Elections Could Change Face of Education

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.

"There's never been this much change on the council and the school board at the same time," said longtime activist Iris Toyer , who chairs Parents United for the D.C. Public Schools. "If I were [Janey], I'd be friendly with everyone, because you never know who he'll end up working with."

Abigail Smith of EdAction, a group that helps field candidates for the school board, agreed that she's never seen this much turnover in an election year. She predicted that the new mayor and school board members probably would make life harder for Janey.

The relationship between Janey and school board members "has been amicable," Smith added. "But something has been missing: the school board publicly holding the superintendent accountable. . . . Some candidates running for election want to make it clear they're going to hold the superintendent accountable. There's a good chance we'll see more talk of that."

As of press time, an eclectic group of people had declared candidacies for the board presidency and for the District 3 and 4 seats currently occupied, respectively, by Tommy Wells and William Lockridge . Wells is running for council member Sharon Ambrose 's Ward 6 seat, which will be vacated when she retires; Lockridge is running for his old seat.

Those who filed papers declaring their candidacies for board president are Vice President Carolyn N. Graham ; City Administrator Robert C. Bobb ; school activist Sunday Abraham ; Timothy L. Jenkins , a technology and telecommunications consultant who previously served as interim president of the University of the District of Columbia; Laurent Ross , first director of the D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant Program; and E dward Henry Wolterbeek , a real estate broker and financial planner.

Candidates seeking Wells's seat are: Abraham; Stephane Baldi , who studies education policy for the American Institutes for Research; Marc Borbely , a former D.C. schoolteacher who helped spearhead the campaign that resulted in the $2.5 billion council measure to modernize schools; Robert Vinson Brannum , an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 5; Mary Baird-Currie , a retired D.C. school counselor and advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 5; Terrance J. McMichael , a former advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 5 and a former student representative on the school board; Lisa Raymond , chief financial officer of the Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy; school activist Marvin Tucker ; and Wolterbeek.

Besides Lockridge, those running for the District 4 seat are: Jacquelyn Pinckney-Hackett , a parent advocate; Tyrell Holcomb , D.C.'s youth mayor who is a student at Washington Bible College; Jacque D. Patterson , an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Ward 8; Edward Davies ; and Mark Purvis . Davies did not return phone calls seeking comment about his background, and Purvis did not list a phone number with the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics.

The school board candidates have until Wednesday to turn in their petitions for the Nov. 7 election. Unlike the council candidates, those running for school board will not participate in the Sept. 12 primary.

The new mayor -- selected from a field of candidates including Cropp and council member Adrian M. Fenty (D-Ward 4), council member Vincent B. Orange Sr. (D-Ward 5), Michael Brown and Marie C. Johns -- will appoint at least two board members to replace Robin B. Martin and Carrie L. Thornhill , whose terms are up this year. If Graham is elected president, the new mayor will have to replace her, too.

Borbely E-Mail Irks Opponents

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Traditionally, the gloves in the school board races don't come off until after Labor Day, but not this year. The sparring started last month when Borbely sent an e-mail to reporters and an e-mail and a letter to the Office of Campaign Finance asserting that two of his opponents -- Baldi and Raymond -- were violating law by accepting donations of $300 rather than the $200 limit.

"Two candidates (Baldi and Raymond), without knowing it I'm sure have been collecting a chunk of change that it turns out are illegal contributions (above the contribution limit)," Borbely wrote in an e-mail to The Washington Post. "They'll have to return about one-third of all the money they reported as having collected from others, on their June 10 finance report ($700 and $400, respectively). By now they've probably collected more."

In a letter to the Office of Campaign Finance, Borbely pointed out the issue and noted that he had "adopted a voluntary $25 contribution limit, as I believe the limits should reflect what most residents are able to afford, to ensure equal access to the political process."

Responding to Borbely's letter, counsel for the campaign finance office agreed with his interpretation, writing that a provision allowing school board candidates to receive contributions of $300 "expired on October 21, 2004" and that the provisions "do not appear in any current statute."

Baldi and Raymond at first said their initial research indicated that they were within the $300 limit. When forwarded the letter from the Office of Campaign Finance, both said they had been given incorrect information by the office and would return donations that exceeded $200.

Still, both expressed disappointment that Borbely contacted The Post and the Office of Campaign Finance -- and not them. "By implying impropriety without talking to me, he merely underscores his inability to be a trusted, unifying leader," Baldi said in a statement.