To the City by the Bay
Dear Teachers and Students:
Arlene Ackerman is going to San Francisco. Over the past few days, I have
learned of another reason to celebrate, rather than mourn, this move. For years, the
school system has had a terrible problem dealing with students who need special education
— it takes an unconscionably long time to evaluate students; the evaluations, when
they are done, are frequently shallow and questionable; and DCPS drags its feet in
providing special education even after these services have been ordered by a city hearing
officer or by a court. Everyone agrees that the cost of special education is exorbitant.
The best way to cut costs would be to provide adequate education within DC schools, thus
cutting the number of students who must be sent to private facilities. Mrs. Ackerman has
reacted, instead, by trying to deny services to as many students as possible, and by
cutting payments to lawyers for special education students in order to reduce the number
of students who can sue to get the services they are denied. Now the school system has
been caught in a particularly shoddy, but characteristic, trick.
When students have been denied appropriate special education, hearing
officers and courts often award them “compensatory services,” usually individual
tutoring. This year, the public school system is beginning a summer school, the
“Summer STARS Comp-Ed Academy,” for students who need these compensatory
services. That sounds like a good thing. But buried in small print in the release that the
school system required parents to sign was a paragraph that released DCPS from giving any
further compensatory education to students who attended it. In other words, if a student
had been awarded three or five years of compensatory education to make up for the services
that he had been denied, he would lose all those benefits if he attended one summer school
session. This is nothing but a fraud and a scam. It is cheating the neediest students. And
it is the sort of action for which Mrs. Ackerman didn't want to be held accountable. To
read a lawyer's brief about this con game, and the judge's furious order that stopped it,
go to http://www.dcwatch.com/schools/ps000516.htm.
Nobody, including me, wrote anything about our neighborhoods in this issue
of themail. I promise to do better next time. Will you?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Will Arlene Ackerman leave DC for San Francisco? While I think it would be
the best thing for the DC Public School System, I do not think Ms. Ackerman will give up
the good deal she has here — a nice salary, non-accountability for failure to meet
objectives, and unresponsiveness to the parents and students of this school system. She
doesn't have to make any improvements in the schools and yet she is heralded as though her
presence has actually improved the academic status of our children. What are the criteria
by which a superintendent is measured? By my standards it is the success of the students
in the classroom. The mayor, city council and the control board obviously believe it is
the number of tantrums the superintendent has each year when asked to present facts about
what she has done with the school budget.
Whenever Arlene Ackerman is asked to present actual facts to support her
contention that students have improved academically, Ms. Ackerman gets angry and refuses
to answer any more questions. The Mayor, the Council, and the Control Board need to stop
pampering Ms. Ackerman and give her a bus ticket to San Francisco effective immediately.
There has to be a superintendent available who will actually work for the
academic and social success of our students. Arlene Ackerman's fifteen minutes of fame are
up. It is time to let her fumble the ball on somebody else's children.
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I think that everyone on our city council should take a deep breath and
sit themselves down a minute before being too critical of our Superintendent, Arlene
Ackerman. Council has on many ground little or no accountability for themselves. All of
them have been on the job long enough now that their records speak for themselves. Ms.
Ackerman has lots of elements to work with to show the kind of results that people want.
One of them is money, or lack of enough, students that want to learn, and enough qualified
teachers and educators that are willing and able to withstand the daily grind of it all.
One thing is for sure, there is no council member that I am aware of that has the level of
education and experience that Arlene Ackerman has. If so, only they have the right to
begin to complain. She is a leader, and a fine one. The real problem with DC is simple,
none of the council members have a better plan, so all they can and will do is sit and
complain. Kathy Patterson, what have you done with the taxpayers' money and what has been
accomplished hereby? That question I beg you to give an honest forthright answer to. Add
in Jarvis, Evans and Brazil. Now that's a grand crew for you! You all move sluggishly on
issues that effect us all daily but stand quickly to criticize someone with far more
insight than all four of you combined. What about the unsolved murder rate in DC, when is
the last time any of you thought of bringing the Chief of Police down to ask him
questions. What about the streets being torn all to hell, and still little or no repair,
how about call the mayor down to ask him questions about the weak moratorium on digging up
the streets for cable installations. Why don't you do council business and then if Ms.
Ackerman doesn't move the schools and the pupils forward, then, only after giving her your
support and the time necessary then begin to ask questions.
