Can Obama Help Rhee?
By Fred Hiatt
Monday, November 10, 2008; A17
A principal recently was defending a teacher whom D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee had observed in the classroom and found wanting.
"Would you put your grandchild in that class?" Rhee asked the principal.
"If that's the standard, we don't have any effective teachers in my school," the principal replied.
Recalling that comment a few days later, Rhee is still steaming. "I said, 'That is the standard,' " Rhee says, and you think: Whew, glad I'm not that principal.
Rhee offers the ultimate in no-excuses leadership. She has taken on one of the worst public school systems in the nation and has pledged to turn it into one of the best within a decade. The usual excuses made for such schools -- that they cannot possibly do better because their students are poor, or come from broken families, or haven't been read to, or are surrounded by crime -- Rhee does not accept. She has seen such students learn, Rhee explains, in her own classroom in Baltimore in the early 1990s, and in many other schools since.
Nor, at least so far, does Rhee make excuses for herself. In her 17-month tenure, she already has improved test scores and fixed some of the more grotesque failings of the schools: They are ready for opening day; children have textbooks; teachers get paid. When small problems have arisen, Rhee has accepted responsibility, and one senses that if she fails, she won't be looking for scapegoats.
But that no-excuses promise comes with two giant asterisks. No big-city superintendent can succeed without a supportive mayor. So far, Adrian Fenty, the mayor who hired her, has had her back all the way.
And, in two ways, she may not be able to succeed without at least the tacit support of Barack Obama. The first reason is particular to Washington: Congress controls the budget, many Democrats are closely tied to the teachers union, and the union may be heading for a clash with Rhee. "It will depend on the fortitude of the administration," Rhee says. "Because we're in D.C., it will get to that level."
Rhee's comment came at a Halloween-day forum (for her costume, she had appropriately pinned on a sheriff's badge) organized by the Aspen Institute. She was responding to a question about how she will deal with teachers who perform poorly. She has offered a contract that would provide big raises to every teacher, and the possibility of even bigger raises to teachers who are willing to be judged based on how they perform -- which is to say, on how their students perform -- rather than simply on seniority.
No teacher now in the system would have to enter the world of merit pay unless he or she chose to. Yet, under pressure from national union leaders in New York, the union local won't even let teachers vote on the proposal. So Rhee is looking for alternative routes.
At some schools, she says, a "vast majority" of teachers want a chance to be judged on performance and are saying, "Just let us secede." That could set up an "incredibly interesting" experiment, Rhee notes. Would she also consider declaring a state of emergency? "We're researching all of our options," she says.
Rhee is hardly anti-teacher. One problem, she says, is that "our good teachers have not been told that they're good." And she is committed to helping teachers "who have the will but are underperforming -- that is essentially the biggest challenge for the District for the next couple of years."
But she won't compromise on the notion that every student can learn to read, write and do math; that their ability to do so should be measured; and that if they're not learning, it's not their fault -- it's the schools'. Which brings you to the second reason it may all depend on Obama. Rhee recently pleaded with Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's staff that No Child Left Behind, the much-maligned pro-accountability federal law, not be gutted. It is, she says, "one of the most powerful tools we have in this district to drive serious education reform."
Kennedy has been a supporter, but ultimately Obama's attitude is likely to matter more, and no one knows where he will come down. Unlike Rhee, he is a conciliator, and he navigated the campaign without defining himself clearly as pro- or anti-reform.
But Kati Haycock, president of the nonprofit Education Trust, says Obama is "absolutely unequivocal on, 'Don't tell me black kids can't learn.' It comes directly from his gut." So maybe he will sympathize with Rhee's conclusion that patience, tact and compromise are inappropriate when half your kids or more never graduate from high school.
Recently, she recounted at the Aspen Institute forum, a man approached her, spitting mad about her experiment to pay some middle school students for good behavior and good grades. "It is a sad day," he said, "when we are paying kids to be doing something they should be doing anyway."
"No," Rhee replied, " yesterday was a sad day, when only 8 percent of our eighth-graders were at grade level for math, and we weren't really doing anything about it."
Not really doing anything, it's safe to say, won't be one of the options Rhee is considering.
fredhiatt@washpost.com
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/09/AR2008110901899_pf.html
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Rhee The Union Buster
Fenty, Rhee Look for Ways Around Union
Proposals Would Set Stage For School System Rebuild
By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 16, 2008; C01
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee are discussing a dramatic expansion of their effort to remove ineffective teachers by restoring the District's power to create nonunionized charter schools and seeking federal legislation declaring the school system in a "state of emergency," a move that would eliminate the need to bargain with the Washington Teachers' Union.
