Standardized Tests
Dear Testers:
In the last issue of themail, I called for contumacious Attorney
General Peter Nickles to be fired and disbarred because he misused his
office by threatening to launch a criminal investigation of Council
Chairman Vince Gray in retaliation for Gray’s criticism of him. This
kind of abuse of power can’t be tolerated from any prosecutor. In
response to my call for disbarment, one lawyer called me to say, “You
know that anyone can file a complaint with the Bar Counsel, don’t you?”
Then another lawyer E-mailed me with the name and address of the Bar
Counsel. Now, I don’t necessarily mistake that for popular support; it
more likely stems from a desire to be entertained: “Let’s you and
him fight.” But, still. . . .
#####
The latest standardized test scores from DC Public Schools are not
good news for DCPS or Chancellor Rhee, especially since Rhee and DCPS
have staked everything on test scores as the measure of their success.
Bill Turque headlines the news, “DC Elementary Test Scores Show
Decline,” http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/07/dc_elementary_test_scores_show.html#more,
and Valerie Strauss writes about “Rhee’s Problem with DC’s New
Test Scores,” http://voices.washingtonpost.com/answer-sheet/dc-schools/rhees-problem-with-dcs-new-tes.html#more.
So how does DCPS deal with the decline in elementary test scores? By
issuing a press release that ignores it entirely, and instead says, “DCPS
Secondary School Students Demonstrate Significant Gains for Third
Consecutive Year,” http://tinyurl.com/2g6qdfk.
Within a day or two I expect to see a Washington Post editorial
contradicting all its previous editorials that claimed that small gains
on the standardized test scores proved Rhee’s genius, admonishing
readers that standardized tests don’t prove anything, and that they
should not pay any attention to them.
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
###############
Pat Taylor (themail, July 11) brings up a point that has bothered me
for quite some time — school crossing guards. In my Glover Park
neighborhood, a school crossing guard showed up one day. Since then, she
has spent the entire day, every day, at one intersection by Stoddert
School. She always parks her car illegally close to the corner (and is
never ticketed because she fraternized with the local parking ticket
writers), and seems to view herself as the corner guard. However, she
spends more time petting neighbors’ dogs and feeding them treats, and
often misses people in the cross walks. Furthermore, she acts as though
she is a traffic cop, directing which cars can proceed through the
intersection even when no pedestrians are around. In the twenty years I’ve
lived in the neighborhood, the only crossing guards I ever saw were
retired people, likely serving as volunteers. There has not been a
single incident in all that time, either. So what gives? Does this
school district have so much money that they can afford to have these
make-work jobs exist across the city? I guess I shouldn’t be as upset
as Pat Taylor, since I’ve only seen the one guard. Maybe there are
more at the other corners surrounding the school. After all, not all
children come from only one direction.
###############
More on Tax Dollars Wasted in Chinatown
Ted Gest, tgest@sas.upenn.edu
I continue to be outraged about the “Barnes Dance” at 7th and H
in Chinatown. Hardly anyone is abiding by the poorly marked “no turns”
signs. I just saw a cab and limo ignore them. Yesterday DC had three
uniformed police officers yelling at people about this. These were not
traffic control officers but regular uniformed cops. Does anyone else
see this as a waste of time and effort?
###############
I think your office oversees Protective Services for DC buildings.
Last night the guard at the rear entrance of the Wilson Building would
not let me enter the building to attend the end of the city council
session because he could not locate the council session on his schedule
and I was “not authorized.” As I was detained there at the desk,
others were allowed to enter the building simply on the basis of saying
they were attending a meeting in room 120. They signed signing in but
did not display badges or have their names checked against a list or
other form of “authorization.” Observing my plight, many of them
assured the guard that anyone can attend the DC council session and that
it was still going on. Their protestations were of no avail. After I
persuaded the gentleman to call his supervisor, the supervisor told me
he didn’t have anyone to “escort” me to the Council chamber. No
one was being escorted to the meeting in room 120. When I asked what
could be done to allow me in, he asked me if I had heard what he said. I
told him that I had and that I would pass it on.
While this was going on, I felt as if I had entered the Twilight Zone
where a foreign government had taken over. Fortunately, Neil Albert
happened to be exiting soon thereupon. He asked a member of the mayor’s
staff who happened to be reentering to escort me to the fifth floor.
This was done.
I have copied this letter to a few reporters who have a strong
interest in open government. However, as a former retail store owner, I
suspect strongly that the issue is one of training. I urge you to take a
look at the customer service training these men have been given. If, in
fact, this is a budgetary issue, then we also need to look at your
budget. If there isn’t enough money to secure the Wilson Building for
citizens to attend council sessions, then something needs to be done. I
won’t even go into the irony of my being there to witness the
disposition of the West End parcels, again. I will be happy to talk to
you further at your convenience. There may be a budgetary issue, but
clearly training also needs to be improved. The supervisor in particular
was entirely out of order. Thanks for looking into this. I would
appreciate hearing from you.
###############
CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
CPCUG Talk: “MS Office 2010, Free and
Fee-Based Versions,” July 17
Barbara Conn, bconn@cpcug.org
Join us as Capital PC User Group President Dennis Courtney
demonstrates the current incarnation of Microsoft Office. He will show
us some of the new functionality of the just-released 2010 Office suite
and discuss its integration with Microsoft SharePoint. He will also
introduce the new free version. Learn what new features of Office 2010
you can use and whether a free version will meet your needs.
Gather your friends, colleagues, and neighbors, and your questions,
and bring them to this Saturday, July 17, 1:00 p.m., gathering of the
Capital PC User Group (CPCUG) Entrepreneurs and Consultants Special
Interest Group (E&C SIG). These monthly events are free and open to
all. This month’s event is at the Cleveland Park Branch Library (first
floor large meeting room) at 3310 Connecticut Avenue, NW (between Macomb
and Newark Streets) — just over a block south of the Cleveland Park
Metrorail Station on the Red Line. For more information about the
seminar, the speaker, and CPCUG (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational
organization), visit http://entrepreneur.cpcug.org/710meet.html.
To RSVP, send E-mail to bconn@cpcug.org.
###############
themail@dcwatch is an E-mail discussion forum that is published every
Wednesday and Sunday. To change the E-mail address for your subscription
to themail, use the Update Profile/Email address link below in the
E-mail edition. To unsubscribe, use the Safe Unsubscribe link in the
E-mail edition. An archive of all past issues is available at http://www.dcwatch.com/themail.
All postings should be submitted to themail@dcwatch.com,
and should be about life, government, or politics in the District of
Columbia in one way or another. All postings must be signed in order to
be printed, and messages should be reasonably short — one or two brief
paragraphs would be ideal — so that as many messages as possible can
be put into each mailing.
