Dear Libs:
The Gallup Poll ranks DC as more liberal than all fifty states, by
far, with 38.1 percent of its residents self identifying as liberal
(compared with the two most liberal states, Vermont at 32.4 percent and
Massachusetts at 30.2 percent),
http://tinyurl.com/locmp8s. But what does “liberal” mean in this
context? My guess is that in the politics of the District of Columbia
liberal voters are more liberal socially than they are economically.
Successful DC politicians have been somewhat chastened by the city’s
having reached the brink of bankruptcy and experienced the imposition of
the Control Board, and they are unlikely to gamble with the city’s
finances. Among the mayoral candidates, only Andy Shallal uses rhetoric
nearly as socialist as New York mayor Bill de Blasio.
Socially, however, DC politicians advocate nearly every liberal and
far left cause without any fear of public resistance. Among our
political class, advocacy of same-sex marriage is old-fashioned, last
year’s news. Cutting-edge thinkers are now “evolving” on their attitudes
toward polygamy and any other forms of marriage that anyone may propose,
so that they can’t be accused of being out-of-date, last century, or
traditional in their thinking. The most modern and up-to-date
councilmembers are tired of halfway measures such as providing illegal
drugs like marijuana under “medical” exceptions, and want to promote
recreational marijuana use under the pretense that “decriminalizing”
marijuana is much different from “legalizing” it. Councilmembers Tommy
Wells and David Grosso are impatient with and oppose Council Chairman
Mendelson’s minor amendments to their bill to promote marijuana, arguing
against any effort to discourage driving while stoned or smoking
marijuana in public. (Don’t call them libertarians, though; they would
be fully in support of laws banning smoking cigarettes in public,
smoking cigarettes while driving, or inhaling water vapor through
electronic vaping devices. Since E-cigs look like tobacco cigarettes,
they must be dangerous, though marijuana cigarettes are harmless.)
I’d welcome any corrections or contradictions. In what ways, if any,
are DC politicians conservative, or respectful of any conservative
ideas?
Gary Imhoff
themail@dcwatch.com
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Orr Elementary School: DCPS Dirty Little
Secret East of the River
Candi Peterson,
saveourcounselors@gmail.com
In a February 6 post on The Washington Teacher education blog, I
wrote about the inhumane teaching and learning conditions at DC’s Orr
elementary school. Benjamin Orr elementary school is located at 2200
Minnesota Avenue, SE. Niyeka Wilson is the school’s principal. Principal
Wilson is no stranger to controversy, as parents from the Parent Action
Consort (known as PAC) recently wrote DC city councilmembers alleging
that Wilson had written malicious comments on her Facebook page
disparaging an Orr parent and student with physical health challenges.
Members of PAC called for the disciplinary action of Wilson. Reportedly,
Wilson is now under investigation by DCPS. The results have yet to be
reported.
My January 2014 visit to Orr revealed some horrific learning
conditions for students at this once esteemed school. While in the vault
classroom, I observed evidence of a classroom with teacher’s objectives,
behavior chart, touch math chart, foundations sound chart, and call and
response posted in the room. It is reported by staff that special needs
students receive pull out instruction in a vault, not intended for human
habitation. In another space in the school, 42 students (which is well
above the student-teacher ratio) cram into a fabricated music room like
sardines with little room for both students and instrumental music
equipment. One has to walk sideways around furniture in the music room
just to move about. It has been reported that students complain of
soaring heat which reaches temperatures as high as 93 degrees even on
the coldest of days in this makeshift room without windows. Heat
overcame me even for the short duration I stood inside.
News of my story found its way to Melissa Salmanowitz, press
secretary in the DCPS Office of the Chancellor. On February 7, Ms
Salmanowitz wrote, “Ms. Peterson, I read your recent blog post about Orr
Elementary School. I found several inaccuracies and I hope you can take
a few minutes to correct them. The space you mention is not a classroom
and no students are in that space. There are some other inaccuracies we
would like you to correct. Specifically, there are no special education
classrooms at Orr and certainly no classrooms in the way you
inaccurately described them. Orr uses a push-in model where the special
education teacher works collaboratively with the general education
teacher in the classrooms. The space referenced in the blog is used as
an office space and at no time are any special education classes being
held in the space. The music classroom has thirty students, never more.
While we agree Orr is in need of a modernization, we work closely to
address any needs that come up in advance of their modernization. There
is no way to lock the door from the inside as it has to be locked from
the outside. We do need to replace the doors and the order has been
approved and the school is awaiting the delivery and installation of the
doors, which we expect very soon. Students at Orr are safe. They are
never in any harm, as your blog would suggest. What is actually
happening at Orr is great teaching and strong leadership. Your post
ignores all the wonderful things happening in the classrooms every day
at Orr. Instead, this post is rife with falsehoods and we would
appreciate corrections. Thank you, Melissa.”
