90th percentile? Were these incredible results published anywhere? If not, how were they communicated to her?

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Qualifications to Be an Administration Law Judge
Gillion Whitehall, gillion.whitehall@gmail.com

The recent $54 million dollar law suit involving a DC administrative law judge makes one wonder about the qualifications one must have to be an administrative law judge for the DC government. One would think, at the very least, an administrative judge should be licensed to practice law in DC and should be a DC resident. Such is not the case for Judge Leslie A. Meek, the wife of Florida Congressman Kendrick Meek. She is not a DC resident, nor is she licensed to practice law in DC. Yet she presides over disabliity compensation matters at the Department of Employment Services. Is there a correlation between her husband’s position and her DC employment?

It is worth noting that she is assigned only public sector cases. Presumably, insurance companies and private corporations would not stand for an unlicensed judge deciding cases that would impact their fiscal bottom line. For that reason, she is only assigned cases involving DC government employees. The impact would only be on the taxpayers.

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Residential Parking Enforcement
Regina Carmen Page, reginacarmenpage@aol.com

Why is residential parking being aggressively enforced in Ward 6 areas where residential properties have been demolished, and the lots are under construction? There is no existing residential or commercial property on these blocks, and no inhabitants, other than rats, located in the area bound by K, L, 3rd and 4th Streets, SE.

In September 2005, I E-mailed this issue to the office of Councilmember Carol Schwartz, who was then-Chair of the Committee on Public Works and the Environment. In response, her office stated that the issue would be referred to a DDOT Program Manager, and subsequently a parking specialist would be assigned to remove obsolete Residential Permit signs

I reside in Ward 4, where pleas for enforcement to preserve parking for vehicles legitimately registered by actual residents, are routinely ignored. So how does this no-account practice square with a government that has lately promoted improved service accountability?

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Who’s Kidding Who?
Ed T Barron, edtb1@mac.com

There’s a whole lot of folks smoking some funny smelling cigarettes here in DC. They really think that DC will get a representative in Congress. Yes, the Senate Committee has recommended that the bill be voted on by the full Senate (perhaps sometime next week). But, who in their right minds believe that the full Senate will have enough votes to pass the legislation, or ever have enough votes to override a certain presidential veto?

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Proud Dads of the World Unite!
Samuel Jordan, samunomas@msn.com

Liberate Your Chilluns!
Claim them, Name them, Love them
Celebrate them, Educate them
Tell them how the world works, then show them how to change it
They were born on your watch, so watch them
Don’t throw them into the ocean, takeover the ship!
Love them fiercely. There is much danger for us in these times.

Friends, I’m inspired today to reach out to the Dads of the known world. Including those who, like myself, haven’t been perfect, but keep trying — never seeking to shift the blame for the occasional error, oversight, and perhaps a few lapses of judgment. Your chilluns are the best judges of the quality of your efforts. Ask for your report card when you feel “man enough.” You can’t fool them anyway, they’ve taken too many notes. I’ve engaged in some Father’s Day introspection today and have emerged a bit stronger looking forward to each of the next 197 father’s days left in 2007, hoping I can provide timely leadership or support to my own offspring when appropriate. And in keeping with the spirit of the day, I’m mindful of the absolute distinction I felt when my dad reached out and hugged me among his chilluns while “overjoyed” to receive another tie and handkerchief set (alternating years with three pairs of socks). I knew all along that it was the hug that was more important — and that was free. (See my daughter Eisa’s interview on page 56 in the East of the River June issue.)

Jordan Kyle, Eisa, Khalil, and Anise, listen up. I am my father’s blood pumping through my mother’s heart. Tell all the other chilluns, their dads and moms too, that we will not be going down with the ship. Happy Father’s Day!

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It’s the Ego, Stupid
Brigid Quinn, brigidq@yahoo.com

In just five months, Fenty and his administration have managed to master the pervasive ignorance and arrogance it took the Bush administration a few years to perfect. It’s amazing to watch, but equally disheartening.

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Former Fenty Supporter
Roger Scott, roger.scott@earthlink.net

Are there any other Fenty supporters who are feeling betrayed and ashamed? This is not even a point of wait and see the results. This is all political and all bad. I really felt that he would be transparent, that he would create a different way to govern this city. He is on track to be worst of the worst. There are some current and former DCPS administrators who can save the system. He brings in this person? (Insert explicative here.) Everything that has been done so far appears to be in the best interest of a friend’s pocket and not the children of this city.

Ms. Linda Cropp, I’m so very sorry! With all my heart, I’m sorry!

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Arrested Development
William Haskett, williamhaskett@hotmail.com

Is there no provision for what used to be called recall in the District of Columbia’s Charter? I don’t, of course, know what the courts will eventually make of Ms. Brizill’s arrest for “assault,” but it smacks a great deal more of President Bush’s attitude towards the constraints of the legal system than of Mayor Bloomberg’s reforms of the New York Public Schools. I fully believe that awkward questions produce pains in anatomy, but if even a fraction of what is alleged in the last issue of themail is correctly reported, then we are all in trouble from an overweening ego in the groups surrounding our present mayor. And a simple question suggests itself: where, oh where, is the city council in all of this?

