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November 12, 2006: Nakamura, David, and V. Dion Haynes, “Fenty's Plan to Take over Ailing System Is Finding Foes,” The Washington Post, C-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/11/AR2006111100720.html. “D.C. Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty is moving briskly to convert his Election Day popularity into political support for taking over the District's failing public school system, but he faces potential challenges from other city leaders. Robert C. Bobb, the former city administrator who will become president of the Board of Education, spoke out forcefully against a takeover last week. Vincent C. Gray (D), the incoming D.C. Council chairman, has reserved judgment until he hears more details. If Fenty (D) wins support in the District, his plan also would require approval from Congress and President Bush. Fenty's bid to overhaul the system has become a focus of his administration even before he takes office Jan. 2. Knowing that success or failure will affect his reputation, Fenty is trying to avoid the political pitfalls that doomed an effort to take over the schools two years ago by his predecessor, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D).”
November 11, 2006: “Get on the Same Page: To Robert Bobb, Adrian Fenty, and Vincent Gray: Cooperate,” The Washington Post, A-26, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/10/AR2006111001474.html. Editorial: “Within hours of the last vote being counted in the school board race, Robert C. Bobb, the newly elected D.C. Board of Education president and former city administrator, had laid down his marker against a possible effort by Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty (D) to take control of the schools. "I have a specific plan on how to get from Point A to Point B," Mr. Bobb said. "Mr. Fenty doesn't." Undeterred by Mr. Bobb's barbs, Mr. Fenty is moving full steam ahead on his plan to seize the reins of public education in the District. At the same time, D.C. Council Chairman-elect Vincent C. Gray (D) has assembled a transition team to help him focus on his chief campaign issue, the state of D.C. public schools. The prospect of three top city leaders rushing off in different directions to tackle the central issue confronting the District -- with the likelihood of producing three competing plans even before they take the oath of office — is disturbing. The last thing the city needs is distraction from the school system's real problems: low academic achievement, deteriorating buildings and students abandoning the system in droves.”
November 9, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Bobb, Laying Out Bold Plan, Says He Will Fight a Mayoral Takeover,” The Washington Post, A-49, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/08/AR2006110802311.html. “One day after his election as president of the D.C. Board of Education, former city administrator Robert C. Bobb yesterday outlined an aggressive plan for boosting student achievement and indicated he will strongly oppose a possible effort by Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty to seize control of the schools. Like Fenty, Bobb said a ‘sense of urgency’ is needed among school leaders to address such intractable problems as low student achievement, declining enrollment and deteriorating buildings. When asked whether he would agree to make the school board an all-appointed advisory panel, as Fenty is considering, Bobb said: ‘No, absolutely not.’ ‘I didn't spend all this time, effort and energy running for president of the school board to head the school system here in the District of Columbia as an advisory board member,’ he added.”
November 8, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion and Theola Labbe, “Bobb Is Chosen to Lead as Schools Face an Uncertain Future,” The Washington Post, A-37, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/07/AR2006110701810.html. “Former D.C. administrator Robert C. Bobb won a heated battle last night for school board president, a position that will be at the center of a debate over Mayor-elect Adrian M. Fenty's likely attempt to turn the board into an advisory panel. Newcomer Lisa Raymond, a former administrator at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School, won the District 3 race, and incumbent William Lockridge was elected to a third term in District 4. Fifteen candidates — five each for president and in Districts 3 and 4 — vied for board seats. With more than 15,000 students in the District leaving traditional public schools for public charter schools and with more than 80 percent of all public schools failing to meet academic targets, education emerged as a key issue among the city's residents. Improving the troubled school system was a main platform for all the candidates for mayor, D.C. Council and the school board.”
November 7, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “In Ad, Cafritz Champion Work by Board, Janey,” The Washington Post, B-02, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/06/AR2006110601053.html. “D.C. Board of Education President Peggy Cooper Cafritz yesterday took out a full-page ad in The Washington Post that defended School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey as Democratic mayoral nominee Adrian M. Fenty considers a plan to take over the schools. Fenty, who has spoken favorably of the New York City model, in which Mayor Michael Bloomberg oversees the schools, has not submitted an education proposal or indicated whether he would seek to replace Janey. If the District were to adopt the New York model, the elected board likely would become an appointed advisory body, and the school system would become a department in the city government. Cafritz's ad cited the board's accomplishments during her six-year tenure, including increasing the number of students going to college, introducing an automated procurement system and developing a multibillion-dollar plan to renovate school facilities.”
November 5, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion and Theola Labbe, “Worry Over City Takeover Permeates Election: If Fenty Plan Passes, Residents Could Be Casting Last Votes for President, Members,” The Washington Post, C-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110400843.html. “On Tuesday, District voters will elect a new president and two other members to the D.C. Board of Education who will grapple with some daunting issues — chronically low test scores, persistent enrollment declines and a new mayor who might want to put school board members out of their jobs. Fifteen candidates are running for the three seats in what could be the city's last school board election. Democratic mayoral nominee Adrian M. Fenty, the presumptive victor, is contemplating seizing control of the school system, proposing to make the school board an all-appointed advisory panel. Besides struggling with a possible takeover, the new president will lead a hybrid board, consisting of four elected members and four others appointed by the mayor. In recent years the board, the first elected body in the city, has often imploded under the weight of scandal and dysfunction.”; Montes, Sue Anne Pressley, “Striving to Attain Grace Amid School Dilapidation: Showcase D.C. Facility Must Take Its Place in Line for Repairs,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/04/AR2006110400966.html. “At the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, a prestigious public high school in Georgetown, dance students with their sights on professional careers practice in the hallways because their water-damaged studios are dangerous. . . . The situation at Duke Ellington is indicative of the challenges D.C. school officials face as they address the problems of aging and deteriorating facilities. The large, white school building at 3500 R St. NW has a stately look, in keeping with its historic neighborhood, but it also has all the internal troubles expected of a former hospital built in the 1890s. The roof leaks and patch-up jobs over the years no longer prevent water from staining the walls and threatening the musical instruments, Principal Rory Pullens said. Advanced Placement chemistry had to be dropped because there was no running water in the chemistry lab. The photo lab, likewise, is unusable. The showers have not worked for 12 years, and toilets often overflow because of the ancient plumbing.”
November 4, 2006: Woodlee, Yolanda, “Staff Shortage Cited in Hearing on Bill to Manage D.C. School Repairs,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/03/AR2006110301615.html. “D.C. public school officials said yesterday that a proposal to transfer maintenance of deteriorating school buildings to the city's property management agency would not diminish the backlog of 16,000 needed repairs, because there are too few workers. The school system, which is responsible for the upkeep of 163 facilities, has only 147 maintenance workers, including 10 painters, eight plumbers, three exterminators and two welders, officials said. They also said the system has a shortage of janitors providing daily custodial services. Cornell S. Brown Jr., executive director of facilities management for District schools, testified that nationally, public schools pay an average of $2.30 per square foot for routine maintenance services, such as carpentry and plumbing. The District spends less.”
November 3, 2006: Labbe, Theola, “A Candidate Who Aims to Build Faith in D.C. Schools: Charters, Special-Ed Would Be Scrutinized,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/03/AR2006110300010.html. “[Laurent] Ross said he is running to strengthen the city's traditional schools so more parents will choose that system instead of opting for private and public charter schools. His three oldest children graduated from the city's traditional schools, and his youngest, Machel, is a freshman at Benjamin Banneker Academic High School in Columbia Heights. ‘My job as president of the school board would be to create a system where it wouldn't be such a tough decision anymore on whether to stay or leave,’ Ross said. ‘We need to give parents a good system; they deserve a good system.’”
November 2, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Schools Race Highlights City's Gaps: Lockridge, Challengers Seek Improvements East of the Anacostia,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/01/AR2006110103560.html. “The judge in Hobson v. Hansen ordered the system to integrate faculty, to dismantle "tracking" programs that kept black students out of college prep courses and to bus many black students from crowded schools east of the river to predominantly white under-enrolled schools west of Rock Creek Park. Nearly 40 years later, the city's entrenched east-west divide has been the campaign theme in school District 4 (Wards 7 and 8), where four candidates are seeking to unseat incumbent William Lockridge.”; Labbe, Theola and David Nakamura, “Fenty Offers Inkling of Plan for Schools: Worst Would Be Reconstituted,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/01/AR2006110103562.html. “Eight D.C. Board of Education candidates faced off last night at a community forum on school reform, charter schools, the federally funded voucher program and other issues challenging an already troubled school system. The forum, sponsored by DC VOICE and several other school reform organizations, is among a series of community meetings held almost daily across the city to draw attention to the Nov. 7 school board contests. This year, five of the nine seats on the board are up for grabs. Fifteen candidates are running for three seats — five for president, five for a District 4 seat (Wards 7 and 8) and five for District 3 (Wards 4 and 5). The next mayor will replace two appointed board members whose terms expire in December. But the probable mayor, Democratic nominee Adrian M. Fenty, wants to take over the school system and possibly turn the board into an entirely appointed one. So despite all the competition for the three elected seats, the question looming over last night's forum was: Will this be the last school board election?”; Strauss, Valerie, “To Repay Misused Funds, City to Take $9 Million from Coffers,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/01/AR2006110103170.html. “Up to $9.6 million in District money will be used to replace federal payments that were earmarked for charter schools but were instead invested in a company accused by federal regulators of fraud, according to city officials. A spokesman for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer said recently that the money would come from the city's general fund and that no D.C. government program would suffer as a result. Congress awarded the money to the District several years ago for charter schools to purchase, renovate and maintain buildings. A city employee invested the funds in 2003 with a private Maryland company, an arrangement that was not reviewed by city financial officials. When city officials asked for nearly $10 million last spring from the company, Geneva Capital Partners LLC, it did not get any funds back. Shortly after that, a federal judge froze Geneva's assets at the request of the Securities and Exchange Commission. U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanow is expected to rule soon on the company's fate. City officials will not say explicitly that they do not expect to get back the $9.6 million that was invested with Geneva.”