If adopted, the measures would essentially allow the District to begin building a new school system. Such an effort would be similar to one underway in New Orleans, where a state takeover after Hurricane Katrina placed most of the city's 78 public schools in a special Recovery School District. About half of the district's schools are charters, and it has no union contract.
Pursuit of the ideas would intensify the considerable national attention that Washington has drawn as a staging ground for school reforms. The moves could force a major confrontation with the union and its parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers, which has denounced the changes in New Orleans. The proposals also could place Fenty (D) and Rhee at odds with President-elect Barack Obama, who has praised their reform efforts but who also counts federation President Randi Weingarten as a major supporter in the labor movement.
Fenty and Rhee referred questions about the proposals to mayoral spokeswoman Mafara Hobson.
"The Mayor and the Chancellor will continue to keep these and all ideas on the table," Hobson said in a statement issued Friday evening. "As ideas are developed and considered there will be extensive consultation with numerous and various people."
The proposals first appeared in a statement drafted for a Sept. 22 news conference where Rhee and Fenty were scheduled to present a series of steps they could take under existing regulations to rid the system of teachers deemed ineffective. The steps, dubbed Plan B, would allow Rhee to bypass contract negotiations with the union. But the news conference was canceled and the draft statement was never made public. The Washington Post obtained a copy of it under the Freedom of Information Act.
The draft statement said Rhee will explore local and federal legislation to restore power once held by the D.C. Board of Education to create charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently operated. That authority lapsed with the mayoral takeover of the school system last year. It also mentioned seeking the ability to establish "autonomous" schools, operated by the District but that would have a higher degree of freedom for staff and parents to shape academic programs.
"Since charters and autonomous schools are not subject to the collective bargaining agreement, these schools would be better positioned to ensure quality teachers in the classroom," the statement said.
The statement also said Rhee will explore federal legislation "that declares DCPS in a state of emergency, given our status as the lowest performing school district in the nation." Such a declaration, it said, would free it "from the collective bargaining agreement and other constraints preventing the District from providing high-quality teachers to its students."
On Oct. 2, Fenty and Rhee presented Plan B without mentioning the proposals to seek authority to create charter schools or a federal emergency declaration.
Those ideas, however, clearly remain in play.
Rhee indicated as much at an Oct. 31 forum sponsored by the Aspen Institute, where she discussed her proposal to make teachers more directly accountable for student performance by offering large salary increases in exchange for rules that weaken tenure protections. Opposition to the plan has stalemated contract talks with the union, which has refused to bring the contract to its 4,000 members for a vote.
According to an account of the forum, written by Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt and published on Monday's op-ed page, Rhee said a "vast majority" of teachers want to be judged on how they perform and that some are saying, "Just let us secede."
Rhee, who was wearing a sheriff's badge at the Halloween meeting, said that making some schools independent could set up an "incredibly interesting" experiment. When an audience member asked if she would consider declaring a state of emergency, Rhee said, "We're researching all of our options."
Weingarten declined comment on the matter Friday. "We're not going to get involved in a public negotiation," federation spokesman George Jackson said.
Union President George Parker said he was not aware that Fenty and Rhee have such ideas under consideration. But he said any attempt to weaken the union would be vigorously fought.
"Any effort to circumvent collective bargaining will be met with serious opposition on the part of WTU and its members," he said.
Obama's election has triggered intense speculation in education policy circles about the future of education reform in the District, and the impact a new administration might have. In the closing moments of the final presidential debate, Obama praised Rhee as a "wonderful new superintendent" working with Fenty to overhaul the school system.
At the Aspen Institute forum, which occurred before the election, Rhee said the fate of her reform efforts could "depend on the fortitude of the administration."
Privately, union leaders said they regarded the chances of the District securing a New Orleans-style state of emergency from the federal government as remote, given Obama's victory and the heavy Democratic margins in congressional elections Nov. 4.
There is also scant evidence that Fenty and Rhee have attempted to build support for the idea with potential allies. A spokeswoman for Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said he has had no discussions on the matter with District officials. A spokeswoman for Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings also said she was unaware of any talks.
A phone message Friday to Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond, one of two leaders of Obama's education transition team, was not returned.
Union leaders said the proposal to revive the District's chartering power, now held exclusively by the Public Charter School Board, is of more concern. Tom Nida, charter board chairman, said he had no objection to the idea in principle but that it needed careful study.
"It's a logical step for her to take," he said of Rhee's idea.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/15/AR2008111502456_pf.html
Proposals Would Set Stage For School System Rebuild
By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, November 16, 2008; C01
Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee are discussing a dramatic expansion of their effort to remove ineffective teachers by restoring the District's power to create nonunionized charter schools and seeking federal legislation declaring the school system in a "state of emergency," a move that would eliminate the need to bargain with the Washington Teachers' Union.
