Why the Venom
Dear Erasers:
Last Wednesday, the Washington Post’s editorial board
downplayed the extent of the DCPS scandal about cheating on standardized
tests that was uncovered by USA Today by implying the problem was
limited to one school: “The report centered on Crosby S. Noyes
Education Center in Northeast Washington, credited with dramatic boosts
in student achievement. There were extraordinarily high numbers of
erasures for three years at the school. One Noyes classroom averaged
12.7 wrong-to-right erasures per student on a 2009 reading test when the
average for seventh-graders in all DC schools on that test was less than
one.” Then it went on to list all the possible innocent reasons for
such a high rate of erasures at Noyes that were speculated on by DCPS’s
investigator, Caveon. But in the same day’s Metro section,
reporter Bill Turque had given a more accurate assessment of the
scandal: “The issue emerged Monday when USA Today reported
unusually high rates of erasures on answer sheets in more than 100 DC
public schools from 2008 to 2010. At some schools, wrong answers were
replaced by correct ones at rates too high to be random, according to
statisticians consulted by the paper,” and also on that day Jay
Mathews’s blog said one of the most convincing things about the
scandal was that it was widespread through more than a hundred schools.
Of course, it may be too much to expect the Post’s editorial
board to read the whole long report and its supporting documents in a
competing newspaper, but they should have been able to describe the
extent of the cheating scandal accurately just by checking with a
reporter and a columnist in their own paper.
#####
Mathews and Turque, however, were caught in the middle of Michelle
Rhee’s contortions after USA Today’s investigation was
published. Rhee’s original reaction was to blast the USA Today reporters
as enemies of education reform. She then spoke with Mathews and told him
her initial comments were stupid and that cheating may have occurred.
And then she spoke with Ben Stein at Politico and claimed that
Mathews misquoted her — so that both Mathew’s article and Turque’s,
which was based on her interview with Mathews, were wrong.
#####
But the question is not how many reporters and columnists Rhee will
run over on her way to spinning the story. Rhee is gone from the DC
schools now. The issue is whether this will be a new day in DCPS. Kaya
Henderson’s reaction to the scandals, in her E-mail to DCPS principals
and administrators last Friday (which was reprinted in full by Turque on
Saturday), was “The one frustration I feel as a result of the recent
allegations is that it has sullied the reputation of our hard working
teachers and principals.” Henderson has telegraphed the message that
teachers and principals will be the targets and the victims of any
investigation that she or her allies run. If DCPS controls the
investigation of the cheating, no investigator will be allowed to look
into any potential involvement of DCPS administrators or central office.
Under Rhee and Fenty, the first priority of DCPS was to construct and
protect a false narrative of educational wonders in order to build
administrators’ careers and reputations, while ruining the careers and
reputations of hundreds of teachers. Below, Richard Rothblum asks me why
I feel venomous toward Rhee, when she “tried to shake the system out
of the doldrums.” That’s why.
#####
Post’s editorial downplaying the cheating scandal, “Cheating
Allegations Can’t Mask Real Gains in D.C.’s Schools,”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/cheating-allegations-cant-mask-real-gains-in-dcs-schools/2011/03/30/AFeh8Q5B_story.html
Rhee’s original response to USA Today article: http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/73991-day-three-documents#document/p76/a13060
Jay Matthews column quoting Rhee as backtracking on test
cheating issue:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/rhee-calls-her-remarks-on-test-erasures-stupid/2011/03/30/AFgUfe7B_print.html
Bill Turque’s article, “Rhee Now Concedes Students’
Test Answers May Have Been Erased,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/rhee-acknowledges-possible-cheating-on-school-tests/2011/03/30/AFBKaI5B_story.html
Jay Mathews’ blog item, “School List Reveals Size of
DC Test Answer Erasure Issue,” http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/class-struggle/post/school-list-reveals-size-of-dc-test-answer-erasure-issue/2011/03/29/AF5j7xrB_blog.html
Politico article in which Rhee says Jay Matthews
misquoted her:
Ben Smith, “Rhee, DC Defend Test Investigation,” http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0311/Rhee_DC_defends_test_investigation.html?showall
Bill Turque, “Henderson: Press Trying ‘To Knock Us
Off Our Game,’”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-schools-insider/post/henderson-press-trying-to-knock-us-off-our-game/2011/04/02/AFZSr5OC_blog.html
New York Magazine (correction, in the last issue
of themail, attributed to The New Yorker) profile of Rhee, March
20 issue, http://nymag.com/print/?/news/features/michelle-rhee-2011-3/
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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The Post’s Hatchet Job on the
District
Jack McKay, jack.mckay@verizon.net
“DC property crimes surge, and many say it may get worse,”,
shrieks the Post, in a top-of-the-page headline (Metro, March 28,
http://tinyurl.com/4jhj9ea).