October 31, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Seeking ‘Fresh Breath of Air’ for D.C. Schools: Candidate for Board President Hopes to Put Civil Rights Background to Use,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/31/AR2006103100002.html. “Forty-five years later, Jenkins, a candidate for D.C. Board of Education president, said he considers himself to be in the middle of a modern-day civil rights struggle in the nation's capital. Students are trapped in a system in which the vast majority of schools are classified as failing. Many are in buildings that are falling apart and often without such basic human necessities as soap and toilet paper. Many are graduating from high school but unable to function in a college or work environment.”
October 30, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “D.C. Paid for Training Schools Say Didn't Occur: Officials Tray to Trace Firm's Connections in Charter Probe,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/29/AR2006102900767.html. “In September 2005, Equal Access in Education billed the city $76,250 to train math and reading teachers in techniques to boost student performance at five D.C. public charter schools that failed to meet academic targets. But principals at four of the schools (the fifth one has closed) say that they never heard of Equal Access and that their teachers never received training from the company. . . . Federal authorities are investigating whether Equal Access was connected to Brenda L. Belton, the former executive director of the Board of Education's charter schools office. The company submitted invoices requesting that payments be sent to 26 Underwood Pl. NW, the address of a duplex formerly owned by Belton and currently owned by her daughter Lindsay Holmes. In May, the FBI raided Belton's office and home as well as the Underwood Place property as part of its investigation into the possible misuse of public funds by the board's charter school oversight office.”
October 29, 2006: Labbe, Theola and V. Dion Haynes, “Board ‘Inclined’ to Relinquish Monitoring Role: Nov. 13 Vote Set; Cafritz Says University or Nonprofit Group Might to Asked to Take on Responsibilities,” The Washington Post, C-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/28/AR2006102800872.html. “The D.C. Board of Education is considering giving up authority over charter schools and transferring oversight of the 18 public charter schools it monitors, according to key members of the panel. No decision has been finalized, and the proposal does not make clear whom the Board of Education would designate as the day-to-day manager of the charter schools. The board, which is dealing with a federal investigation of its charter school office, is expected to take action on the plan at its Nov. 13 meeting. ‘The board right now is inclined to get out of the business of doing the day-to-day oversight and management of charter schools,’ board president Peggy Cooper Cafritz said. Next month, she said, the board will probably consider a proposal under which it ‘would continue to charter and close schools that need to be closed, but we will solicit a university or nonprofit to provide the monitoring of the charter schools.’”
October 28, 2006: Alexander, Keith L., “Accused Principal Had Earlier Altercation: Scuffles at D.C. Schools Both Involved Students,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/27/AR2006102701553.html. “A D.C. high school principal accused of assaulting a student this week was involved in a previous scuffle that ended with another student requiring stitches for a head injury, police records show. According to a D.C. police report, Eastern Senior High School Principal Shawn Hearn, 35, got into a scuffle Aug. 31 near his office with junior Marquete Harris, 17. Hearn was trying to order Harris into his office to suspend him, the report said. Harris became irate and tried to run. As Hearn tried to restrain him, the two ended up falling to the floor. Harris had a slight cut on the right side of his head and was sent to the school nurse. Harris's aunt, Virginia E. Williams, said yesterday that he was not bandaged and still bleeding when he arrived home from school. She said she took him to Children's Hospital, where he received two stitches and was treated for a bruised shoulder. The hospital urged Williams to file the police report, she said.”
October 27, 2006: Alexander, Keith L., “A Support Team on the Way after Principal's Scuffle,”” The Washington Post, B-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102601607.html. “An additional support team of administrators will be sent to the District's Eastern Senior High School following the arrest and reassignment of its principal, Shawn Hearn, parents were told yesterday. Eastern parents were informed of the support team in a letter from Willie Lamb, the school's interim principal. He said the team would remain in place ‘as long as necessary to ensure that there will be no disruption in your child's instruction.’ Hearn was reassigned to the central administration office pending completion of a school district investigation into a scuffle with a student that resulted in the principal's arrest, school officials said. Hearn and an 18-year-old student were charged with misdemeanor simple assault.”; Labbe, Theola, “District 3 Offers Myriad Challenges,” The Washington Post, B-07, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/26/AR2006102601625.html. “The candidate who emerges from a pack of five looking to become the next school board member from District 3, which represents Wards 5 and 6, will face these parental frustrations and more. The victor must look for ways to address those concerns and other pressing issues of student achievement, the condition of school buildings and the future of charter schools in the District. There are almost 50 schools in economically and racially diverse District 3, in neighborhoods that include Capitol Hill, Rosedale, Riggs Park and Old City. Buildings such as Paul L. Dunbar High School and Eastern Senior High School have fallen into disrepair, and such schools as Brookland Elementary have been targeted for closure because of declining enrollment and the condition of the facilities.”
October 26, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion and Clarence Williams, “Principal, Student Arrested in Scuffle: Administration Was Trying to Restore Order after a Fight,” The Washington Post, B-02, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/25/AR2006102502148.html. “The principal of Eastern Senior High School, who was hired this fall to transform the troubled school into an academy modeled on the prestigious Boston Latin, was arrested along with a student yesterday during a scuffle inside the school, authorities said. Principal Shawn Hearn, 35, and student Kenneth Holsey, 18, were charged with misdemeanor simple assault, police said. Both were issued a citation and released, police said. Neither man needed medical attention. Police said the incident began after a fight broke out between two students on the first floor of the school about 10:15 a.m. Other students, including those on other floors, poured out of classrooms, trying to see the fight.”
October 25, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Janey Proposed Different Closings,” The Washington Post, B-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/24/AR2006102401713.html. “D.C. school system officials indicated last night that they are rethinking key parts of a month-old facilities plan, seeking to reverse a few closure proposals and possibly to dramatically quicken the pace of school renovations. In September, Superintendent Clifford B. Janey presented to the Board of Education a master facilities plan outlining a 15-year schedule for remodeling more than 100 schools and closing and consolidating 19 others. Last night, he said he is working to reduce the construction schedule to seven or 10 years. Under the original proposal, Janey sought to close Brookland Elementary School in Northeast, moving students to Bunker Hill Elementary, also in Northeast. But Brookland parents protested, saying their school is the only one in Ward 5 that offers a comprehensive bilingual program. They also denounced the closing of a school with a stable and experienced faculty, saying its teachers have been in the building an average of 15 years. Last night, Janey essentially reversed the plan for those schools.”
October 24, 2006: “For D.C. Board of Education: Robert Bobb for President, Lisa Raymond in District 3, William Lockridge in District 4,” The Washington Post, A-18, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/05/30/LI2005053000331.html?nav=left.; Haynes, V. Dion, “Experience Could Help or Hurt Graham: De Facto Leader's Term Has Included Accomplishments But Also Plenty of Problems,” The Washington Post, B-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301117.html. “D.C. Board of Education Vice President Carolyn N. Graham's bid to become the board's president comes down to convincing voters that her experience on the board means she understands school system issues but is not part of the problem. In addition to poor academic showings and decrepit facilities, the problems now include a bubbling scandal that almost led her to withdraw from the race. Federal authorities are investigating whether there is a link between Brenda L. Belton, former executive director of the board's charter school office, and a contractor that billed the system for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some board members say privately that Graham was a key supporter of Belton's when the allegations about her first surfaced.”; Labbe, Theola, “Candidates Disagree on How to Fix Ailing Schools,” The Washington Post, B-02, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/23/AR2006102301472.html. “Four candidates running to represent Wards 5 and 6 on the D.C. Board of Education agreed last night that schoolchildren have been ill-served by city public schools, but they outlined varying approaches to fixing the problems. Speaking at a community forum at McKinley Technology High School, one of the school system's most modern facilities, the candidates for the District 3 seat called for greater accountability for school construction projects and charter schools and a steep reduction in special education costs. About 75 citizens attended the forum, which was co-sponsored by the Ward 5 and Ward 6 Democrats and was the latest public discussion designed to stir interest in the Nov. 7 school board election. The winner of the District 3 seat will replace board member Tommy Wells, who is running for a seat on the D.C. Council.”