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Recall Countdown
Michael Bindner, mikeybdc at yahoo dot com

As of Sunday, there are 197 days left to go until recall petitions can be filed against officials that took office this past January 2. If you want to use the time productively, find a way to have the Board of Elections and Ethics prune the voter lists to automatically delete any voter who has not voted in the last two federal elections (the usual standard, which is not practiced in DC). This is vital to any recall, because those absent voters make it harder to gather the requisite number of signatures.

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Thank You
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com

I want to personally thank all of you for your calls, E-mails, and kind words of support and encouragement.

In Wednesday’s issue of themail (June 13), I wrote about my being falsely accused of assault and arrested after I went to Deputy Mayor Victor Reinoso’s office to get the work telephone number of Jackie Pinkney-Hackett, Director of the Office of Parent and Community Involvement. On Thursday morning, I attended Mayor Fenty’s press conference at the Wilson Building, where he announced the appointment of Allan Lew to head the School Facilities Modernization Office. In response to my question, Fenty had his staff made Pinckney-Hackett’s telephone number available. According to the mayor’s office, she can be reached at 727-0953.

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Below the Public’s Radar?
Len Sullivan, lsnarpac@bellatlantic.net

While most of DC’s attention has focused recently on the still-unfolding public school takeover, other issues key to our capital city’s long-range future have also been skittering briefly across the media’s radar screen. Why does the Washington National Cathedral now have better urban parking facilities than planned for DC’s new baseball stadium? Does it matter that DC’s adult black population has now dropped from five times the national average to four times? Why are downtown businesses adding a few more top floors to existing buildings while the nearby suburbs embrace real economic growth? NARPAC’s opinions for June can be found at http://www.narpac.org/INTHOPHO.HTM.

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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS

DC Public Library Events, June 18-19
Randi Blank, randi.blank@dc.gov

Monday, June 18, 6:00 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Room 222. All the World’s a Stage Film Club. We will view The Beauty Academy of Kabul (2004) This documentary tracks a group of American women (including some Afghan emigres from the 1980s) who open a beauty school in Afghanistan. Directed by Liz Mermin.

Tuesday, June 19, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Petworth Neighborhood Library, 4200 Kansas Avenue, NW. Are you a Harry Potter fan? The purple, traveling Harry Potter Knight Bus will make a stop at the Petworth Neighborhood Library, and 225 lucky kids in fourth grade and up will get to share their love of the Harry Potter books on video. Register until June 8 by calling 541-6296.

Tuesday, June 19, 6:30 p.m., Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial Library, 901 G Street, NW, Great Hall. Juneteenth Celebration. The Black Studies Division of the District of Columbia Public Library presents “From Slavery to Civil Rights,” a celebration featuring Dr. Frank Smith, Founder and Director of the African American Civil War Museum; the All Soul Jubilee Singers; and the Metropolitan Black Arts Community Council. For more information, please call 882-7410.

Tuesday, June 19, 7:30 p.m., Palisades Neighborhood Library, 4901 V Street, NW. Are you a philatelist? Come to a meeting of the Palisades Stamp Club. For more information, call 282-3139.

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The Big Draw, June 23
Lauren Searl, lsearl@nbm.org

Saturday, June 23, 10:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. The Big Draw with David Macaulay. Jump start your summer fun and the opening of the David Macaulay: The Art of Drawing Architecture exhibition at this hands-on, fun-for-all event. The first US event of its kind, the National Building Museum’s Big Draw is offered in association with a UK-wide initiative of the same name organized by the Campaign for Drawing. Featuring architect and illustrator David Macaulay himself, the Big Draw invites visitors of all ages to shake off their fear of drawing and try some fun and interactive sketching exercises that promote a new way of seeing and understanding the world around us. Full of surprises, caricature artists, face painters, sidewalk artists, and lots of visitor-led drawing experiences, this is a day sure to please! For more information on the Campaign for Drawing, visit www.drawingpower.org.uk. Free. All ages. Drop-in program. No registration required. At the National Building Museum, 401 F Street, NW, Judiciary Square stop, Metro Red Line.

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Shiloh Festival of Hymns, June 24
Hazel Thomas, thomashazelb@aol.com

Join Shiloh Baptist Church and the Choirs of Shiloh, under the direction of Thomas Dixon Tyler, for a festival of hymns on Sunday, June 24, at 4:00 p.m. at the church, located at 1500 9th Street, NW. The concert will be a tribute to the great hymns of the church. Emphasis will be focused on the scriptural message conveyed by hymns and their relevance to contemporary life. Many of the hymns will be performed in four-part harmony as anthems with the instrumentation of an orchestra and timpani and the incomparable talent of Everett P. Williams, Jr., guest organist.

The concert is free and open to all. For more information or directions to Shiloh Baptist Church, call 232-4288

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CLASSIFIEDS — FOR SALE

Notebook Computer
Stoney Harris, ahjgroup2005@yahoo.com

IBM Thinkpad notebook computer, used. Runs but needs minor repairs, best offer over $75.00 may pick up this notebook, with business software installed, Internet ready. Call Stoney at 341-9890.

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