Point of View
From the Chairman of WTU Political Action Committee
The problems with DCPS fall directly on the shoulders of
Mayor Anthony Williams. When Barbara Bullock was president of the WTU, she endorsed
Mayor Williams without the approval of the rank and file in not one but
two elections. Ms. Bullock negotiated a contract for teachers with the
direct support and agreement of Mayor Williams of a 19% pay raise over a
three year period. 5% was due in 2001, 5% was due in 2002, and 9% was
due in 2003. After the scandal and alleged theft of over 5 million
dollars from the WTU by Bullock and others, the mayor turned his back
away from teachers. Mayor Williams slashed 100 million dollars from the
2004 budget and he forced the Board of Education to reduce its dollars
available to schools during the 2002-2003 school year by 60 million
dollars. This was the first phase when the school board was forced to
lay off teachers and the board tried to renege on the third part of our
agreed contract which was our 9% which was due in 2003. This act caused
total disarray in the school system and the cry went out in every
school" No 9% October 1, no work October 2".
When this occurred, the board made several cuts including
the lay off of a group of teachers in the position of "Change
Facilitators". These teachers were mostly senior teachers with
outstanding ratings over the years. They were some of DCPS's best. Their
job was to train new teachers and provide additional support to teachers
as needed. A few change facilitators decided to fight to keep their jobs
in DCPS but the majority of them accepted positions in other school
districts. When these teachers left the school system, the morale of
their colleagues started slipping.
Then the mayor made irresponsible statements such as
calling our school system a slow moving train wreck which continued to
lower teacher morale After that, it is believed that the mayor was
directly responsible for negative ads on the back of buses that drove
around all over the city for months. And then of course, his stance on
vouchers. The mass majority of teachers and administrators in DCPS do
not support vouchers. In a recent "Weekend Review" in the
Washington Post, it was stated that the mayor had received a 190 million
dollars budget bonus from the federal government. You would think that
the mayor would not hesitate to return the 100 million dollars that he
reneged on in the 2004 budget, especially when the board of education
announced firing over 800 DCPS personnel, 550 would have been teachers.
I question the mayor's priority and judgment.
DCPS continues to be in trouble as are so many of the
agencies that the mayor oversees.
This is the same Anthony Williams, who under the Barry
administration, came to work one day and fired everyone within an
agency. This is the same Anthony Williams who threatened to close down
the Office of the Aging, who threatened to close down UDC, who threatened to close down DC General Hospital, which
he did close after he became mayor.
At the Mayor's "Summit III" , he stated "
Give him the reins and he would be able to operate DCPS". As a 28
year teacher and a native Washingtonian, let me give my opinion on that
statement. He had the reins of the Recreation Department and the
director he appointed resigned after it was disclosed that he had
falsified his resume and misappropriated funds. His director of Motor
Vehicles resigned. His director of 911 resigned after making racial
slurs to staff His religious advisor resigned after making improper
sexual advances to minors. An auditor resigned and has filed a lawsuit
against him. His fire chief resigned after falsifying his resume and
appropriating funds. His Chief of Staff resigned after questionable
dealings with funds.
Last year, two murders at DC jail resulted in a 100
million dollar law suit and just recently four people were shot in DC
jail. His petition drive for his reelection, with that scandal where
even Donald Duck's signature was on it. He was forced to have a write in
ballot. That fiasco was an embarrassment not only locally, but
nationally, and internationally.
As a teacher, when I hear his desires to run the schools,
it scares me to death. He is not in control of his own agencies so if he
controlled DCPS I'm afraid the same type of management and decision
making would continue. For example, he was very upset with the former
superintendent when he did not open the schools the day after the
hurricane. I don't know about other citizens of Washington but my
electricity was off for seven days as it was in many areas. If schools
had opened as he requested without the opportunity to have inventory of
the schools' operating refrigeration, food spoilage, and over all lack
of electricity, students would not have had a healthy breakfast or lunch
and that would have been a real disaster.
I have never and I shall never agree that this mayor
should have had the authority to appoint anyone to the board, the first
elected body in the District of Columbia.
Because of his position supporting vouchers, wanting line
item authority, and wanting to take over the day to day operation of
DCPS, I believe this mayor is a closet Republican and a position is
waiting for him in the Republican Party when he leaves office in D.C.!
Jerome Brooks
Chairman, WTU Political Action Committee
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