I’m not a bit surprised at the DCPS response. Since the Rhee era; the
DCPS strategy is to cover up the ugly truth and manipulate coverage of
what’s really happening in our schools. When backed into a corner DCPS
hates to admit wrongdoing, falsifies information to promote their own
agenda, glosses over the problems, and cites the wonderful things they
claim are happening. An Orr insider E-mailed me to share that on Friday,
February 7, central office staff visited Orr to take a look see at the
vault. Some student tables were moved out of the classroom vault before
their arrival. Sounds like a cover up to me. Allegedly Principal Wilson
didn’t open the door, claiming she didn’t have a key to the padlock. A
DCPS teacher at Orr who requested anonymity stated, “Not only is
Principal Wilson failing to provide positive leadership, but she is
proving to be completely dishonest. How can we trust her to be the role
model our school needs when she fails to admit wrongdoing and tries to
cover up her mistakes? I truly hope DCPS is smart enough to realize what
she’s doing and doesn’t become complicit in this cover-up. This would be
shameful.”
Luckily for Orr, I have pictures to prove what I reported. The
picture of Orr’s classroom vault shows students working on a laptop,
posing in front of a number line, and students enjoying a bite to eat.
Featured in the picture is the vaults’ rear back door as well as yellow
covering of storage shelves and a yellow and green table (prior to
removal). My camera lens wasn’t wide enough to capture all forty-two
music seats, but my pictures show in excess of thirty student chairs
inside the music room, not thirty, as Salmanowitz reports. See pictures
at The Washington Teacher blog, thewashingtonteacher.blogspot.com.
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Why Do You Want to Be Mayor?
Andrea Rosen,
aerie@rcn.com
You say [themail, February 5], “Andy Shallal has shown more skill
than experienced councilmembers in coming up with political approaches
that appeal to the whole crowd.”
I would say that Mr. Shallal has shown more skill at characterizing
the deficits of our government in soaring terms than other candidates,
but his solutions are thin at best.
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CLASSIFIEDS — EVENTS
MLK Library Designs Meetings, February 15, 18
Robin Diener, President, MLK Library Friends,
info@mlklibraryfriends.org
DCPL has posted the concept designs for the renovation of the Martin
Luther King, Jr., Library in anticipation of the architects’
presentation to the public this coming Saturday at MLK. You can view the
full submission of drawings by each of the three teams at
http://dclibrary.org/mlkfuture.
Be warned: It’s a lot to take in. Far from being the “conceptual”
drawings we were told to expect, they are very detailed. Use your
largest screen, not your hand held device.
Each of the teams has presented two related designs — one for a
stand-alone library with mixed use components such as cafes and
bookstores, and one for essentially their same library adjusted to
accommodate additional floors of private housing on top. It’s concerning
to me that all three architects chose housing for their designs and none
chose public options like the City Archives or community college or
conference center, among the many ideas out there. This leads me to
wonder how the public-public option will get fair consideration.
DC Library Board of Trustees President John Hill has said that all
options are on the table. The Friends should expect a full examination
of them. We will discuss ways we can help ensure that, along with your
thoughts about the designs, at the meeting of the board of the MLK
Library Friends on Tuesday February 18, at 6:30 p.m., at MLK in room
A-3. Everyone is invited to attend. If you cannot attend, but have
thoughts about the designs and/or process, please send them to us at
info@mlklibraryfriends.org. Meanwhile, enjoy. The concepts are very
different from each other. I think they are all quite interesting and
exciting to contemplate. Don’t forget to attend the presentation of the
designs, if you can, on Saturday, February 15, from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00
p.m. at MLK in the Great Hall.
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DC Communities Fight Harmful Development,
Panel and Discussion, February 15
Parisa Norouzi,
parisa@empowerdc.com
All across the District, the DC government is pushing unwanted
development on public property, without community support, and DC
communities are fighting back against harmful developments. Join us to
hear about these efforts, discuss the lessons learned, and get involved.
February 15, 2:00-4:00 p.m., at the Anacostia Library, 1800 Good Hope
Road, SE. Limited child care will be available; please RSVP to Jennifer
at 234-9119 x105 or Jennifer@Empowerdc.org.
Find out how communities are using the zoning process, historic
preservation, legal action, and other strategies from panelists Frazer
Walton, Kingman Park Civic Association, fighting the Streetcar barn at
Spingarn High School; Tony Norman, Friends of McMillan Park, fighting
the condo-ization of McMillan Park; Robert Lee, Highland Together We
Stand, fighting for renovations and preservation of public housing; and
Parisa B. Norouzi, Executive Director, Empower DC.
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