October 21, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion and Theola Labbe, “School Board Member May Abandon Campaign: Graham ‘Very Upset’ over Disputed Memo,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/20/AR2006102001789.html. “D.C. Board of Education Vice President Carolyn N. Graham, a candidate for school board president, said yesterday that she may quit her campaign because a disputed memorandum links her to a scandal involving charter school funds. Graham and the board president said a board employee forged Graham's signature on the memo, which requested the aid of the city's financial office in providing $44,251 in payments to vendors. However, Graham said she signed essentially the same request but addressed it to a higher-ranking official. For several months, a federal grand jury has been investigating the board's charter school office, which is responsible for overseeing 18 of the city's 55 charter schools, said a source close to the inquiry who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Federal investigators are trying to determine whether the office's executive director, Brenda L. Belton, whom the board fired this week, steered about $350,000 in city contracts to a company with the same address as a house owned by her daughter.”
October 19, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Bleak College Graduation Rate Is Found: Officials, Concerned by Figure, Look at Retention Program,” The Washington Post, B-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/18/AR2006101801790.html. “Only 9 percent of D.C. public school freshmen will complete college within five years of graduating from high school, a figure far below the national average, according to a report to be released today. The report, commissioned by D.C. city and school officials, asserts that nine out of 10 of the freshmen will be confined to low-paying jobs because they never began college or gave up before obtaining a degree. It blames the problem largely on the school system for failing to prepare students but also on colleges for being unable to accommodate students' deficiencies. Although the school system has had anecdotal evidence about how its students fare after graduation, this is the first time it has data to show how low the college retention rate is. Labeling the situation a critical concern, D.C. leaders are developing programs, including ninth-grade academies and expanded dropout prevention efforts. They say they hope to double the number of college graduates.”
October 18, 2006: Labbe, Theola, “Funds Sought for Debts of Closed Charter School,” The Washington Post, B-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101701746.html. “The D.C. Public Charter School Board has asked Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) for $420,166 to pay off the outstanding debts of a charter school that the board shut down just weeks before the beginning of the school year. Josephine Baker, the board's executive director, made the request in a Sept. 11 letter on behalf of Sasha Bruce, a Capitol Hill charter school that served 232 students in grades 7 to 11. The charter board, which voted July 26 to revoke the Sasha Bruce charter, said the school's finances had been poorly managed since it had opened in 2001. Baker said yesterday that the board decided to solicit the mayor's help because the school had few assets when it closed after its summer session ended in August. In addition to outstanding bills, she said, there were the extra costs of dissolving the school, such as transferring and storing student records.”
October 17, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Candidates Weigh in on System's Future: Amid Questions of Takeover, Rivals Debate Special Ed, Charter Programs,” The Washington Post, B-02, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101700004.html. “Eight D.C. Board of Education candidates faced off last night at a community forum on school reform, charter schools, the federally funded voucher program and other issues challenging an already troubled school system. The forum, sponsored by DC VOICE and several other school reform organizations, is among a series of community meetings held almost daily across the city to draw attention to the Nov. 7 school board contests. This year, five of the nine seats on the board are up for grabs. Fifteen candidates are running for three seats — five for president, five for a District 4 seat (Wards 7 and 8) and five for District 3 (Wards 4 and 5). The next mayor will replace two appointed board members whose terms expire in December. But the probable mayor, Democratic nominee Adrian M. Fenty, wants to take over the school system and possibly turn the board into an entirely appointed one. So despite all the competition for the three elected seats, the question looming over last night's forum was: Will this be the last school board election?”; Labbe, Theola, “Bobb Touts Skills, ‘Sense of Urgency’: Ex-D.C. Administrator Running for School Board,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/17/AR2006101700008.html. “Bobb, who resigned last month as the District's city administrator, wants to be the change agent, though he has not worked in education. He is touting his management skills, honed during 34 years in city governments, as the kind of leadership experience the school board needs to turn around its low-performing school system. ‘I want to bring a sense of urgency,’ said Bobb, who worked as a government manager in Oakland, Calif., Santa Ana, Calif., and Richmond. ‘I want to utilize my experience over the years to help reform and shape student performance and overall student achievement,’ Bobb said.”
October 16, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Athletics Find a Booster in Janey: $10 Million Planned to Update Facilities,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101500836.html. “D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey is launching a campaign to upgrade decrepit and outdated athletic facilities, proposing to begin spending $10 million at five senior high schools next year where student-athletes have long complained about unusable showers and toilets, old uniforms, and sub-par fields and courts, officials said. Janey is expected to announce the proposal at a meeting today with student-athletes and coaches at Dunbar Senior High School in Shaw, where for the past three weeks crews have been painting, removing tattered carpeting, fixing plumbing, sanitizing locker rooms, spraying for pests and installing doors in restroom stalls. The schools in Janey's renovation proposal are Dunbar; Ballou in Southeast Washington; and Coolidge, Roosevelt and Wilson, all in Northwest. The proposal represents a dramatic change of direction for Janey, who had been focusing on improving academics and was not planning to upgrade athletic facilities before scheduled building renovations in several years. Janey shifted gears after a Washington Post report detailed rundown conditions in Dunbar's athletic program: a condemned running track, rusty weight-training equipment and moldy showers, as well as a lack of toilet paper, soap and dispensers for feminine hygiene products. He also faced pressure from parents and student-athletes, who bombarded his office with phone calls complaining about the conditions, and a church civic organization that demanded immediate repairs.”; Nakamura, David, “NYC School Takeover Inspires Fenty, But Critics Abound,” The Washington Post, A-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/15/AR2006101501197.html. “Bloomberg's plan is a prototype for D.C. Democratic mayoral nominee Adrian M. Fenty, who has spoken admiringly of the speed and breadth of New York City school reform. Fenty, who plans to meet here today with Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein, suggests he will move quickly to take control of the District's struggling system next year. Fenty is all but guaranteed to win the Nov. 7 election; three-quarters of registered voters are Democrats. It remains to be seen, however, whether the nation's largest school system is an applicable model for the District, which has 58,000 public school students. Furthermore, not everyone in New York is thrilled about Bloomberg's approach, saying he has created model schools at the expense of others, which have faced further crowding and discipline problems. When Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa visited Bloomberg in the spring to seek advice for his own takeover bid, 40 New York parents and educators wrote an open letter to their L.A. counterparts urging them to oppose the effort.”
Vacation from September 23-October 15, 2006
September 22, 2006: Klein, Allison, “Student Hurt in Shooting Near Cardoza; 6 Schools Locked Down,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092101741.html. “A 10th-grader was shot in the leg near a high school in Columbia Heights yesterday, causing a three-hour lockdown at six D.C. public schools while police searched for possible gunmen, authorities said. The student, who attends Cardozo Senior High, was shot about noon just steps away from the school, at 13th and Clifton streets NW. He was taken to a hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, D.C. police said. School officials said the victim is 16 years old, but police said he is 15. Just before the shooting, there was an argument at the street corner, said 3rd District Cmdr. Larry McCoy. He said he did not know what the argument was about. School officials said the victim reported to school yesterday morning and did not have permission to leave before classes ended.”
September 20, 2006: “The ‘Passion’ of Mr. Fenty,” The Washington Times, A-20, http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060919-091307-4756r.htm. Editorial: “After relentlessly campaigning on a platform to solve the horrible problems pervading D.C. public schools, Democrat Adrian Fenty sailed through the Democratic primary by winning all 142 precincts. Mr. Fenty was not our preferred candidate. Nonetheless, we do not deny his assertion that his sweeping victory amounted to ‘a mandate for fixing the schools.’ Mr. Fenty recently made it clear that one of his first actions as mayor will be an effort to obtain much greater control over the District's failing school system than Mayor Williams currently exercises. We shall enthusiastically support that endeavor, just as we embraced Mr. Williams' initial 2004 plan, which would have transformed the Board of Education into an advisory panel and given the mayor the power to hire the school superintendent. Unfortunately, in 2004 Councilman Fenty voted against this sensible plan, which he now embraces.”
