Fenty Poised to Reach For D.C. School Reins
Mayoral Nominee Considers a Takeover

By David Nakamura and Lori Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, September 17, 2006

Democratic mayoral nominee Adrian M. Fenty is strongly considering a bid to take direct control of the District's ailing public school system, saying that D.C. voters want to see the next mayor do more than "tinkering around the edges."

Fenty plans to meet Tuesday with D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, whom Fenty has criticized for moving too slowly since being hired two years ago. Fenty is also scheduling meetings with officials in New York City, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and schools chief Joel Klein, who have been credited with improving test scores and graduation rates in the nation's largest school system.

Bloomberg, with the blessing of the state legislature, took over the New York City schools six months into his tenure, established a city Department of Education, hired Klein as chancellor and reduced the city's boards of education to advisory panels -- a model that Fenty has admired.

"We're definitely leaning in that direction," Fenty said of a change in the governing structure of District schools. "I can't think of anything else we could do that would have a dramatic impact."

Fenty said he thinks that the New York model would probably succeed in Washington.

"It's hard to imagine it not working here. New York is 10 times as big as our system," said Fenty, the Ward 4 D.C. Council member, who still faces the general election in November. "When I talked with Joel Klein, he didn't even start the conversation without talking about direct accountability to the mayor. He was emphatic about that."

Fenty called fixing the District's school system his top priority, and the aggressive vision he outlined illustrates his belief that a chief executive must act quickly and decisively upon assuming office.

The school system is one of several agencies that Fenty has eyed for major changes. Others are the departments of police; fire and emergency medical services; corrections; personnel; contracting and procurement; permitting; and homeland security.

Fenty is to meet tomorrow with D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey. Fenty has said that the police department has improved in some areas during Ramsey's nine-year tenure, but in the campaign, Fenty was sharply critical of Ramsey's approach to neighborhood patrols.

Fenty was the only council member to vote against emergency crime legislation in July offered by Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), which added 300 new officers, allowed surveillance cameras and imposed an earlier youth curfew. At the time, Fenty said that he wanted the police department to implement more systemic changes, although Ramsey has since credited the crime bill with helping to increase arrests and reduce homicides.

"The officers on the beat, for the most part, are doing a great job," Fenty said. "But too many are sitting behind desks, rather than walking the beat. And you can be in any neighborhood in the District of Columbia, and officers are sitting in their cars, driving. It's a management issue, from above, to instruct them to get out of the cars."

Ramsey, who has been chief since 1988, defended his record but said there is room for improvement.

"After eight and a half years, I don't think you have to audition," he said. "This department is better than it was, and it's not as good as it can be."

If Fenty asks him to leave, Ramsey said, "that's fine. I'll do whatever I need to make the transition smooth."

Fenty has called for the firing of Adrian H. Thompson, chief of the Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services, after a report in June detailed an unacceptable chain of failures in the city's emergency response to a fatal attack on retired New York Times reporter David E. Rosenbaum.

With Thompson gone, Fenty said he would separate that department into two "better run" agencies with separate chiefs and budgets. Thompson said Friday that he has addressed many problems detailed in the inspector general's report, and he disagreed with the concept of dividing the agency.

"If he asks me to retire or step down after he becomes mayor, I'll do that," Thompson said.

While outlining his vision, Fenty offered praise for Williams and several city agencies, such as the management and budget office, which he said are doing a good job.

"We are not in the unenviable position [Williams] was, where nothing worked when he took over," Fenty said. "Some agencies, we might [make changes] four levels deep, others just a change in the director. It just depends. We want to inspire a lot of confidence in people who work hard and keep them or promote them."

To achieve his agenda, Fenty will need the support of several key groups, including the D.C. Council, and Congress, which has authority over the District. Fenty is to meet this week with Ward 7 council member Vincent C. Gray, who won the Democratic nomination for council chairman. Gray's education agenda has not included a mayoral takeover of the schools.

Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), who has been critical of Fenty, said yesterday that he would get behind a mayoral bid to take over the schools.

"I support that enormously," Evans said. However, Evans said, Fenty might need more than a majority vote on the council, noting that the move could require congressional approval.

In an interview, Janey questioned the need for such drastic reform, saying that his own strategy for overhauling the school system is underway. Last week, Janey released a 15-year plan, which includes closing 19 schools, adding Advanced Placement courses and streamlining special education.

"Mayors ought to be involved," Janey said. "The question remains: Will that involvement help propel the efforts that have already been established?"

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.