The city is tired of this fighting and bickering. Sit up and take notice
that it is time to do real work and accomplish something to be proud of and right now I
don't see Council doing anything to be proud of. You held a midnight meeting to vote on a
special election for the school board. When is the last time you thought of a evening
session allowing citizens the time to speak to the Council? You know many of us work
during the day and would love the chance to have the attention of all of you at one time
to tell you exactly how we feel. Have any of you thought of it? No, because you are too
busy appearing with each other to convince people to re-elect one another. Council members
please do the peoples work, be effective and be honest, move swiftly but thoroughly. It is
time that you get a sense of what is right and what should be left for the professionals
to do. I eagerly await any of your to respond to me in public or personally.
###############
Was Moving the Answer to DC Schools?
Jean Lawrence, JKelLaw@aol.com
My daughter is graduating from Dobson High School out here in Arizona this
week. Not that this accomplishment is really about me, but this little science project has
taken me almost a third of my life, most of my money, and 90 percent of my sanity. The
only completely good educational experience she had was at School for Friends, a preschool
near Dupont Circle. Then she went to Eaton (I moved to be next to the school), where I was
informed that the schools no longer taught the multiplication tables (“something the
children can learn at home”), and I started a newsletter of math puzzles to help
parents home-school on the basics. After being informed by her 4th grade teacher that they
always had a better day when my child was home sick, I moved her to St. Ann's Academy
through eighth grade. She took up smoking there at age 12, not that that is the school's
fault. At this point, in fact, I am sure you can see that quite a bit of this is
self-inflicted. Out here in AZ, the poor habits and ill-advised associations continued as
she learned to deal with people in all walks of life. Then a weird and unexpected thing
happened. She found her bliss. She took an interior design course and fell in love with
it. She now works for a designer and will take junior college courses in design. This is
not to say that graduation was not a squeaker. She had some summer school, she had
suspensions — but it's going to happen. She is going to march. Was the DC school
system so uniquely bad? Certainly, I was not impressed. But I don't feel she was
especially well educated out here, either. You pays your money and takes your chances. And
hope and pray that bliss thing happens.
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Investigative Hearing
Dorothy Brizill, dorothy@dcwatch.com
Tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. the Council Committees on Human Services and
Government Operations are holding a special investigative hearing on the DC Mental
Retardation and Developmental Disabilities Administration. This is the agency that was the
subject of Kate Boo's Pulitzer-prize-winning series in The Washington Post, and that was
responsible for the mentally retarded citizens who died of neglect and mistreatment in
facilities under their purview. Tomorrow's all-day hearing begins the Council's effort to
determine “the extent of knowledge of officials within MRDDA, the Department of Human
Services, other Departments of government, and the senior staff of the Williams
Administration on the threat to life and safety of wards of the District.” In other
words, what did they know, and when did they know it — and why didn't they act on
what they knew. Mayor Williams promised to testify at the hearing, but today he backed out
of appearing, so we probably won't hear much about scorecards or accountability. It
promises to be interesting, worth your time whether you want to come to 1 Judiciary Square
or watch on cable.
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DC Voting Rights: A Tale of Two Revolutions
(Apologies to Mr. Dickens)
Tom Matthes, tmatthes@vais.net
Act I
Lexington, Massachusetts, April 1775.
SYNOPSIS. Paul Revere gallops into town to warn patriots that the “Redcoats are
coming.” But he is forced to rein in his horse to greet a deputation of parents. They
inform him the British Parliament has just approved a tuition break for the American
colonists, allowing them to send their children to Oxford for the same price it would cost
to send them to Harvard College. They inform the astonished horseman they have decided to
give up “this Revolution thing.”
Act II
Washington, DC, Present day.
SYNOPSIS. A crowd of statehood supporters cheers the plan to add the words “Taxation
Without Representation¨ to district license plates. But in the back of the rally stands
Agatha, who has been given the name by friends because of her powers of deduction. She
draws husband Hercule aside. She whispers to him that, if DC acquires statehood “too
soon,” Congress may repeal the new law allowing DC students to attend out of state
colleges at in-state tuition rates. If so, she adds, their son Perry won't be able to
study telecommunications at UCLA, as he wishes to do. Hercule and Agatha quietly go home,
but not without being overheard by Nancy “Drew” Singlemom.
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Be Nice to Tourists
Kirsten Sherk, Dupont Circle, ksherk@mindspring.com
Tom, what a nice suggestion! We spend so much time here grousing about
this and that, and goodness knows I've done my share of grousing about tourists. It seems
like whenever I travel I spend a good deal of time defending our fair city, but being nice
to tourists is certainly a good way to start a grassroots movement to improve our rep.
Thanks for the kindness suggestion. Of course, I still believe that they shouldn't come
out before 9 a.m. or my first cup of coffee.