September 19, 2006: “Fenty, Janey, and Their Big School Plans,” The Washington Times, A-18, http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/20060918-095951-6265r.htm. Editorial: “What's always lost in these various ambitious plans, klatches and forums is young people, for whom numeracy and literacy have always taken a back seat any true reform. Consider, for example, what transpired in the late 1990s, when Mr. Fenty, along with then-lawmaker Kevin Chavous, ran the council's education panel: The council wasted considerable time trying to restructure the school system, reconfigure per-pupil funding and growing the bureaucracy (by signing off on, for example, the State Education Office). So, where stands school reform today? For starters, it's worth pointing out that Mr. Fenty refuses to practice what he preaches; he enrolls his twin first-graders in a private school. Besides Mr. Fenty's personal and professional shortcomings, look at the tiny gains of the youngsters who were kindergartners in the 1998-99 school year (when Mr. Fenty held sway on the council): ‘In reading at the eighth-grade level,’ according to the D.C. school system, ‘the average score of 238 was slightly higher that the 1998 score of 236.’ Mr. Fenty also succeeded, as Ward 4 council member, in creating yet another huge distraction in the school-reform movement, when he proposed legislation that would finance school improvements with lottery winnings. Mr. Fenty's move forced other lawmakers to turn their attention from accountability and back to the long-worn issue of school funding. And, interesting enough, Mr. Fenty, the mayoral candidate, is poised to cause another -- albeit more important -- distraction. Again, the issue is governance; this time Mr. Fenty is pushing for the mayor to control schools (a position we enthusiastically support). Quality schools are safe environments where teachers understand the importance of such basics as multiplication tables, book reports and the like. Unfortunately, the D.C. system falls way short -- with nearly two-thirds of its schools failing to meet the standards of the No Child Left Behind Act. Some families, like Mr. Fenty's manage to escape. Will Mr. Fenty focus this time around on true reform or will he shape his ideas based on the status quo?”; Fisher, Marc, “A Day of Music in a School Year Sorely Lacking It,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/18/AR2006091801305.html. “At Jefferson, a school in Southwest Washington that used to have a flourishing band and chorus, it's not clear that either will get off the ground this year, says music teacher Richard Gill. So when the Anthem Project gathered kids in the gym and offered them the opportunity to play with acoustic and electric guitars, students queued up for a chance to ham it up, strumming and strutting like the musicians they see on TV. But no one actually knew how to play guitar.”; Stewart, Nikita, “Schools Seek Funds for More Nurses: D.C. Officials Cite Growing Student Need,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/18/AR2006091801596.html. “D.C. officials, working with Children's Hospital, are seeking $7 million in federal funding so city schools can hire additional nurses to care for students with special health needs. The city has applied for a grant through the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and should know by the end of November whether the request is approved, officials said. The grant would increase the annual budget for school health services to nearly $21 million and add full- and part-time nursing positions, officials said. The goal is to place full-time health care staffs at 75 percent of the city's public and charter schools by early next year. Currently, 63 schools have full-time nurses. The other 107 schools have part-time visiting nurses.”
September 17, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Parents Oppose Special-Ed ‘Inclusion’: Disabled Would Suffer, Critics Say,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091601145.html. “D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey plans to return about 2,000 disabled students in private schools to the public system and close four special-education centers, moves aimed at saving money by integrating the children into the general education population. His proposal, released last week and already drawing fire, is included in a $2.3 billion, 15-year master facilities plan to upgrade the system. The master plan calls for renovating 121 schools and closing 19. To save money, Janey wants to pursue a policy of ‘inclusion’ by shifting thousands of disabled students from private schools and system-run special-education centers into general education schools. The students are now in about 100 private schools and four special-education centers — Hamilton, Mamie D. Lee and Taft in Northeast Washington and Sharpe in Northwest.”; Nakamura, David, and Lori Montgomery, “Fenty Poised to Reach for D.C. School Reins: Mayoral Nominee Considers a Takeover,” The Washington Post, A-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600659.html. “Democratic mayoral nominee Adrian M. Fenty is strongly considering a bid to take direct control of the District's ailing public school system, saying that D.C. voters want to see the next mayor do more than ‘tinkering around the edges.’ Fenty plans to meet Tuesday with D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, whom Fenty has criticized for moving too slowly since being hired two years ago. Fenty is also scheduling meetings with officials in New York City, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and schools chief Joel Klein, who have been credited with improving test scores and graduation rates in the nation's largest school system. Bloomberg, with the blessing of the state legislature, took over the New York City schools six months into his tenure, established a city Department of Education, hired Klein as chancellor and reduced the city's boards of education to advisory panels — a model that Fenty has admired. ‘We're definitely leaning in that direction,’ Fenty said of a change in the governing structure of District schools. ‘I can't think of anything else we could do that would have a dramatic impact.’”
September 15, 2006: Emerling, Gary, “D.C. Schools Have Big Plans: Janey Outlines Bid to Modernize, Build Institutions,” The Washington Times, B-03, http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20060914-104242-1572r.htm. “D.C. Public Schools officials have announced a long-term master plan that calls for the construction of more than 20 new schools and the modernization of more than 100 buildings in the next 15 years. . . . The Master Facilities Plan is intended to coincide with the school system's Master Education Plan, and will be backed by about $2.3 billion in city funding. It includes a series of goals that officials hope will be accomplished by 2021. Officials said they will spend about $250 million annually while funding as many as 20 projects each year. This year, they expect to build six new schools and modernize 10. By 2021, the plan states that 23 new schools will have been built and 101 will have been modernized. In the meantime, the plan proposes fixing urgent maintenance issues — such as plumbing, heating and air conditioning — at schools not scheduled for renovation until 10 or 15 years later.”; Labbe, Theola and V. Dion Haynes, “Upgraded Facilities, Academics Part of 15-Year Plan,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/14/AR2006091401590.html. “D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey outlined an ambitious 15-year plan yesterday to transform the city's dilapidated schools into gleaming, new facilities with model academic programs, a move designed to raise student achievement and attract parents back to a school system with declining enrollment. The $2.3 billion modernization plan would build 23 schools, renovate 101 and close 19 by 2019. Officials said the school system would be smaller — with 121 buildings compared with 146 — but more educationally rigorous and better organized into campuses and clusters. High schools would have more Advanced Placement courses, and some would focus on themes, such as the hospitality industry, construction trades and foreign language immersion. Officials said the renovations would also address the system's soaring special education costs with classrooms designed to bring students in private placement back into the city's public school classrooms. This plan, which for the first time identifies the schools that would be closed, is a result of months of research and consultations with city and school officials as well as business and community leaders and experts on social demographics. Officials said they hope the modernization plan will help to stem the flow of students into charter and private schools. Although the funding has been approved, the specifics of Janey's proposal face final authorization by the D.C. Board of Education. In the spring, it directed him to identify 3 million square feet of excess space in a system that has lost 10,000 students in the past five years, many to public charter schools. Meetings for community feedback on the proposal begin next week.”; Myers, Bill and Scott McCabe, “Janey Unveils Schools Plan, Sends Message to Fenty: ‘All the Stars Are Aligned,’ District Superintendent Says,” The Washington Express, P. 4, http://www.examiner.com/a-287264~Janey_unveils_schools_plan__sends_message_to_Fenty.html. D.C. Schools Superintendent Clifford B. Janey Thursday revealed his plans for a massive overhaul of the city’s failing schools and sent a message to presumptive mayor Adrian Fenty: hands off. . . . Fenty won the Democratic Party primary on Tuesday. Given the teeming Democratic majority in the District, the victory makes him a lock for the city’s next mayor. He’s announced that his top priority will be the city’s schools. And he’s also announced that he’d like more control over the ailing system. But in announcing his 15-year plan to remake the city’s school system, Janey said that there was too much momentum behind him for Fenty to stop the plan from being implemented. Janey’s plan would affect a drastic change, at least in how the school system looks. Among other things, he wants to build “cluster schools” in neighborhoods, where instead of being in a single building, a high school would be in a several-building campus spread out across a green. Fenty said that he hadn’t seen Janey’s plan yet, but he would meet with the Superintendent on Tuesday.
September 14, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “D.C. Superintendent to Propose Closing 19 More Schools,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091302159.html. “D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey will propose today shuttering an additional 19 underenrolled schools on a staggered basis stretching until 2019. The recommendation is already facing criticism from some Board of Education and D.C. Council members who were expecting all of those buildings to be closed by 2008. Launching phase two of a move to pare down the D.C. school system, Janey wants to close seven schools next summer and four a year later. The remaining eight would be closed over 12 years, beyond the graduation date for today's first-graders. The staggered schedule could mean that the system would have less money to invest in educational programs than school leaders had initially planned. School system officials said they will need to keep more underenrolled schools open longer to accommodate students from more than 100 other schools who need to be relocated while their buildings are renovated. The list of 19 schools and the timetable for the closures are in Janey's master education plan, which is to be released today. It is a 1,000-page document outlining how the system would spend about $2.3 billion in city funds to reconstruct 121 schools and downsize the system to account for shrinking enrollment.”
September 13, 2006: Strauss, Valerie, “D.C. Charter School Inquiry May Broaden Beyond Chief,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091201398.html. “Federal officials investigating the executive director of the D.C. Board of Education's charter school office are trying to determine whether any city officials had knowledge of or should have prevented any improprieties, according to city and other sources. Brenda L. Belton is at the center of a wide-ranging investigation by the fraud and public corruption section of the U.S. attorney's office into whether she used her role to enrich herself and her friends. Federal investigators want to know whether she extracted favors from people petitioning the board to open a charter school and from officials at existing schools, according to several sources familiar with the investigation. They said they would speak only on condition of anonymity because the investigation is continuing. Among the allegations against Belton, who was placed on paid administrative leave in June, is that she manipulated the chartering process to help some schools. Part of the inquiry involves the possible misuse of hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal and city money intended to help students in struggling charter schools. Another part involves Equal Access in Education, a company paid more than $350,000 by Belton's office to monitor the city's charter schools, the sources said. The firm is in a building that Belton once owned and that is now owned by her daughter, according to city records. The principal of a charter school lives in the building.”