Well, time to lock the doors, bar the windows, and maybe buy a gun,
right? Or perhaps just run away to safe suburbia. Post on-line
commenters are having a ball, at our expense: “those who choose to
live and work in DC deserve what that they get from the two-legged
predators who dwell there.” Oh, nice. “DC is a toilet, in need of
flushing!” Thanks for the great PR, Washington Post.
But the truth is, it’s all a myth, based on an utterly foolish
interpretation of crime statistics by the Post. Take their
leadoff line: “Burglaries in the Dupont Circle area have more than
tripled this year.” Oh, scary! But — tripled from what base? The Post
is looking at January-February-March numbers, which is to say, winter.
Does anybody recall what happened last February? Two monster snowstorms,
an all-time-record snow total for the month? Surprise, weather like that
makes crime rates plummet, burglary and robbery being basically outdoor
jobs. Consider the burglary totals for Dupont Circle for each winter,
2006 to 2011: 54, 34, 31, 45, 19, 54. What leaps out but that really low
number for the winter of 2010, just nineteen burglaries, less than half
the average. What’s happened in 2011 is that the burglary count has
returned to normal; 54 burglaries in 2006, 54 burglaries in 2011. This
looks like a “surging” in property crime only in comparison to the
extremely low count in 2010.
The same is true across the District. Property crimes everywhere
dropped to exceptionally low values last winter, thanks to the awful
weather. This winter has been mild, with negligible snow, and
seventy-degree temperatures in February. Guess what, property crimes are
back to normal. That’s not a “surging” in crime, it’s merely
returning to ordinary levels. “Property crime is surging across the
District in 2011,” cries the Post. What they mean is that total
property crimes in DC, 15 percent below the wintertime average last
year, are only 6 percent below that average this year. Yes, property
crimes in DC this winter have been lower than the average of the past
seven winters. But be afraid, says the Post, be very afraid! The Post
has taken a below-average crime rate and turned it into a scary “surge”
in crime. But I guess a headline telling the truth — “crime rates in
DC return to normal, after last winter’s weather-depressed rates”
— wouldn’t sell any papers.
###############
Opposition to AU Expansion Plans
Johanna Farley, johannarf61@gmail.com
A packed forum for at-large council candidates, sponsored by the Ward
3 Democratic Committee, was held Thursday evening, March 31, at St.
Columba’s Episcopal Church in northwest DC. All the candidates spoke
passionately about their opposition to city-wide university encroachment
into and destruction of neighborhoods. This was the number one issue on
the minds of those in the audience, judging by the numbers of those
carrying placards and signs, and distributing fliers decrying American
University’s expansion plans, with its attendant consequences of
increased traffic gridlock, crime, drugs, excessive drinking, noise, and
litter pollution.
Candidate Vincent Orange, former two-term councilmember, acknowledged
this in his opening remarks, as did the moderator of the forum, Tom
Sherwood of WRC-TV, in presenting questions submitted by the audience.