###############
Why do we send fire trucks to medical emergencies? Does anyone remember
the 70s TV show Emergency! Where are the specialized medical emergency vehicles? I would
even suggest a few EMS mo-peds or motor bikes. This would save the wear and tear on our
very expensive fire fighting equipment — which by the way often has trouble getting
around the traffic and onto some of the smaller city streets. Chief Tippett did propose to
cross-train fire fighters and paramedics. That would probably be a good idea in the long
run. Fewer overall personnel could likely cover both medical and fire emergencies.
###############
This is for Mark, who is lamenting the lack of political empowerment in
our colony of D.C. Hey, Mark, the DC Statehood Party has been working for statehood for
more than twenty years. How about giving us some credit and at the same time getting the
folks you know and yourself to join the only political party that is for statehood? Web
site http://dcstatehood.org.
###############
Dr. Gridlock and D.C.
Kenneth Nellis, nellisks@aol.com
Unlike Mr. Blessing, I welcome Dr. Gridlock's singling out DC's bad road
conditions. If all roads in the region are bad, then, relatively speaking, none are bad.
If DC's are identified as being worse than the others, then doesn't it follow that they're
more likely to get the attention they need than if they were in average condition? Bring
it on, Dr. Gridlock!
###############
A term limits mechanism already exists in D.C., Gary. It's called voting
the bastards out. Trying to get a referendum on term limits or enacting its results would
simply be a waste of time, as you note in the very letter in which you suggest it. Your
editorial makes me think that you, like Williams, Ackerman, and Rivlin, seem to think that
these pesky, ignorant D.C. voters are the problem, and if you could just legislate them
out of the picture, then everything would be smooth sailing. Voting for our Keystone
Kouncil is one of the few political prerogatives D.C. voters have. Term limits would be a
step backward.
[I probably didn't make myself clear. DC does have term limits now —
the mayor and members of the City Council may serve only two terms in a position. This was
enacted by a large majority vote through a citizen initiative several years ago, but no
councilmember has been affected yet, since the law applied only to terms that began after
it went into effect, and was not retroactive. What I wrote is that I am confident that
councilmembers will overturn this citizen-led measure before it affects any of them, just
as they overturned the limits on campaign contributions that was set by a citizen
initiative. — Gary Imhoff]
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
A multi-family yard sale will take place at two locations on Sunday, May
21st, 10:00 am until ? (no early birds please), 2419 Tunlaw Road, NW (backyard) and 3902
Benton Street, NW (backyard). Furniture, toys, clothing (women's and infants'), small
appliances, household items, etc. A percentage of the proceeds will be donated to the
Partnership for Animal Welfare, http://www.paw-rescue.org,
to pay for vet bills for homeless dogs and cats.
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Spring Book Sale May 20
Harry Leich, hlei@loc.gov
The Friends of the Mt. Pleasant Library are holding their spring Book Sale
on Saturday, May 20, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Stock up on used and new books for summer reading,
also many used computers. Held at the Mt. Pleasant Branch Library, 16th and Lamont
Streets, NW.
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Kobe Beef/Sapporo Beer Tasting
Alan M. Salgado, publisher@dcitymag.com
DCity Magazine and Fran O'Brien's Stadium Steakhouse will host an evening
of cocktails and hors d'ouevres featuring Kobe Beef, Z Vodka and Sapporo Japanese beer! To
be held on May 18th from 5:30 to 9:30 pm inside the stately Fran O'Brien's restaurant,
1001 16th Street, N.W. (lower level of the Capital Hilton Hotel). Two complimentary
cocktails (Z Vodka or Sapporo Beer) included with hors d'ouevres throughout the evening.
$5 at the door. E-mail us at alsal@dcitymag.com
with Kobe in the subject line.
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CLASSIFIEDS — HOUSING
Glover Park Townhouse
Edna Small, Erklein@aol.com
Entire Glover Park townhouse available for rent 6/13 to 7/17. Two usable
bedrooms. Call 202-337-4906 or E-mail.
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Summer Housing for Intern Wanted
Wendy Green, wendywoowho@yahoo.com
My company has an intern coming to town for the summer. Sadly, none of us
has a spare bedroom to host her. If you do, please contact her directly: “I am a
21-year-old female Brown University student [will be a senior in the fall] coming down to
DC for the summer for an internship with Technology Project, http://www.techproject.org. I am in desperate need
of a furnished room (bed/dresser) with AC to rent/share/sublet in the NW DC area. I am
neat, fun and friendly, and a good cook. I need to find a space for less than $550 a
month, with utilities either included or adding up to that amount. I can be reached either
by E-mail, prema@brown.edu, or telephone
(401.867.6351).