If adopted, the measures would essentially allow the District to begin building a new school system. Such an effort would be similar to one underway in New Orleans, where a state takeover after Hurricane Katrina placed most of the city's 78 public schools in a special Recovery School District. About half of the district's schools are charters, and it has no union contract.
Pursuit of the ideas would intensify the considerable national attention that Washington has drawn as a staging ground for school reforms. The moves could force a major confrontation with the union and its parent organization, the American Federation of Teachers, which has denounced the changes in New Orleans. The proposals also could place Fenty (D) and Rhee at odds with President-elect Barack Obama, who has praised their reform efforts but who also counts federation President Randi Weingarten as a major supporter in the labor movement.
Fenty and Rhee referred questions about the proposals to mayoral spokeswoman Mafara Hobson.
"The Mayor and the Chancellor will continue to keep these and all ideas on the table," Hobson said in a statement issued Friday evening. "As ideas are developed and considered there will be extensive consultation with numerous and various people."
The proposals first appeared in a statement drafted for a Sept. 22 news conference where Rhee and Fenty were scheduled to present a series of steps they could take under existing regulations to rid the system of teachers deemed ineffective. The steps, dubbed Plan B, would allow Rhee to bypass contract negotiations with the union. But the news conference was canceled and the draft statement was never made public. The Washington Post obtained a copy of it under the Freedom of Information Act.
The draft statement said Rhee will explore local and federal legislation to restore power once held by the D.C. Board of Education to create charter schools, which are publicly funded but independently operated. That authority lapsed with the mayoral takeover of the school system last year. It also mentioned seeking the ability to establish "autonomous" schools, operated by the District but that would have a higher degree of freedom for staff and parents to shape academic programs.
"Since charters and autonomous schools are not subject to the collective bargaining agreement, these schools would be better positioned to ensure quality teachers in the classroom," the statement said.
The statement also said Rhee will explore federal legislation "that declares DCPS in a state of emergency, given our status as the lowest performing school district in the nation." Such a declaration, it said, would free it "from the collective bargaining agreement and other constraints preventing the District from providing high-quality teachers to its students."
On Oct. 2, Fenty and Rhee presented Plan B without mentioning the proposals to seek authority to create charter schools or a federal emergency declaration.
Those ideas, however, clearly remain in play.
Rhee indicated as much at an Oct. 31 forum sponsored by the Aspen Institute, where she discussed her proposal to make teachers more directly accountable for student performance by offering large salary increases in exchange for rules that weaken tenure protections. Opposition to the plan has stalemated contract talks with the union, which has refused to bring the contract to its 4,000 members for a vote.
According to an account of the forum, written by Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt and published on Monday's op-ed page, Rhee said a "vast majority" of teachers want to be judged on how they perform and that some are saying, "Just let us secede."
Rhee, who was wearing a sheriff's badge at the Halloween meeting, said that making some schools independent could set up an "incredibly interesting" experiment. When an audience member asked if she would consider declaring a state of emergency, Rhee said, "We're researching all of our options."
Weingarten declined comment on the matter Friday. "We're not going to get involved in a public negotiation," federation spokesman George Jackson said.
Union President George Parker said he was not aware that Fenty and Rhee have such ideas under consideration. But he said any attempt to weaken the union would be vigorously fought.
"Any effort to circumvent collective bargaining will be met with serious opposition on the part of WTU and its members," he said.
Obama's election has triggered intense speculation in education policy circles about the future of education reform in the District, and the impact a new administration might have. In the closing moments of the final presidential debate, Obama praised Rhee as a "wonderful new superintendent" working with Fenty to overhaul the school system.
At the Aspen Institute forum, which occurred before the election, Rhee said the fate of her reform efforts could "depend on the fortitude of the administration."
Privately, union leaders said they regarded the chances of the District securing a New Orleans-style state of emergency from the federal government as remote, given Obama's victory and the heavy Democratic margins in congressional elections Nov. 4.
There is also scant evidence that Fenty and Rhee have attempted to build support for the idea with potential allies. A spokeswoman for Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, said he has had no discussions on the matter with District officials. A spokeswoman for Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings also said she was unaware of any talks.
A phone message Friday to Stanford University professor Linda Darling-Hammond, one of two leaders of Obama's education transition team, was not returned.
Union leaders said the proposal to revive the District's chartering power, now held exclusively by the Public Charter School Board, is of more concern. Tom Nida, charter board chairman, said he had no objection to the idea in principle but that it needed careful study.
