Candidates Weigh In on System's Future

Amid Questions of Takeover, Rivals Debate Special Ed, Charter Programs

Jacque Patterson, center, supports charter schools. Opponents Jimmy Johnson, left, and William Lockridge say charter schools detract from traditional public schools. (By Jahi Chikwendiu -- The Washington Post)

Eight D.C. Board of Education candidates faced off last night at a community forum on school reform, charter schools, the federally funded voucher program and other issues challenging an already troubled school system.

The forum, sponsored by DC VOICE and several other school reform organizations, is among a series of community meetings held almost daily across the city to draw attention to the Nov. 7 school board contests.

This year, five of the nine seats on the board are up for grabs. Fifteen candidates are running for three seats -- five for president, five for a District 4 seat (Wards 7 and 8) and five for District 3 (Wards 4 and 5). The next mayor will replace two appointed board members whose terms expire in December.

But the probable mayor, Democratic nominee Adrian M. Fenty, wants to take over the school system and possibly turn the board into an entirely appointed one.

So despite all the competition for the three elected seats, the question looming over last night's forum was: Will this be the last school board election?

"I'm a firm believer in public education," said school board Vice President Carolyn N. Graham, a candidate for board president. "I'm running on the public's right to control public education."

Timothy Jenkins, a former interim president of the University of the District of Columbia who also is running for president, agreed, saying an appointed board would hurt the city's schools.

"We've already had three reorganizations and six superintendents," he said. "The key thing we need is consistency."

The other candidates largely agreed that the school board should remain independent, favored offering more vocational education, and supported Superintendent Clifford B. Janey's rigorous new academic standards and his plan to renovate more than 100 schools.

But they differed on the board's role in an increasingly competitive educational landscape in which public charter schools and a federally funded voucher program are drawing away thousands of students. Janey has called for a moratorium on new charter schools.

Laurent Ross, a candidate for president, said he favors ending the voucher experiment and halting the opening of public charter schools. "The only reason we have charter schools is because the Republican-controlled Congress thinks of [D.C. students] as laboratory rats," Ross said.

But Robert C. Bobb, who recently resigned as city administrator and also is seeking the board's presidency, said he does not support a moratorium. "What I am in favor of is being very aggressive to make the D.C. public schools the system of choice," he said.