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CLASSIFIEDS — VOLUNTEERS
Hotline Volunteers Needed
Melissa Dichter, pcamw@juno.com
Training for Crisis and Family Stress Hotline volunteers will begin on
June 6. For more information on volunteering for the Hotline and to request an
application, call Prevent Child Abuse of Metropolitan Washington at 202-223-0020.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — RECOMMENDATIONS
Rona Mendelsohn, Mendelsohnr.nsiad@gao.gov,
asked for recommendations about computer software advice. You might be interested in
CPCUG, Capital PC User Group. We have about 3000 members throughout the DC area, offer
numerous meetings in various places, and offer many member benefits: 1) HelpLine —
free consulting for members from several hundred volunteers, 2) Monitor magazine —
monthly information about CPCUG and computing, 3) Many meetings on diverse topics such as
Internet, investing, database, 4) Discounts on already economical CPCUG training at two
locations, 5) Local bulletin board system (BBS) including Internet E-mail, 6) “Before
You Buy or Build a Computer” seminar — a truly wonderful lecture three times
yearly on current PC technology and advice on buying or building one's own system, 7)
Raffle prizes at meetings, 8) and more I can't remember.
I run CPCUG's Internet SIG (special interest group) which meets monthly in
North Springfield. Next month's topic is broadband Internet access, cable and DSL. Visit http://www.cpcug.org for info on CPCUG and http://www.cpcug.org/user/internet for info
on the Internet SIG.
###############
A couple of days ago someone asked for a computer specialist who would
come to your home. I've been very pleased with Claude Kerno; he's knowledgeable,
efficient, and pleasant to work with. You can reach him at 301-977-5099 [telephone number
updated], by voice mail at [telephone number no longer good], or by e-mail at ckerno@pctutor.com,
and he has a web site at http://www.pctutor.com.
###############
Some time ago one of the helpful listers recommended a stonemason named
Larry Falcone, but he didn't work out; his estimate was vague and he wouldn't set a firm
date to get the job done. So I'm looking for recommendations again, for someone who could
do a good job repairing or replacing our dilapidated front steps. Any suggestions will be
welcome.
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Please tell me the name and location of your favorite tailor. I prefer
someone convenient to upper northwest D.C., Silver Spring, or Bethesda. I seek someone who
does a good job tailoring a new suit. I'll pay the necessary price.
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CLASSIFIEDS — INTOWNER ONLINE
Peter Wolff, intowner@intowner.com
This is to let you know that the May, 2000 on-line edition has been
up-loaded and may be accessed at http://www.intowner.com.
Included are all community news stories, editorials (including prior months' archived),
restaurant reviews (prior months' also archived), and the text from the ever-popular
“Scenes from the Past” feature. Also included are all current classified ads.
The next issue will publish on June 9.
To read the lead stories, be sure to click the link on the home page to
the following headlines: Commercial & Residential Plans Continue to Be Announced for
14th Street Area from N to V Sts., Meridian International Center and Neighborhood at
Serious Odds Over Rental Use by Groups, Twisted Priorities? Police Actions During IMF
Protests Protested.
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CLASSIFIEDS — CITY PAPER PREVIEW
Dave Nuttycombe, webmeister@washcp.com
From washingtoncitypaper.com's LOOSE LIPS column, appearing this Friday:
HOLA, OLA: Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham has made a couple of rookie mistakes since
taking office in January 1999. Last year, as neighbors battled over competing
redevelopment schemes in Columbia Heights, Graham made enemies on both sides via his
efforts to stay neutral. And this spring, the Democrat helped ignite a social cataclysm in
the same neighborhood when he championed city inspections of run-down apartment buildings
— something that may hasten the gentrification of a community rich with immigrants
and working-class families.
But away from the high-profile skirmishes, Graham over the past 16 months has fashioned a
piece of political handicraft that could serve as a prototype for urban politicians
everywhere. Through a cozy relationship with Mayor Anthony A. Williams and a sharp
understanding of his ward's demographic trends, Graham has positioned himself as the
city's premier white-guy defender of D.C. Latinos, who account for 23 percent of his Ward
1 constituents.
Read the entire Loose Lips column here: http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html
From washingtoncitypaper.com's CITY LIGHTS page, here are a few early
warnings for upcoming events:
FRIDAY: The National Postal Museum's Postal History Tour of Washington, D.C. Meet at noon
at the National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Free.
TUESDAY: Matthew Klam reads from his book “Sam the Cat and Other Stories” at 7
p.m. Tuesday, May 23, at Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Free.
More details and more critics' picks are available online at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/pix/pix.html
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