Fix Up Schools, But Not With Faulty System

Council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), the driving force behind the renovation fund, tried to create an education trust to manage the program but backed off because "there is not support for an outside entity on the school board or in the system."

Upon arriving more than a year ago, Superintendent Clifford Janey promised a "dynamic intervention" by outside managers to fix up the system. Janey also concedes that the system is teeming with underused school buildings, many of them gold mines.

But Janey won't divulge his plan for closing schools until April -- long after the renovations vote. Cart, then horse.

Patterson's plan envisions whacking D.C. taxpayers for the bulk of the cost. Smaller amounts would come from taxes that hit commuters (parking) and businesses. Better: Push the parking tax way up, both to get commuters to pay their fair share of the cost of schools and to push more drivers onto transit.

But taxes are not the only answer. It's irresponsible to have 59,000 students rattling around in 150 schools. The District has as many schools now as when it served 146,000 students in 1970. In school after school, whole wings sit empty.

Fast-growing Prince William County, with slightly more students, has 75 schools -- and needs more. Prince George's and Montgomery schools each have twice as many students as the District, yet each has only a couple dozen more schools.

Closing a few dozen schools could boost Mayor Tony Williams's plan to lure 100,000 new residents. Many schools sit on land that makes developers salivate. Developers are so hungry for land in every ward, they'd happily build new schools, free of charge. Doubt it? We just witnessed a wild bidding war for one of the city's most crime-ridden housing projects, Sursum Corda. The money is falling from trees.

History says nothing will happen. Now's the time to change history.