High Expectations
Dear Scholars:
Thomas Sowell wrote a powerful article about Dunbar High School, “The
Fate of Dunbar High: Selective Schools Help Those Students Eager to
Learn,” that was published in the May 1 issue of National Review,
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/376916/fate-dunbar-high-thomas-sowell.
“There has not been much controversy about Dunbar High School for a long
time. Since sometime in the late 1950s, it has been just one more ghetto
school with an abysmal academic record — and that has been too common to
be controversial,” Sowell wrote. “What is different about the history of
Dunbar is that, from its founding in 1870 as the first public high
school in the country for black students, until the mid 1950s, it was an
outstanding academic success.”
What doomed Dunbar’s success was exactly what had created its
success. Its selectivity, its high demands on its students and faculty,
tainted it with the curse of “elitism,” and it had to be brought down
and leveled to make sure that no school and no student was thought to be
any better than any other. We have been trying ever since to rediscover
the secret that made Dunbar an extraordinary school and made its
students so very capable and successful. Perhaps, we have thought, if we
spent more and more money on schools, if we made class sizes smaller, if
we tested students more frequently with standardized tests, then
education for black students in Washington could be improved back to the
standard that we achieved back in the first decade after slavery in
America was abolished.
We have tried everything except what Dunbar started with — high
expectations on students’ behavior and learning, high expectations
enforced not just by teachers, but also by parents and by their fellow
students.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Halting the Work of Government
Dorothy Brizill,
dorothy@dcwatch.com
Back in 2011, when Councilmember Mary Cheh, then chair of the
council’s Government Operations Committee — with the acquiescence of a
majority of her council colleagues — insisted on moving the District’s
municipal primary date from September to April, it was known that that
change would result in a lengthy nine-month period, from April to
January, in which a defeated incumbent officeholder would remain in
office. As a result of the April 1 primary, the District now has three
elected officials — Mayor Gray, Ward One Councilmember Jim Graham, and
Ward Six Councilmember Tommy Wells — who will continue to hold office
until January while serving as lame ducks. At the same time, it is
important that the business of government continue, and citizens expect
the mayor and councilmembers to continue to discharge the duties and
responsibilities of their offices. With regard to Mayor Gray, the DC
Code specifies the “powers and duties” of the office of mayor. Under DC
Code Section 1-204.22, “the executive power of the District shall be
vested in the Mayor who . . . shall administer all laws relating to the
appointment . . . of personnel . . . in executive departments of the
District, and members of boards, commissions, and other agencies.”
This week, at Tuesday’s legislative meeting of the council, Kenyon
McDuffie, now chair of the council’s Government Operations Committee,
introduced an emergency bill, the “Inspector General Qualifications
Emergency Amendment Act of 2014.” The purpose of the legislation was to
change the minimum qualifications for the position of DC Inspector
General to more closely follow the federal standard used for the
appointment of inspector generals. Prompting the emergency legislation
was the fact that on May 19 the term of Charles Willoughby, the
District’s current Inspector General, ends. Under current District law,
Willoughby cannot serve as IG in a holdover capacity beyond May 19.
Moreover, under current law, the IG must be a member of the DC bar for
at least seven years and have seven years’ experience in the practice of
law, or be a certified public accountant in the District of Columbia
with seven years’ experience in the practice of accounting, tax
consulting, or financial consulting, prior to being appointed to the
position. Concerned that these stringent requirements would hinder
efforts to recruit a new IG, Mayor Gray and Councilmember McDuffie
drafted the emergency legislation to enlarge the pool of possible
candidates for the position. Following a lengthy debate on the dais, it
became obvious that there wouldn’t be the nine votes necessary on the
council to pass the bill as an emergency, and McDuffie withdrew it.
Councilmembers Muriel Bowser, Jim Graham, Vincent Orange, and Marion
Barry objected to the fact that Gray, as a lame duck mayor, had the
authority to appoint a new IG to a six-year term of office and that,
according to Orange, “the position should be held open until a new mayor
is in place” in January. Bowser repeatedly asked if Gray had a “nominee
in waiting,” and argued that Willoughby’s term should be extended by six
months, despite the fact that Willoughby has already announced his
retirement and that current District law doesn’t allow an IG to receive
an extension of a six-year term or to serve as a holdover. During the
heated debate, Bowser, Orange, Graham, and Barry failed to acknowledge
the important statutory role the council will play during the
confirmation process in reviewing the background and qualifications of
any nomination that Gray would make.
Currently, it is unclear what will happen in the coming weeks with
respect to the IG position. Will Willoughby leave his position when his
term ends on May 19, as the law requires; will he delay his retirement
for six or more months, as Bowser seems to demand; will the council
enact emergency legislation to allow either for holdover status for the
IG or the appointment of an interim IG; or will the mayor nominate and
the council confirm a new IG by May 19 or shortly thereafter? It should
be noted that there are other important boards and commissions with
vacancies, including the DC Board of Elections and Ethics, the Public
Service Commission, the DC Library Board of Trustees, the Public
Employee Relations Board, and the Board of Ethics and Government
Accountability (on which Laura Richards’ term ends July 1, 2014). Will
the council take a similar stance, demanding that these positions remain
vacant until a new mayor takes office in January?
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Jack McKay has a long record of public-spirited posts on themail, but
his latest — a self-serving bleat [“Is DC Becoming a Traffic Enforcement
Police State,” themail, April 30] is not up to his usual standard. He
complains that a police officer, right behind him, ticketed him for not
stopping at a stop sign. He wails that the officer was “intent on
inflicting punishment.” How does he know the officer’s intent? Because,
as he relates, the officer wouldn’t let Jack talk his way out of the
ticket.
I was reminded of Jack’s tale a few minutes ago when I saw a motorist
roll through a stop sign at about five mph — at a corner with poor
visibility. Stop means stop. Too many drivers don’t take it literally —
which makes the streets less safe for all of us.
As for Jack’s complaint about the twenty-five mph speed limit on the
K Street, NW, underpass, he may have a point. That it is unreasonably
low. But until it’s raised, let motorists heed. We’ll all be safer.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
Mother’s Day Brunch, May 11
Susana Baranano,
susigbf@yahoo.com
Making Mother’s Day plans? Join us at the Woman’s National Democratic
Club, 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, on Sunday, May 11 for a special
brunch to toast the exceptional women in our lives. Bring your mother,
sister, daughter, best friend, or mentor to enjoy a brunch buffet and
mimosas, and to network with some of Washington’s leading women. Sunday,
May 11, 11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Adults, $35 with advance registration, $45
at the door; kids (five through twelve years old), $15. For this event,
the membership initiation fee will be waived for individuals who submit
completed membership applications. Reserve by telephone, 232-7363, ext.
3003, or online at
http://democraticwoman.org/index.cfm?action=events&sub=event&event=215.
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DC Election Reform Panel, May 28
Joe Libertelli,
jlibertelli@udc.edu
Please join the League of Women Voters, DC; DC Appleseed; DC Vote;
and the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law for a forum on election reform
on Wednesday, May 28, from 6:00-8:00 p.m., with a reception to follow.
Panelists will include Rob Ritchie of Fair Vote, DC Councilmember David
Grosso, and Peter Rosenstein. (DC Board of Elections Chair Deborah
Nichols, invited) Moderator: Kathryn Ray. UDC Clarke School of Law, 5th
Floor Moot Court Room, 4340 Connecticut Avenue, NW. Free, but please
register at
http://www.law.udc.edu/event/Vote.
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