"It's a logical step for her to take," he said of Rhee's idea.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/15/AR2008111502456_pf.html
Parking Meters in DC
I am so tired of the AAA bemoaning anything that doesn't genuflect to cars. After 25 years I might finally let my AAA membership go. I haven't renewed it since December. I left a message for Lon Anderson, AAA publicity flack, but he didn't call me back. I have been amazed for years at all the free weekend parking and have also thought that the week day parking rate can be higher. Ever been to Ft. Lauderdale? The parking meters run 24/7. Welcome to America.
From the DC Examiner:
Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham wants to raise the District’s parking meter rates by 50 percent and perhaps start charging for Saturday parking.
A key D.C. councilman has suggested increasing the District’s parking meter rates by 50 percent and perhaps start charging for Saturday parking, potentially raising millions more dollars for the city’s struggling coffers.
Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, who has oversight of the District’s parking meter operation, floated the idea Monday minutes before voting with his colleagues to eliminate a projected $131 million budget shortfall and to set aside $46 million more in a rainy-day reserve fund.
D.C. parking meter rates, Graham said, are “far, far below the market rate and constitute a very significant subsidy for visitor parking.” Increasing the price from $1 to $1.50 per hour, he said, would generate $8.5 million more a year, spur faster parking space turnover and lead more people to public transit.
Graham said his proposal, which could be introduced as formal legislation next week, “is not a great burden on those who use curbside parking.”
The D.C. Department of Transportation manages about 17,000 meters citywide. The District collected $89 million from its parking meters between 1999 and 2005.
Meter rate increases are in vogue. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter last week proposed doubling that city’s meter rates from $1 to $2, arguing the increase would reduce downtown congestion.
AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend said AAA wouldn’t contest the rate increase if the new revenue were set aside for transportation improvements — an unlikely scenario. The council, Townsend said, should stop “penalizing” visitors and commuters.
The council’s emergency fix for the looming budget shortfall, which it adopted unanimously, will “address the reality of declining economic conditions that are all too apparent and prepare us for potentially worse news in the coming months,” said Council Chairman Vincent Gray.
Closing the $130.7 million gap meant slashing about $55 million from the 2009 budget, freezing hundreds of vacant positions, delaying new programs and halting infrastructure improvements.
Establishing a $46 million reserve was crucial, council members said, given the dire economic forecast. Millions of dollars allocated to programs for low-income residents, for libraries and for substance abuse programs were shifted into a rainy-day fund to protect against additional revenue reductions. If the economic forecast turns around, the money will be returned.
http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/Key_DC_councilman_floats_parking_meter_rate_hike.html
From the DC Examiner:
Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham wants to raise the District’s parking meter rates by 50 percent and perhaps start charging for Saturday parking.
A key D.C. councilman has suggested increasing the District’s parking meter rates by 50 percent and perhaps start charging for Saturday parking, potentially raising millions more dollars for the city’s struggling coffers.
Ward 1 Councilman Jim Graham, who has oversight of the District’s parking meter operation, floated the idea Monday minutes before voting with his colleagues to eliminate a projected $131 million budget shortfall and to set aside $46 million more in a rainy-day reserve fund.
D.C. parking meter rates, Graham said, are “far, far below the market rate and constitute a very significant subsidy for visitor parking.” Increasing the price from $1 to $1.50 per hour, he said, would generate $8.5 million more a year, spur faster parking space turnover and lead more people to public transit.
Graham said his proposal, which could be introduced as formal legislation next week, “is not a great burden on those who use curbside parking.”
The D.C. Department of Transportation manages about 17,000 meters citywide. The District collected $89 million from its parking meters between 1999 and 2005.
Meter rate increases are in vogue. Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter last week proposed doubling that city’s meter rates from $1 to $2, arguing the increase would reduce downtown congestion.
AAA Mid-Atlantic spokesman John Townsend said AAA wouldn’t contest the rate increase if the new revenue were set aside for transportation improvements — an unlikely scenario. The council, Townsend said, should stop “penalizing” visitors and commuters.
The council’s emergency fix for the looming budget shortfall, which it adopted unanimously, will “address the reality of declining economic conditions that are all too apparent and prepare us for potentially worse news in the coming months,” said Council Chairman Vincent Gray.
Closing the $130.7 million gap meant slashing about $55 million from the 2009 budget, freezing hundreds of vacant positions, delaying new programs and halting infrastructure improvements.
