Diverse Majority's Choice Signals a New Era

As mayor, Fenty would supervise a landmark program to spend more than $1 billion to rebuild and modernize public schools, now plagued by leaking roofs, worn-out boilers and stopped-up plumbing. He would have to shape the proliferation of charter schools, independently run but publicly financed institutions that have drained more than 17,000 students from the traditional system.

But his biggest decision might be whether to wrest the system from the control of the city's independent school board, about half of whose members are appointed by the mayor. The board is scheduled to revert to a wholly elected body in 2009.

Williams tried to take over the schools two years ago but failed in the face of council concerns that his heavy out-of-town travel schedule would leave the system adrift. Fenty wants to try again, at least by taking over failing schools. Depending on the measure used to define "failing," that could mean removing most of the city's more than 140 schools from the board's jurisdiction.

Fenty has also said he would consider pushing for a full takeover. Such a move could alienate Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, who has instilled fresh optimism in many public school parents since his hiring two years ago.

But Fenty has made clear that he doesn't think Janey is moving fast enough. During the campaign, he sought advice from New York schools chief Joel Klein, a former Washingtonian who offered to help remake the D.C. system. Fenty also met with Miami-Dade County schools chief Rudolph Crew, who turned down the D.C. job before it was offered to Janey.

"I think Janey has aptitude and he has promise," Fenty said in a recent interview. "But the old days of the mayor sitting on the sidelines while education was handled by other people are over."

Evans said the council is unlikely to approve a mayoral takeover. Eliminating the elected school board -- the first body D.C. residents were permitted to choose by popular election -- would be politically difficult. At any rate, Congress would have to make the final decision, Evans said.

Fenty would face a host of other challenges. The city's relative calm has been broken by a frightening spike in violence. A shrinking supply of affordable housing threatens to change the face of many neighborhoods. The new baseball stadium remains a source of contention and misgiving. And, after years of rapid expansion, tax revenue may be starting to level off.

Right now, the financial outlook is fairly good. The city is entering fiscal 2007 with a balanced budget and $738 million in the bank. But last month, Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi announced that he could not increase his quarterly revenue forecast as anticipated, citing "some softening in the D.C. real estate market." The news forced Williams to scrap plans to expand a variety of programs and led the council to start looking for other ways to pay for 350 police officers it decided to add in July.

Fenty has said he would spend more on schools, public safety and programs for the poor. And at a forum in May, he pledged to spend $1 billion on affordable housing and neighborhood redevelopment programs advocated by a citywide coalition of churches known as the Washington Interfaith Network.

Fenty also has vowed not to raise taxes, a promise Williams has disparaged as irresponsible given the changing economic picture.