Rhee Seeks New Way To Avert Violence

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Rhee Addresses Truancy at D.C. Council Meeting

D.C. Public Schools chancellor Michael Rhee told members of the D.C. Council that she is dealing with one apect of the school system's troubles: truancy. Council member David Catania said parents need to do more to ensure their children are attending school.

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D.C. State Board of Education member William Lockridge, who represents wards 7 and 8, said the Anacostia situation was triggered by tensions about the enrollment of students from Eastern High School, which is being reorganized under the No Child Left Behind law, and M.M. Washington Career High School, which was closed because of low enrollment.

"I think it was a bad idea from the beginning," Lockridge said. "The community forewarned the administration that this was going to happen, and it's happened. They're not listening."

Rhee said the transfers played no role in the disorder.

Responsibility for security at D.C. schools is shared by "school resource officers" provided by police and a private security firm, Hawk One. Parents and teachers have complained frequently about the ineffectiveness of some guards, saying they fraternize with students and do little to enforce order. School officials said that although they have no immediate plans to replace Hawk One, training for the guards will be upgraded.

Rhee and Washington Teachers Union President George Parker answered council members' questions on the status of contract talks. Both reported little progress and raised the possibility that the two sides could soon declare an impasse, which would place the dispute in the hands of mediators.

Rhee, Parker and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten met Wednesday to discuss the negotiations, but none would elaborate on the conversation. Weingarten and Parker called it "candid."

Staff writers Robert E. Pierre and Timothy Wilson contributed to this report.