Cardin Unblocks D.C. Schools Takeover

D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton yesterday reached a "handshake agreement" with Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin to lift the hold he placed on the District schools takeover plan, a move that helps clear the path to final approval of the measure.

Norton (D), who spent most of yesterday negotiating by telephone with Cardin (D-Md.) and Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D), said the final details will be worked out and put in writing next week.

"Cardin has indicated to me personally that he is going to take the hold off," Norton said. "We have a handshake agreement. That's what old friends can do."

It remains unclear, however, what, if anything, the District will do in return. Cardin had put the hold on the takeover legislation over a dispute involving the city's plans to rebuild the Oak Hill youth detention center in Anne Arundel County. Cardin wants the facility moved to the District, and he used the schools takeover bill to make his point.

Susan Sullam, a spokeswoman for Cardin, said only that the hold had been lifted and that the senator will support the schools legislation, which the D.C. Council has approved to give Fenty control of the 55,000-student system. The bill, which greatly reduces the authority of the D.C. Board of Education, must be approved by Congress and President Bush because it amends the 1973 Home Rule Charter.

"They have reached an agreement, and the senator is working with Eleanor Holmes Norton on the details, which will be made public early next week," Sullam said. "He believes there will be timely consideration of the education bill. The bill will move forward, and he will support it."

Fenty, who just returned from New York, where he met Thursday with Wall Street analysts, was pleased that Norton brokered the agreement.

"Improving education for our children is one of the most important priorities for the residents of the District of Columbia," Fenty said in a statement. "I appreciate that Senator Ben Cardin and Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton understand that and are working to help move our education initiative forward as quickly as possible."

Fenty's statement included no information on terms of the deal.

Cardin acknowledged Thursday that he had placed the anonymous hold on the takeover plan when it was introduced in the Senate this week. He has been trying for years to relocate Oak Hill. The facility is on federal property in Laurel, part of which is in Anne Arundel County.

Norton also spoke to Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold (R), who wants to secure part of the 880-acre parcel for a park. Oak Hill, in the midst of a modernization plan, is building a 60-bed facility on 25 acres of the federal land, where the center has been since 1967.

Leopold, who said he had not spoken to Cardin, said that if the District continues to build the new center, Anne Arundel will still try to get the southern part of the property for the park. "I have not seen any details, but I'm pleased that we're working toward an understanding," he said.

Although all the elected officials were planning to meet next week, Norton said she did not want to wait and decided to offer an oral agreement instead.

"My goal was not to let the weekend come with that hold still looming," Norton said. With so many demands on the schools, time is running short for the takeover process, she said. "The longer it stays, the worse position the District is in for a very difficult task."