A Veto to Uphold

The D.C. Council can stand up for school reform.

EFFORTS ARE underway to get the D.C. Council to override Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's veto of a bill that would usurp important powers of his schools chancellor. Residents who don't want political meddling in the ongoing reform of schools should pay close attention.

In December, the council unanimously passed a bill that would require the state superintendent of education to develop and implement disciplinary policies for the city schools and public charter schools. Included is a mandate to develop "training for principals," "tracking of disciplinary incidents" and "disciplinary actions against principals for failure to comply with student discipline procedures." Under the bill, the reconstituted school board must approve the policies. Mr. Fenty was right to veto the measure, his first veto in his two years in office.

The timing of the bill was odd, considering that Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee was in the midst of overhauling disciplinary policy. The state superintendent and board are supposed to be responsible for broad standards, but this would involve them in day-to-day operations. As State Superintendent of Education Deborah Gist wrote to the council, the bill "undermines the governance structure established for the District's school reform efforts and is unnecessary to effect changes in discipline across our public schools."

Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), a sponsor of the bill, has asked for the measure to be put on today's agenda so a motion to override can be considered. Encouragingly, it appeared yesterday that five members -- the number needed to sustain the veto -- had reconsidered their support. We hope that is the case, and that the council does not want to backtrack on its decision to give the mayor and school professionals the authority to run the schools.