Sekou Biddle, the current at-large councilmember, stated that he had
attended an Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting at which AU had
presented their plans and characterized the university as “completely
tone deaf” to neighbors’ concerns. The other candidates
participating, Tom Brown, Joshua Lopez, Patrick Mara, Alan Page, and
Bryan Weaver, all expressed opposition to unbridled university expansion
without regard for the objectionable conditions it creates for
neighborhoods surrounding them. Both Brown and Weaver brought up the
subject of the tax breaks given to universities. Universities pay no
local taxes and every time they take up land in the surrounding
communities, those properties go off the tax rolls. Brown, in
particular, would like to see universities make payments to DC in lieu
of taxes.
Neighbors for a Livable Community (nlcnorthwestdc.org), a coalition
of neighborhood groups and associations from Spring Valley, Wesley
Heights, and Tenleytown, distributed handouts showing that the DC Crime
Policy Institute has designated AU’s core campus and the area of
Massachusetts Avenue that includes two apartment buildings where AU
students live as “high crime” areas. They included statistics on
numbers of crimes from AU’s own web site Public Safety Report. These
included forcible sexual offenses, aggravated assaults, burglaries,
defacement of property (vandalism), and alcohol and drug violations.
Besides representatives from neighborhoods surrounding American
University, representatives from neighborhoods around Georgetown, George
Washington, and Catholic Universities were also in the audience, showing
that this is truly a city-wide issue. For further information, contact
Neighbors for a Livable Community: Susan Farrell, 422-2261, and Mary
Ellen Fehrmann, 237-8774.
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Erasing the Rhee Miracle
Gwen Southerland, gwensouth@aol.com
[Re: “Erasing the Rhee Miracle,” themail, March 30] For about
eight years in the mid the 1980’s to the early 1990’s, I was a
full-time parent-volunteer at three different public schools in the
District of Columbia. My duties ranged from cutting out letters for the
bulletin board to serving as a substitute teacher when a regular teacher
was absent. I once even served as the substitute principal during an
extended illness of that principal. Even though the DCPS administration
sent a temporary principal to cover the absence, I was still considered
the point person in charge for the school.
Additionally, one of my duties as a parent volunteer was to proctor
during the testing period when the standardized tests were administered.
I did this at three different elementary schools, and at each school
there was a disturbing practice. Once the students were settled in, test
booklets distributed and with pencils in hand, the testing would begin.
Within minutes, the teacher would begin walking around the classroom
perusing each student’s paper. I observed a system of nonverbal
communication where the teacher would place a well-manicured index
finger on the student’s paper indicating that the marked answer was
incorrect. The finger was then placed on the correct answer and the
student would begin to vigorously erase on the answer sheet.
Appalled by this, I did make several suggestions to the principals,
and school administrators that this seemed to be cheating to me; and
that perhaps testing should be done away from the school (and the
teacher) or that the teacher should be instructed to remain at the front
of the classroom rather that circulating throughout the room. With the
recent disclosures that there may have been improprieties in recent test
scores due to high erasures, I was once again reminded of that practice
that I observed many years ago. I hope this is not the case this time;
perhaps the students did review their exams and changed the answers on
their own. But there is a nagging within me that says, “not so.”
###############
Gary, when are you going to give up the vendetta against Michelle
Rhee? Yes, making teacher evaluations partly dependent on the tested
progress of the students will invite cheating. Was there cheating in
this instance? The cheating was discovered internally, so far as I know.
When the higher number of erasures on a particular batch of tests was
discovered, further investigation was initiated. An outside investigator
concluded that there was no cheating. Is this a reason to discredit the
admittedly limited progress that was made during Mayor Fenty’s tenure?
Okay, the previous superintendent made some slight progress as well. The
fact is that the DC public schools are still abysmal in comparison to
other school systems around the country. Whatever we have been doing up
to this point has been a failure. Rhee tried to shake the system out of
the doldrums. Why the venom?
###############
Erasing the Rhee Miracle
T. Lassoc, cei76@aol.com
Rhee Whiz, Gary, you’re right and right on point [themail, March
30].
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Gray, Rhee, Henderson, and the Scandal
Robert Marshall, makeyoufamous@verizon.net
[Mayor Gray] and his team, are apparently not savvy enough to do that
[distance himself from the DCPS administration]. By nominating Henderson
as the new Chancellor, he has made another political blunder. Fenty’s
and Rhee’s people now own him. He should have cleaned house. He didn’t.
