Record Funding Boost Likely for Schools

The final product guarantees $200 million a year for modernization. About half would come from the existing capital budget, which the mayor would be required to maintain at $100 million. The other half would come from sales tax revenue currently dedicated to other purposes, leaving a hole in the budget that would be filled with future surpluses, if any.

Gandhi must decide this month whether the city will have enough cash to make the bill work for the first five years. If the answer is no, Williams has promised to find new revenue or spending cuts in the budget he is preparing, his spokesman Vince Morris said.

The bill also would address one of the primary concerns about giving school officials significant new funds by creating a nine-member advisory board to oversee spending and raise alarms if the cash is wasted or misspent. It also requires school officials to lay out a strategy for efficiently spending the money by May 1.

Cropp and Patterson said the strategy must demonstrate the will to address the politically sensitive issue of closing underused schools. "We do not need to restore or renovate or modernize empty buildings," Cropp said.

In the end, Cropp said, she, Evans and Patterson did more to advance school modernization than Fenty did. Though the bill bears Fenty's name, he "never worked on it," Cropp said in an interview. "He threw it out there and then went to rallies."

Fenty said he's not looking for credit.

"Here's my quote: The bill is consistent with the priorities of the people of the District of Columbia. People find the schools a complete embarrassment," he said.

"When you throw that out there and people have a chance to rally around it, the voice of the public -- which is what we're supposed to pay attention to -- was extremely passionate."