By Colbert I. King
Saturday, September 29, 2007
If you are among those District residents who cheered Mayor Adrian Fenty's takeover of the public school system, it's time to tighten the old chin strap and gear up for battle. The Fenty administration is about to go to war.
After weeks of observing and probing, Fenty and schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee have decided to take a whack at the Gordian knot entangling the D.C. school system. They intend to cut down to size the central office, which they regard as an obstruction to school reform. They also want to rid the system of underperforming principals and teachers, who are as hard to get rid of as a bad cold.
The Fenty administration, however, can't move decisively without expanded authority to terminate employees. For that, it needs the D.C. Council's cooperation.
But even as legislation is being drafted in the executive branch, defenders of the status quo have started to circle their wagons. And nervous lawmakers, especially those facing the voters next year, are beginning to engage in the council's favorite dance: It's called "slipping and a-sliding, peeping and a-hiding" -- moves designed to avoid taking a firm position on the firings.
But, you ask, didn't the council approve the mayor's plan to take over the schools? Yes. Fenty's plan won council approval by a robust 9 to 2 vote in April. But that was then, this is now, and overnight can be a lifetime in politics.
To buck up council weaklings, Fenty and Rhee are going to need the support of residents who are tired of their children suffering the consequences of a poorly performing school system.
Residents can do their part by letting the council know where the real political clout resides.
There will be plenty of noise generated by disgruntled school system staffers. But raising hell is not the same as casting D.C. ballots.
Truth be told, the D.C. school system is a job center for suburbanites -- and they can't vote in the District.
Twelve years ago, I reported that 65 percent of the school system's principals lived outside the city, as did 50 percent of teachers ["A Radioactive School Board," op-ed, Aug. 26, 1995].
The central office itself is a commuter haven. Roughly 520 of the 914 employees at headquarters, or 57 percent, are not D.C. residents.
Those numbers ought to strike home with D.C. taxpayers: Most of the school system's payroll ends up in Maryland and Virginia coffers.
That's because the majority of the school system's workers collect D.C. paychecks but don't pay D.C. income taxes. And Congress prohibits the city from imposing a commuter tax.
So what does the District get in return?
Poor performance, as measured by student test scores, and a school system facilities program that, according to Allen Y. Lew, the new D.C. schools construction czar, "is in gridlock and paralysis."
Consider: 51 percent of fourth-graders score below basic skill levels in math and 61 percent score below basic in reading.
District eighth-graders score even lower: 66 percent below basic in math; 52 percent below basic in reading.
Those results, compiled on this year's National Assessment of Educational Progress, show D.C. students falling far short of national averages. They are outperformed by students in Maryland and Virginia, by wide margins and in every category.
Crumbling school buildings speak for themselves.
So when the howling starts in a few weeks, city legislators should remember those records of failure, who's responsible and where most of them live.
The days of sweeping poor performances under the rug are over. The time to reshape the school system's culture is now.
The council must know that the reputed adverse political consequences of removing deadwood from the system are pure fiction.
Of course, Fenty, and especially Rhee, can't run roughshod over people. The administration should know the rules and prepare. Terminations that are based on poor performance or a lack of skills must be documented and justified.
But that's not all, in this race-conscious city.
Most of those affected will be African American because an overwhelming majority of the school system's workers are black. It does not follow, however, that firings will be based on race, sex, age or any of the other illegal reasons for terminating employment. But expect that red herring to get dragged into the debate.
Face it. Bad job performance, consistently marginal work and having a bad attitude to boot can and should get you fired.
The D.C. school system is not a jobs program. It is -- or ought to be -- a place where high-quality teaching and learning occur daily in every school. That's not the case today. But that's where Fenty and Rhee want to take the system.
Supporters of school reform should not sit back and force them to go it alone.
View all comments that have been posted about this article.