Fenty Poised to Reach For D.C. School Reins

Janey said the mayor, council, school board and superintendent must work together.

"If one sees itself more important than the whole, we'll see problems," he said.

Two years ago, the council rejected a takeover proposal by Williams, who wanted to turn the school board into an advisory body and assume the power to hire and fire the superintendent. Opponents said the mayor's proposal would have created unnecessary turmoil, diminished residents' control and empowered a mayor who had failed to use his authority to bring about improvement.

But Fenty swept all 142 precincts in Tuesday's Democratic primary by campaigning on a promise to focus relentlessly on improving the school system.

"There was a mandate for fixing the schools," Fenty said. "There's such passion behind it that I would be petrified to not come in and make this my highest priority. Any tinkering around the edges is not going to be well received."

Fenty's primary model for reform is New York. Klein and Bloomberg overhauled elementary education, imposed new citywide reading and math programs, gave principals greater autonomy and expanded charter schools. And Klein negotiated a labor contract that gave teachers more money in exchange for an agreement to work longer school days.

Fenty stressed that even if he is successful in taking control of the schools, it would not necessarily mean that Janey would have to leave. Janey insisted that he is moving as fast as Fenty to make change.

Staff writers V. Dion Haynes, Allison Klein and Elissa Silverman contributed to this report.