September 12, 2006: Labbe, Theola, “City Probes Questionable Wilson High Diplomas,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/11/AR2006091101205.html. “The office of the D.C. inspector general is conducting an audit into whether students at Woodrow Wilson Senior High School in Tenleytown received diplomas without having met all graduation requirements. The inquiry, begun last week, is focusing on three issues: how students are certified for graduation; whether graduates at Wilson and possibly other high schools satisfied graduation requirements; and how well student records are kept and secured. Austin A. Andersen, deputy inspector general, said Superintendent Clifford B. Janey requested the audit in July, a month after high school teacher Erich Martel alleged that more than 100 Wilson students did not meet graduation requirements but were still awarded diplomas that month. The inquiry is one of several concerning the school system that the inspector general's office will undertake this year. Among the areas of inquiry are whether nonresident tuition has been properly assessed and whether school buildings are being properly maintained and repaired. To better complete the work, the inspector general's office opened a five-person audit office, with a $300,000 budget, at school system headquarters.”; Mathews, Jay, “A Bad AP Teacher?,” The Washington Post online, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/12/AR2006091200709.html. “Erich Martel suspected something was wrong, because nobody was telling him anything. But it was not until Aug. 17, less than two weeks before school started, that he learned that for the first time in 20 years he would not be teaching Advanced Placement U.S. history at Woodrow Wilson High School in the District. No one who knows will say why Martel had his AP classes taken away from him and given to a teacher who has not taught AP before. Martel and many of his supporters think it is because he has become the school's most famous whistle-blower, forcing an audit by the D.C. Office of the Inspector General into his charges that his school — and perhaps other D.C. high schools as well — have been giving diplomas to many students who have not earned them. . . . Janey's next move, it seems to me, is pretty clear. Give Martel his AP courses back, find more teachers with good records and send them to his other schools.”
September 11, 2006: “Mr. Janey's New Exam: The Fraction Failing to Pass the D.C. Standards Test Should Be Measured in Students, Not Schools,” The Washington Post, A-16, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/10/AR2006091000890.html. Editorial: “The recent Post article reporting that only 28 of the District's 146 public schools met academic benchmarks on a new city test in April was sobering news. The focus on school performance, however, may have obscured the story's more consequential finding: Takers of the new test were students, not the schools they attended. Students — not their schools — failed to achieve proficiency in reading, math and other subjects. And equally important, the adverse effects of those academic failures — if not remedied in time — will be felt directly by students themselves, not the buildings, classrooms or playgrounds where they spend time during the day. We state what perhaps is obvious, for a purpose. Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, students in so-called failing schools are allowed to transfer to higher-performing schools in their districts. With an overwhelming majority of District schools falling short of the standard, there are few ‘better’ schools for students to attend. Put another way, the District's large numbers of poorly performing students swamp the number of available schools attended predominantly by proficient students.”
September 9, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Some Highly Touted Schools Land on Failure List,” The Washington Post, B-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/08/AR2006090801648.html. “The D.C. school system's list of 118 schools that failed to meet academic goals on a new standardized test includes 12 that had a reputation for being high-performing. Ross Elementary in Northwest Washington, Watkins Elementary in Southeast and Whittier Elementary in Northwest, among others, had consistently shown ‘adequate yearly progress’ on the old Stanford 9 exam. The news that the 12 schools did not pass last year's more rigorous exam caught many parents by surprise. Some experts say the results of the new test, which is supposed to more accurately gauge performance, show that achievement levels are worse than previously known. The 118 schools account for more than 80 percent of the 146 schools in the system last year.”
September 8, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion and Theola Labbe, “Few Schools Meet Goal on New Tests: Problems Will Require Mayor Intervention to Solve, D.C. System Officials Say,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090701573.html. “Only 28 of the District of Columbia's 146 public schools last year met academic benchmarks on a new city test, a situation that will require massive intervention efforts to reverse, school system officials said yesterday. School officials consider the test a more accurate gauge of student performance than one used previously. Seven secondary schools — including one middle school, Hardy — and 21 elementary schools scored a passing grade. The widespread poor performance pushed the number of schools failing to make adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law from 81 in 2005 to 118. Parents who want to move their child to a better public school now will have almost no place to go. Until now, the school system's main remedy for students in failing schools was a provision in federal law that allows them to transfer to a higher-performing school in the city. Moreover, school system officials said that charter schools, which took the same exam, fared just as poorly. Only a small number of the 51 charter schools that administered the test made adequate yearly progress, according to William Caritj, an assistant superintendent. He did not provide the names or the number of failing charter schools.”
September 7, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “D.C. Schools Fall Short of Test Goals, Superintendent Says,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/07/AR2006090700027.html. “The number of District schools that failed to make academic benchmarks increased this year, according to test results D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey plans to release today. At the same time, he plans to cut the equivalent of almost five instructional days to accommodate more teacher training. Last year, 81 of 147 schools failed to make adequate yearly progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law. But this year, ‘there will be a larger number,’ said Bill Caritj, assistant superintendent for educational accountability and assessment. A slide in student achievement, education experts say, is fairly typical for a school system that has introduced a new assessment. In April, the school system switched from the Stanford 9 test, which had been in use for eight years, to the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System. The new exam incorporated short-answer responses, whereas the Stanford 9 used mainly multiple-choice questions. The test was administered in the spring to students in grades 3 through 8, as well as 10th grade.”
September 5, 2006: Labbe, Theola, “1st City Charter School with Classical Focus Is Set to Open Today: Washington Latin Adds Options for Parents,” The Washington Post, B-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/04/AR2006090401043.html. “New schools open all the time, especially in the District, where the proliferation of public charter schools since 1996 has led to 55 operating on 69 campuses this year. But for parents who are nervous about making a long-term commitment to the troubled D.C. system — and have the financial means to consider other options -- the arrival of Washington Latin is being heralded as a welcome alternative to taking a chance on public schools or paying private school tuition to gain peace of mind. . . . Washington Latin, in the 3800 block of Massachusetts Avenue NW, will have 192 students in grades 5, 6 and 7 and will eventually run from grade 5 to 12. Students will don uniforms and be required to study six years of Latin, four years of modern foreign language, and learn about old-school Greek and Roman humanities heavyweights such as Socrates and Cicero. Parents from Anacostia in Southeast to American University Park in Upper Northwest have enrolled their children. The student population will be about 50 percent white, 30 percent black, 15 percent Hispanic and the remaining, Asian American, Ahlstrom said. But not everyone welcomes Washington Latin to the city's educational landscape. Capitol Hill parent Gina Arlotto, a co-founder of the public school advocacy coalition Save Our Schools, said that she supports a rigorous education but that Washington Latin caters to elite parents, making it easier for them to abandon their local public school and, by extension, their community.”
September 4, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “Chief Proposes Year-Round Classes to Aid Ailing Programs,” The Washington Post, B-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/03/AR2006090300812.html. “D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey is proposing year-round classes at five mainly low-achieving schools in an effort to give students more time in the classroom by shortening the long summer break. The proposal, which is the school system's first attempt to adjust the traditional calendar, will probably ignite a local and nationwide debate: Education experts extol the benefits of a year-round calendar, citing studies that show significant knowledge loss over the summer, but many parents argue that children need downtime. Janey said he expects to select the five schools -- at least three of which would be low-performing -- by December. Janey has proposed adding as many as 20 days to the 180-day calendar at the five schools, in part because he says he is running out of options to help students in low-performing schools. School system officials have said they will release data this month showing that a large number of District schools failed to meet academic benchmarks on a more rigorous student assessment introduced in the spring. Results will be worse than last year, officials said, when about 80 of 147 schools failed to reach academic goals under the previous exam.”
August 30, 2006: Emerling, Gary and Se Jeong Kim, “D.C. Area Students Buck Trend on SAT: Local Scotes Rise as Nation Falls,” The Washington Times, A-01, http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060830-123050-6097r.htm. “Most school systems in the D.C. area reported SAT scores slightly above the national average, despite a sharp decline in scores that officials attributed to a newly revised exam and to fewer students electing to retake the test. The class of 2006 was the first to take the newly revised SAT, which features a critical reading subtest in place of the verbal section, as well as an expanded math section. Officials also added a writing test, increasing the total possible SAT score from 1600 to 2400. . . . D.C. Public Schools officials said that despite low scores across the board, their system outpaced the national trend by showing slight improvements. The system reported an average reading score among graduating seniors of 416, up two points from last year, and the same math score, 404, as in 2005. Students also achieved an average writing score of 408.”; Milloy, Courtland, “On This D.C. School System Quiz, No One Succeeds,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/29/AR2006082901266.html. “Suppose you, like the D.C. Council, haven't the foggiest idea about what high-quality education means. Relax. Adults don't fail tests; they only fail the kids.”