I warned him about keeping Rhee. He didn’t heed my warning. He’s
kept Henderson — Rhee in African-American clothing. Somehow he has
been convinced that Rhee’s problem in the African-American community
was her race. It was not. It was her racist remarks about black parents,
her arrogance, and anti-African American policies and practices that
were the problem. He has put old wine (Rhee) in a new bottle
(Henderson). He has tried to put perfume (Henderson) on a pig (Rhee’s
policies and practices as Chancellor). His top education appointments
consists of people with thin resumes in education. He is continuing
Fenty’s education policies and practices. Who is he listening to?
Finally, the creation of this new expensive post of Chancellor has
not improved DC schools. It should be eliminated as part of DC’s cost
cutting initiative.
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themail Has Become Schizoid
Bryce A. Suderow, streetstories@juno.com
I feel like the mail has developed a split personality these days.
Dorothy reveals in story after story that the Gray administration lacks
a moral compass. Gary says it ain’t so. Nothing is wrong with Gray.
All the hoopla is the result of the mean-spirited Washington Post.
I wish I could be a fly on the wall when you two guys have political
discussions.
See Colbert King’s article on March 25, http://tinyurl.com/4zakez8
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
DC Council At-Large Candidates’ Forum, Tuesday, April 5th, 6:30
p.m., at Peoples Congregational Church, 4704 13th Street, NW (near
Decatur Street). Confirmed candidates and Sekou Biddle, Vincent Orange,
Bryan Weaver, and Josh Lopez. Includes introductions to Ward 4 State
Board of Education candidates and light refreshments.
Organized by the Georgia Avenue Economic Development Steering
Committee. Hosted by the Hands Together Neighborhood Club, with Petworth
Action Committee, Park View UNC, UNTS, and Commissioners from ANC 4C and
1A.
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What’s in the Mayor’s 2012 Budget?, April
8
Tina Marshall, marshall@dcfpi.org
Join DC Fiscal Policy Institute for a presentation to highlight the
key issues in the mayor’s proposed FY 2012 budget and to walk through
elements of the council budget process. The event features speakers from
the DCFPI and DC council staff who will offer budget advocacy tips.
Friday, April 8, 9:30-11:00 a.m., John A. Wilson Building, Room 120.
Speakers include: Ed Lazere, Executive Director, DC Fiscal Policy
Institute; Elissa Silverman, Communications and Policy Analyst, Kilin
Boardman-Schroyer, Legislative Director, Office of Councilmember Michael
A. Brown; and Jeremy Faust, Director of Legislative Affairs, Office of
Councilmember Mary M. Cheh. Please RSVP no later than April 7 to marshall@cbpp.org.
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Learn to Sail, Captain Your Own Chesapeake
Cruiser, April 19
Richard Rothblum, richard@rothblum.org
Our local sailing club is looking for new members who would like to
enjoy overnight or day-sailing on the Chesapeake Bay without the hassle
of owning and maintaining a cruising sailboat. For a tiny fraction of
the cost of owning or chartering, our all-volunteer group (no paid
staff, nonprofit) can sail two modest cruising sailboats, based in
Annapolis. Members pay only a small fee that covers the cost of
maintenance and slip rental. The boats are available for periods from
half a day to weekly.
It’s not a problem if you don’t know how to sail. Our
learn-to-sail class is starting Tuesday, April 19, at 6:30 p.m. at the
Palisades Recreation Center, near Arizona Avenue and MacArthur
Boulevard, on the D5 and D6 bus lines. The training includes four
three-hour “dry” classes, interspersed with three five-hour sessions
of on-the-water sailing. The classes are taught by our experienced
members, many of whom have advanced degrees in their subject matter. The
class is free to new members who pay the initiation fee of $275. (Yearly
dues are $30 for non-captains, more if you want to charter on your own.)
Check out our web site, wanderlustersailing.org (one “s”), for more
info and an application, or E-mail me directly.
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