Tainted Money For D.C. Schools

What to think about the nonprofit D.C. Public Education Fund created by Mayor Adrian Fenty? It is supposed to have a good purpose: raising funds in the private sector to help the public schools with their operating budgets.

Fenty is said to be following the lead of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who tapped well-heeled New Yorkers for money for schools after he was elected.

But is Fenty going about it the right way?

Should he, for example, solicit money for his private D.C. Public Education Fund from an organization that the District government is suing?

Here's something else to think about:

Should the mayor accept money for his fund from a foreign government that recognizes and supports an Islamic charity that the United States has accused of using humanitarian aid as a cover to bankroll al-Qaeda and al-Qaeda affiliates? A foreign government that tolerates forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation of female foreign domestic workers?

Why do I raise these questions?

In the same week in which the D.C. government filed a highly publicized lawsuit against CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, accusing the region's largest health insurance provider of hoarding surpluses instead of donating some of the money to the community, the mayor awarded CareFirst a coveted "Platinum Sponsor" status for contributing $100,000 to the D.C. Public Education Fund.

Say what? 'Tis true.

This week, Fenty's interim attorney general, Peter J. Nickles, charged in a lawsuit that CareFirst is failing to pursue its charitable mission of public health care. The lawsuit seeks "court-supervised rehabilitation" of CareFirst to reshape the organization and force it to donate millions of dollars to the District.

At the same time, the mayor is giving CareFirst an "attaboy" for delivering 100 grand to his favorite nonprofit. What's up with that?

If CareFirst is not fulfilling its charitable public-health mission -- a charge by the District that CareFirst firmly rejects -- then why is the mayor seeking and accepting CareFirst money for a purpose that has nothing to do with public health?