August 28, 2006: Emerling, Gary and Arlo Wagner, “School Year Steps Off: D.C., Maryland Students Find Changes, Opportunities,” The Washington Times, B-01, http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20060828-110357-6806r.htm. “Mr. Janey met twin brothers Marquel and Marquis Lewis — along with their mother, Ernestine — and made the muggy-morning jaunt from the Hopkins Apartments on K Street Southeast to Tyler on G Street at about 8 a.m. Mr. Janey and Miss Lewis discussed their shared love of plants, as well as a few matters more pertinent to the subject at hand: an after-care program at Tyler and a consolidation policy under which the D.C. Board of Education closed several schools. About 1,100 students were affected by the changes, and 10 schools began accepting new students yesterday. "I told him I was glad [Tyler] was not one of the schools closed down," said Miss Lewis, 47, who works in housekeeping at Howard University. ‘It's really a blessing.’”; Haynes, V. Dion and Theola Labbe, “Schools the City Can Build On: As Another Year Gets Underway, System Looks to Use 3 Campuses as Models for Improvement,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/28/AR2006082801568.html. “At McKinley Technology High School in Eckington yesterday, students celebrated the first day of school by walking on a makeshift red carpet as they entered a building recently transformed into a first-rate technology center. The specialty-school model will be replicated when the D.C. school system revamps several struggling high schools. Uptown, officials at Brightwood Elementary in Petworth welcomed students to a newly renovated building, a $15.5 million showcase that will serve as a guide for the system's ambitious plan to spend $1 billion to refurbish dozens of dilapidated buildings. And at Scott Montgomery Elementary in Shaw, last year's 24 fourth-graders enrolled as fifth-graders at KIPP DC: Will Academy, a new public charter school housed in the same building. The first-of-its-kind partnership will allow the high-achieving Knowledge Is Power Program to share teaching methods with Montgomery, a traditional public school with decreasing enrollment. The schools are three examples of unprecedented changes that thousands of District youths encountered yesterday as they returned to a school system determined to improve student performance and its public reputation.”
August 27, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion and Theola Labbe, “Merged Schools on Brink of Test: Parents Vigilant, Officials Optimistic,” The Washington Post, C-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/26/AR2006082600628.html. “The Board of Education's plan to close and combine schools will now become reality for roughly 1,100 students. After a summer of angst, exacerbated by an accelerated six-month schedule to close five schools, students and parents will learn whether the change was worth the frustration they endured. In the consolidation plan, 10 schools will accept new students, and six high schools will accept ninth-graders from a closed junior high school in Northwest, R.H. Terrell. Superintendent Clifford B. Janey said all the schools will be ready to open tomorrow after officials spent the summer completing a checklist of more than 100 tasks associated with the relocations. The price tag for that work was $5 million, which covered relocation expenses and school upgrades that included freshly painted interiors, new flooring and repairs to water fountains and restrooms. An array of new academic offerings will also be offered. Walker-Jones Educational Center in Northwest, which will accept some former R.H. Terrell students, has a new library and art program. Principal Janette Johns-Gibson said seventh- and eighth-grade teachers will also help sixth-graders in the former elementary school develop a variety of skills, including vocabulary building. Still, some parents said last week that they were disappointed that more effort wasn't made to involve them in the process to unite students at the consolidated schools.”; Woodlee, Yolanda, A Final Back-to-School Task: Immunizations: Dozens of Children Get Free Shots in Program Sponsored by City and Hospital, The Washington Post, C-11, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/26/AR2006082601083.html. “Kapriah was one of 142 children who were vaccinated yesterday at the It's Wise to Immunize Family Fun Day at a recently built community center in Southeast Washington. An additional 144, including her sister, were told that they did not need shots. Instead of leaving with Band-Aids and tears, they took home new backpacks filled with books, crayons and markers. The program, in its 13th year, was sponsored by the D.C. Department of Health and the Children's National Medical Center. The children were given vaccinations against diseases such as chickenpox, hepatitis B, polio, measles, mumps and whooping cough. The immunizations are required by law before enrolling children in D.C. public schools, where classes start tomorrow. Children who do not have up-to-date immunizations will not be allowed to attend.”
August 26, 2006: Nakamura, David, “Cropp Stakes Her Future on School Improvement,” The Washington Post, B-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/25/AR2006082501280.html. “D.C. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp said yesterday that the city's public schools would begin to improve within a year if she is elected mayor and vowed not to seek a second term if the turnaround failed. ‘If you do not see a change, I will not run for reelection,’ Cropp said during a lunch with Washington Post reporters and editors. With about 2 1/2 weeks until the Sept. 12 Democratic primary, Cropp has sought to illustrate the difference between her and her chief rival, council member Adrian M. Fenty (Ward 4), who polls show is the front-runner. Improving the city's struggling public schools has been a constant top issue among voters, and Cropp and Fenty have pledged to push for changes to school administration. Cropp reiterated yesterday that she would seek to take over underperforming schools. Fenty has said he would create a deputy mayor for education in his Cabinet, a position that does not exist under Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D).”
August 25, 2006: Doolittle, Amy, “Orange Calls Education His No. 1 Priority: Candidate Wants Mayor to Fully Control Schools,” The Washington Times, B-01, http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20060824-105316-2059r.htm. “Vincent B. Orange Sr. says that, as D.C. mayor, he would measure the success of his administration by how well the public school system performs. . . . Mr. Orange, who represents Ward 5 on the D.C. Council, is seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor in the Sept. 12 primary. His plan for improving public education calls for the mayor to have full control of the schools, including the power to hire and fire the superintendent, who would be a member of his Cabinet.”
August 24, 2006: Greenwell, Megan, “Board Gets Fresh View from Inside,” The Washington Post, DZ-04, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300782.html. “If high-schoolers Veronica Ferrell and Brittany Clark have their way, leaky ceilings and broken air conditioners in Washington public schools are headed the way of the slide rule and the Trapper Keeper. The complaints are common among students of all ages, but Ferrell and Clark will have the unique chance to make sure that top school officials actually listen. As the new student representatives on the D.C. Board of Education, they will be responsible for communicating the interests of their peers.Although the two have yet to talk with each other about the issues they'll take to the school board, their lists of priorities are strikingly similar. In separate conversations, Ferrell listed broken water fountains, decaying ceilings, a shortage of books and bad-tasting lunches, and Clark highlighted the poor nutritional value of cafeteria food, broken air-conditioning systems and problems with ceilings.”; Haynes, V. Dion, “Elections Could Change Face of Education,” The Washington Post, DZ-02, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300692.html. “The fall elections could have huge repercussions for the D.C. public schools. Unlike his predecessors, Superintendent Clifford B. Janey during his nearly two-year tenure has enjoyed cozy relationships with many local elected officials, including Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), D.C. Council President Linda W. Cropp , council education committee Chairman Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3) and Board of Education President Peggy Cooper Cafritz . Those relationships have been beneficial — resulting in a $2.5 billion school modernization measure the council passed last spring, special budget allocations for the school system and a $25,000 bonus and an extended contract for Janey. But the collegiality could all change by year's end, when the District will have a new mayor, a new council president, a new chairman of the council's education committee, at least five new council members, a new school board president and as many as three new elected and three new appointed board members.”; Haynes, V. Dion, “Long Renovation List, and Waits to Match: $2.5 Billion Plan, Set to Be Released, Spans Many Years,” The Washington Post, DZ-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300760.html. “In a few weeks, Superintendent Clifford B. Janey is to release a long-awaited plan outlining how the school system will transform the city's aging and deteriorating schools into gleaming, state-of-the-art buildings. The good news is that the system finally has the money — $2.5 billion to be allocated over at least 10 years — which was approved by the D.C. Council in the spring. The bad news is that Janey's 600-page master facilities plan is likely to spur a new round of battles because a long list of schools would not be modernized for many years. Moreover, the document probably will spark anger because as many as 20 schools will be identified as candidates for closure or consolidation. Five schools were closed over the summer.”; Haynes, V. Dion, “Students Face New Learning Standards,” The Washington Post, DZ-05, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300774.html. “Students returning to school Monday will get the first taste of the D.C. school system's new science and social studies learning standards, which are aimed at immediately introducing more rigor into the classroom and ultimately new textbooks, standardized tests and even upgraded science labs. The learning standards, outlining what students should know and be able to do at each grade level, are among many new policies and initiatives slated to be launched this year. The changes, school officials say, are intended to boost student achievement, increase the level of parental involvement in the schools and improve efficiency for teachers and administrators. Students this year also will be offered an expanded array of enrichment programs, giving them more opportunities to participate in math and chess clubs and polish their academic skills after school and during holiday breaks. The school system will open the first three of five planned resource centers for parents, offering them such services as job training and courses on improving their children's achievement. And, in an attempt to reduce the dropout rate, ninth-graders for the first time will be required to devise graduation plans outlining a schedule for completing their studies.”; Haynes, V. Dion, “Trying Again to Transform Weakest Schools: Firm Leads Overhaul at 7 Senior Highs,” The Washington Post, DZ-03, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300703.html. “More than 10 years ago, D.C. school officials introduced a term to refer to a new process for overhauling the most academically troubled schools: "reconstitution." A few years later, under a new administration, the process — which involved bringing in education experts and sometimes replacing the curricula and staff -- became known as ‘transformation.’ This year, in yet another incarnation, the school system's attempt to fix low-achieving schools will be called "restructuring." Whatever it is called, there is widespread demand for results, not just rhetoric. At least 80 of the system's 140 schools have failed to make ‘adequate yearly progress’ under the No Child Left Behind law, subjecting them to heightened scrutiny. The law requires extra intervention for schools that fail to make academic targets for four or more years. This year, seven senior highs — Ballou and Anacostia in Southeast; Eastern and Woodson in Northeast; and Roosevelt, Coolidge and M.M. Washington in Northwest — will receive the highest level of intervention. An educational company will manage their academic overhaul. There will be extended classroom time in reading, writing and math; training for teachers and principals; and more individual attention for struggling students.”; Haynes, V. Dion, and Theola Labbe, “Some Revisions Delayed by Lack of New Books,” The Washington Post, B-08, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082301777.html. “D.C. school officials will delay the implementation of portions of science and social studies standards because the school system will not have the necessary textbooks when school opens Monday. Superintendent Clifford B. Janey is introducing science and social studies standards intended to guide sweeping changes in instruction by specifying what students in every grade should know. Officials had planned to order hundreds of thousands of textbooks so every student would have instructional material aligned with the new standards. Although the standards were approved in February and June, the system has neither adopted nor ordered the textbooks. Now, school officials say the new books will not be introduced until the 2007-2008 school year. Janey said he postponed buying the books for a year because he was concerned that they would not arrive in time for school. Last year, shipments of new language arts and mathematics textbooks arrived at some schools several months late. In the meantime, Janey said, teachers will use current textbooks and incorporate new material into their lesson plans and add field trips to history and science museums.”; Hollingsworth, Rebecca, “For Katrina Evacuees, a Blessing in Education,” The Washington Post, DZ-11, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300755.html. “When I got to Duke Ellington last September, I thought my life was over, but I realize now it had just begun. I made some of the best friends I will ever have. The most amazing teachers instilled in me a passion for learning that I had never known and filled me with a new love: acting. I learned about new cultures and religions. And I grew closer to my family. I really hadn't appreciated them before. Everything now has value. After I had lost everything, God gave me a life I had never expected. I feel truly blessed.”; Janey, Clifford B., “In His Own Words: Let's Raise the Bar for the New School Year,” The Washington Post, DZ-12, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300779.html. “Last year we implemented new learning standards in reading/language arts and mathematics. The prestigious Hoover Institute gave those new DCPS standards an A and designated them fourth in the entire nation. Hoover's survey identified which states were setting high academic standards and which were not. This year we will implement learning standards in social studies and science — two critically important disciplines for our students. Step by step, course by course, we are redefining what our students learn, how they learn and what specific outcomes we expect of them and their teachers. In conjunction with these new learning standards, we will implement a new assessment — the D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System. We are raising the bar even higher for our students. We are making certain that their success is based on the highest possible expectations, and in the long term, we expect achievement rates to markedly improve.”; Labbe, Theola, “At Year's Outset, A Power Shuffle: Special-Ed Position Filled; 20 Principals to Begin New Jobs,” The Washington Post, DZ-07, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300690.html. “The academic year begins next week with 20 new or reassigned principals in the D.C. public schools and one new face in a long-vacant top administration position. Marla C. Oakes, a 30-year education veteran, will take over as executive director of special education, filling a post that has been vacant for nearly a year. Oakes has served as an assistant superintendent in the St. Louis public schools, where roughly 6,000 students have disabilities. There she worked with agencies, nonprofit groups and specialized schools to coordinate special education services. Oakes comes to the District at a critical time for special education. According to a recent Washington Post analysis, the school system spent $118 million last year on tuition for special education students attending private schools, an expense that was 65 percent higher than in 2000. Records show that officials have covered the rising costs by transferring tens of millions of dollars a year from public school programs. About one in five special education students in the District attend private schools, compared with one in 11 in Prince George's County and one in 27 in Montgomery County.”; Labbe, Theola, “The Nuts and Bolts of the District's Educational System,” The Washington Post, DZ-06, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300688.html. “If you've ever wondered how education in the District is organized and who is responsible for what, here's a District Extra primer on city education.”; Labbe, Theola, “Six Charter Schools Opening with Unique Outlooks: Studies Include Latin and ESL,” The Washington Post, DZ-06, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300689.html. “Charter schools are free public schools open to all District residents. They are publicly funded but operate according to their individual charters, independent of the D.C. public schools administration. Two city-based entities authorize and regulate charter schools: the D.C. Public Charter School Board and the D.C. Board of Education. Six new charter schools are opening this school year. Here's a look at what they will offer. . . .”; Samuels, Robert, “If I Were in Charge, My School Would. . .,” The Washington Post, DZ-03, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300696.html. “About two dozen public high school students who were interviewed agreed that learning letters and numbers isn't everything. Their outlook on the city's educational system is determined by how much staff members seem to care about them, shown in everything from making fresh sandwiches to being nurturing instructors. Every school has its problems, Evans said. Fights occur. Some students don't show up for class. But an encouraging environment makes it possible to get a good education in the District, said Evans, who lives near Seventh and L streets NW. He said he dreams of playing professional football and likes having teachers at his games. In the classroom, he said, he appreciates being asked whether he needs assistance.”; Woodleee, Yolanda and Robert Samuels, “Who Is Going to Run District Schools?: Mayoral Candidates Offer Alternatives,” The Washington Post, DZ-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/23/AR2006082300687.html. “At least three of the candidates -- all members of the D.C. Council -- have plans to take control of the schools, while the other two want to play a pivotal role in running them. In a recent Washington Post poll, 24 percent of D.C. voters responding identified education as ‘the biggest problem facing the District today.’ Only crime and violence ranked above education, a showing that reflected residents' fear after a rash of homicides and the declaration of a ‘crime emergencyÆ in early July. . . . While the major mayoral candidates vary in their proposals to improve the school system, all agree that Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, who began two years ago, should remain in the job. And they all plan to keep the elected school board. Council Chairman Linda W. Cropp (D) and council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), the front-runners, said that if elected mayor each would include Janey in cabinet meetings. Fenty said the superintendent would be a member of his cabinet, while Cropp said Janey would be required to attend cabinet meetings so he could exchange ideas with other agency heads.”
August 23, 2006: Haynes, V. Dion, “D.C. Has All Its Teachers, But Some Lack Certificates,” The Washington Post, A-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/22/AR2006082201034.html. “D.C. school system officials have filled all teacher vacancies before the start of the school year, largely by retaining hundreds of uncertified teachers who were threatened early this year with dismissal. The school system had 866 teacher vacancies because of dismissals and early retirements, yet it will begin school Monday with only 20 unfilled slots for part-time librarians. That is in sharp contrast with recent years, when the system was struggling to fill vacancies long after schools opened. Officials said they filled more than half of this year's vacancies by rehiring 470 uncertified teachers who still need at least a year to complete requirements. The teachers must take up to four classes in their subject areas ù such as math, reading or special education — and pass exams to receive certification.”; Mathews, Jay, “Charter Schools Lag, Study Finds: Modest Difference in Test Scores Unlikely to Alter Debate,” The Washington Post, A-06, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/22/AR2006082201030.html. “Fourth-graders in traditional public schools nationwide did somewhat better on average than those in charter schools in reading and mathematics in 2003, a long-awaited federal report said yesterday. Earlier versions of the data have been used as weapons in a lively political and academic war between charter school advocates and opponents, but the new National Center for Education Statistics study appeared to provide little new ammunition for either side and little guidance for people trying to judge their schools. . . . The Washington Post reported yesterday that the District has 23 percent of its public school students in charter schools, a higher percentage than any other school district in the country. D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey has called for a moratorium on new charter schools but has received little support from elected officials, who note that voters have very little confidence in the traditional public schools. Two recent studies show D.C. charters outperforming traditional schools, but they are subject to the same problems of inadequate data and difficult interpretation that the center's report acknowledged in its national study.”; “Public Schools Outscore Charters,” The Washington Times, A-6, http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20060822-102308-1364r.htm. “Fourth-graders in traditional public schools score better in reading and math than students in charter schools, according to a government report that is likely to spur a fresh debate over the benefits of school choice. The report, released yesterday, says fourth-graders in traditional public schools scored an average of 5.2 points better in reading than students in charter schools on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) test in 2003. Students in traditional schools scored an average of 5.8 points better in mathematics. The report cautions that the results could have been influenced by factors other than the quality of charter schools.”
August 22, 2006: Doolittle, Amy, “Cropp Pledges to Take Over, Revive Schools: Mayoral Candidate Seeks Change in Charter,” The Washington Times, B-01, http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20060821-122639-5830r.htm. “Linda W. Cropp says that, as D.C. mayor, she would seek to change the D.C. Charter to give her direct control of poor-performing schools. ‘I really want us to develop standards that are very transparent and clear,’ Mrs. Cropp said during an interview with editors and reporters at The Washington Times.‘When those standards aren't met, the underperforming schools that don't meet them, I want those to come under the mayor. If the schools are working well, fine, but for those that aren't working well, we need to do something about it.’ Mrs. Cropp, chairman of the D.C. Council, is seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor in the Sept. 12 primary. To gain control of the city's poor-performing schools, Mrs. Cropp said that she would work with the D.C. Board of Education and the school superintendent and effect a change of the home-rule charter. Currently, the school system operates independently of the mayor and the council.”; Montgomery, Lori and Jay Mathews, “The Future of D.C. Public Schools: Traditional or Charter Education?,” The Washington Post, A-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/21/AR2006082101758.html. “Ten years after Congress imposed charter schools on a reluctant city, the District has emerged as one of the nation's most important laboratories for school choice and one of the first to confront a central tenet of free-market theory: Will traditional public schools improve with competition? Or will charters take over? Both sides agree that the District is approaching a critical juncture. With public confidence in the schools at an all-time low, more than 17,000 public school students — nearly one in four — have rejected the traditional system in favor of 51 independently run, publicly funded charter schools. That share is one of the largest in the nation and is expected to rise when six more charter schools open their doors this fall. As charters have proliferated, the number of students attending traditional schools has plummeted from 80,000 a decade ago to 58,000 last school year. Because tax dollars follow the student, charters now claim at least $140 million a year that might otherwise flow to neighborhood schools. That has led traditional schools to cut programs, lay off teachers and, for the first time in nearly a decade, close. Powerful forces in the national debate are watching closely to see whether D.C. schools can win those students back.”
August 21, 2006: Lively, Tarron, “For Area Students, Summer All Too Soon Draws to an End: PG's Schools Start Year with New CEO,” The Washington Times, A-01, http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20060821-122639-5830r.htm. “A stricter attendance policy — made by a truancy task force led by the D.C. Board of Education — will be also implemented this year. Under the new rules, secondary students with five or more unexcused absences in a class for a single advisory period will receive a letter-grade reduction for that subject. There are four such periods in a school year. A failing grade will be issued for 10 or more unexcused absences in that class. Additionally, a student with 30 or more unexcused absences will not graduate to the next grade — a change affecting elementary and secondary students. D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) has faced criticism for high truancy rates. Though there is no national standard for how a school system must compile truancy statistics, the District's truancy rate is about four times the national average of 3 percent to 5 percent, according to the National Center for School Engagement, which is funded by the Justice Department. D.C. officials previously set benchmarks to cut truancy rates to 21 percent in 2004-05, 18.5 percent in 2005-06 and 16 percent in 2006-07. By 2008, truancy rates should be 13 percent, according to DCPS. The D.C. school system also has had problems with security. The Metropolitan Police Department took over responsibility for security before the 2005-06 school year. In addition to school-resource officers and contract security personnel, officers from the city's seven police districts assist at the schools.”
August 18, 206: “No Moratorium on Charters: Better to Fix the Traditional Public Schools Than to Take Choice Away fro Parents,” The Washington Post, A-18, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/17/AR2006081701539.html. Editorial: “The call by D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey for a moratorium on new charter schools in the District is one part reasonable and one part self-serving. Taking the latter first, it's clear that charter schools have developed into a threat to the traditional school system since they were authorized by Congress 10 years ago. As Post reporter Lori Montgomery has reported, more than 17,500 students enrolled last year in charter schools. Meanwhile, enrollment in the traditional public school system has taken a nose dive, from about 80,000 students to about 58,000. The movement represents the action of parents starved for quality education who are voting on the traditional school system with their feet. If Mr. Janey's schools are unable to compete successfully with charters, whose fault is that? The proper response to fleeing families is not a moratorium but for the traditional system to start delivering on quality education. Mr. Janey, however, is on stronger ground when he asks whether charter schools are offering a high-quality alternative. He apparently has concluded that charters don't have a handle on measuring quality and that it would be a mistake and a disservice to children to allow the creation of additional schools without having a sound method for evaluating the 51 charter schools operating in the District. His concern about the track record of charter schools is well placed, based on the experience with the 17 charters authorized and overseen by the D.C. Board of Education.”
August 17, 2006: Andres, Gary, “D.C. Voucher Program Brings Hope: The Benefits of Educational Choice,” The Washington Times, A-19, http://www.washingtontimes.com/op-ed/gandres.htm. “The grades for the D.C. voucher program are not yet in, but if anecdotes were A's, this city's experiment in school choice should make the honor roll. Congress created and President Bush signed the D.C. school choice initiative in 2004, fashioning the first federal program of its kind. Formal evaluations of the 2-year-old program are not expected until sometime early next year. And even after that, the policy and political food fights will no doubt continue between advocates of the no-choice status quo and those interested in helping many D.C. kids enjoy the same options as those with more economic means. Yet if Holy Redeemer School, located just a few blocks north of the Capitol, is any indication of the hope, enthusiasm and early success of the program, the D.C. voucher pilot program is off to a cum laude launch.”; Labbe, Theola, “Charter School Closures Strand D.C. Students,” The Washington Post, A-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/16/AR2006081601521.html. “Less than two weeks before the first day of school, dozens of District parents are scrambling to find a school for their children after two popular charter schools closed this summer. D.C. ParentSmart, an information and resource center sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education, has logged dozens of calls from frustrated parents since the New School for Enterprise and Development in Northeast closed in June and Sasha Bruce Public Charter School in Northeast closed last month. The closure of Sasha Bruce has hit parents particularly hard, since it happened just three weeks ago and thrust parents into the competitive charter school landscape when slots are scarce.”
August 15, 2006: Montgomery, Lori, “Janey Questions Charter Schools: D.C. Superintendent Seeks Moratorium, Pending Evaluations,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081401072.html. “D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey is calling for a moratorium on new charter schools in the District, saying the independently run, publicly funded facilities are draining students and cash from the traditional school system while failing to offer a high-quality alternative. In an interview, Janey called on Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), the D.C. Council and education officials to help develop a method for evaluating the city's 51 charter schools before permitting any more to open. . . . A moratorium would require the approval of the independent board that authorizes new charters. Its chairman dismissed the idea yesterday. Still, Janey said he would continue to press his proposal, which interjected a strong voice of caution into the debate over charter schools.”; “Probe Quickly: The Public Needs Answers About How Charter School Funds Have Been Spent — Or Misspent,” The Washington Post, A-12, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081401115.html. Editorial: “It's been more than two months since the FBI raided the workplace and home of Brenda L. Belton, the D.C. Board of Education's executive director of charter schools, as part of a probe into the possible misuse of hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal and city funds. Sources have told The Post's Valerie Strauss that the federal investigation is expected to take several months more. That seems an awfully long time to have a cloud hanging over a component of the D.C. Board of Education, if not over the school board itself. As the D.C. Council's education committee chairman, Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), has observed, the probe raises questions not only concerning the propriety of the charter school office's expenditures but also about the thoroughness of the school board's oversight. The federal investigation should be conducted with a sense of urgency.”; Stewart, Nikita, “One Word Dwells on the Lips of Ward 3 Candidates: Schools: Hopefuls Try to Emerge from Crowd by Pacifying Uneasy Parents,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081401223.html. “The Democratic primary for the Ward 3 D.C. Council seat is a contest about who knows more, who cares more and who can do more about public schools. And candidates are falling all over themselves to stand out. Bill Rice, who has no children, is distributing a doorknob placard boldly claiming, ‘Only Bill Rice Can Fix Our Schools.’ Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss said he jumped into the race because he is the only candidate who currently has a child in a public school. Mary Cheh, whose children went to a private high school, recently held an education forum to get ideas from a small group of parents. The race has turned into a feverish, single-issue election because the candidates primarily have talked about public schools, a longtime issue for the ward. Incumbent Kathy Patterson (D), who is giving up the seat to run for council chairman, began her political career 12 years ago as a public schools advocate.”
August 14, 2006: Strauss, Valerie, “Funds May Have Been Directed to Friends: D.C. Charter Schools Chief Investigated,” The Washington Post, B-01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/13/AR2006081300818.html. “Federal officials are investigating whether the D.C. Board of Education's executive director of charter schools funneled federal funds to personal acquaintances working with the schools that she helped monitor, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation. They also are reviewing records to see whether Brenda L. Belton reaped any financial benefit from more than $350,000 paid to a private company to provide technical assistance to charter schools, sources said. The company was located in a building that Belton once owned and that is currently owned by her daughter, said sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the investigation. Belton, who was officially named head of the charter schools office in January 2003, was placed on paid administrative leave in June after federal authorities raided her home, office and the company. Belton's attorney, Danny Onorato, declined to comment.”
August 10, 2006: Barras, Jonetta Rose, “Bobb Announces His Candidacy for School Board President,” The Washington Examiner, P. 6, http://www.examiner.com/a-211043~Jonetta_Rose_Barras__Bobb_announces_his_candidacy_for_D_C__school_board_president.html. “Bobb is expected to pick up his nominating petitions today. Then, this evening at the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge at Fourth and E streets NW, he’ll rally the troops. On Sunday, he says he’ll be out on the streets, presenting himself as the right man for the job. ‘I am not going to be a guardian of the status quo,’ he says during an interview. Bobb has gained a reputation as a no-nonsense manager. With more than 30 years of experience in urban governments around the country, extensive knowledge and training focusing on trends and best practices in public education, whipping him in this race will take more than a notion. He has constructed an impressive campaign organization and conducted his own research. Some of it contradicts the chatter in the city, including a recent survey by Teach America, which identified teacher quality and student expectations of themselves as two of the top five challenges.”; Doolittle, Amy, “Bobb to Run for Head of School Board,” The Washington Times, B-03, http://www.washingtontimes.com/metro/20060809-110522-8843r.htm. “D.C. City Administrator Robert C. Bobb said yesterday that he will leave his position to run for president of the D.C. Board of Education. Mr. Bobb, 61, said that he will pick up his petitions today to put his name on the November ballot and that he will resign from the city manager's post within weeks. ‘It's going to be difficult to launch a campaign and still serve, so over some period of weeks I'll have to transition from my current position to something else,’ Mr. Bobb told The Washington Times. Mr. Bobb's announcement ends months of speculation about his