Establishing a $46 million reserve was crucial, council members said, given the dire economic forecast. Millions of dollars allocated to programs for low-income residents, for libraries and for substance abuse programs were shifted into a rainy-day fund to protect against additional revenue reductions. If the economic forecast turns around, the money will be returned.
http://www.dcexaminer.com/local/Key_DC_councilman_floats_parking_meter_rate_hike.html
D.C. Fires Principal After Surge Of Violence
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/10/AR2008111003038_pf.html
D.C. Fires Principal After Surge Of Violence
Educator Says She Was 'Set Up' at Hart Middle School
By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 11, 2008; B01
The principal of Hart Middle School was fired by District officials yesterday after two months of disorder and violence that included assaults on at least three teachers.
Kisha Webster was informed of her dismissal at a morning meeting with Lisa Ruda, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's chief of staff.
Dena Iverson, Rhee's spokeswoman, declined to answer questions and referred instead to a letter over Rhee's signature that was sent to Hart parents yesterday.
The letter, which did not mention the school's problems, said Webster would be replaced by a central office administrator, Billy Kearney, who had been serving as the school system's director of principal recruitment. Kearney was a key figure in the filling of more than principal 40 vacancies over the summer, about half of which were created when Rhee fired people for poor performance.
Webster, 37, a former assistant principal at MacArthur Middle School in Anne Arundel County, is the third principal to be replaced since the beginning of the school year. Galeet BenZion, principal at Shepherd Elementary, was fired last month, and the principal at Shadd Transition Academy was reassigned to other duties.
In a phone interview yesterday evening, Webster said she had been "set up" by District officials. She said she was put in charge of the Anacostia middle school without the resources made available to other struggling schools. Hart was one of nearly two dozen D.C. schools placed in federally mandated restructuring for failing to meet benchmarks for math and English test scores. Last year, just 17 percent of Hart students read at proficiency level.
Webster said publicity about the situation at Hart also played a role in her dismissal. On Sunday, The Washington Post published an article that described a school in disarray, with students fighting, roaming the halls and disrupting classes, according to parents, teachers and police. One student was arrested for possession of a shotgun.
"If I had been able to keep things quiet, I'd still be there," Webster said.
Webster had been hired as principal of Roosevelt STAY, an evening program at Roosevelt High School for people 15 or older who want to complete work on a diploma. She said she was reassigned to Hart after the principal who had been hired decided not to accept the post.
Hart's disciplinary problems did not begin this year. A review team that evaluated the school last year for Rhee noted many of the same conditions that contributed to Webster's ouster.
The school was a shambles when she took over in late July, Webster said. Summer renovations had barely begun, and the school had 21 teacher vacancies. With the summer hiring process winding down, she said, she was "forced to grab whatever was left" from a pool of teachers "excessed" by schools that had closed or experienced enrollment declines. At meetings of principals, she said, colleagues told her that she had teachers they were happy to be rid of.
Webster said principals at some other schools that were being restructured under the federal No Child Left Behind law had more latitude in hiring teachers. Brian Betts, the new principal at Shaw at Garnet-Patterson Middle School, was able to replace more than 30 of the 37 teachers who finished the 2007-08 school year.
Webster also said academic programs and social services promised by Rhee as part of the restructuring never got off the ground. Many of the people involved are still in training, she said. Only one instructor is available for an accelerated reading program.
Webster said she tried to avoid suspensions when discipline deteriorated because they are counterproductive. "They come back worse than when they left," she said. "They come back with this swagger. It's 'I was suspended, now what?' "
Eventually, however, the suspensions mounted, and there were nearly 80 in one week in October, she said.
There is plenty of blame to go around for Hart's predicament, Webster said. She acknowledged that she probably alienated staff members by coming in with an attitude that was too hard-edged -- an attitude she said was influenced by her superior's judgment that the school was in terrible shape.
"I will tell you, when you come into a building where you are told everyone is crap, you come in hard," she said. In retrospect, she said, she should have taken time to form her own opinions.
But others also shoulder responsibility, including an administration that didn't understand, or care to acknowledge, the depth of Hart's needs.
"I would say that everyone is responsible," she said. "The community, the administrators, the teachers, the central office."
D.C. Fires Principal After Surge Of Violence
Educator Says She Was 'Set Up' at Hart Middle School
By Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 11, 2008; B01
The principal of Hart Middle School was fired by District officials yesterday after two months of disorder and violence that included assaults on at least three teachers.
Kisha Webster was informed of her dismissal at a morning meeting with Lisa Ruda, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's chief of staff.
Dena Iverson, Rhee's spokeswoman, declined to answer questions and referred instead to a letter over Rhee's signature that was sent to Hart parents yesterday.
The letter, which did not mention the school's problems, said Webster would be replaced by a central office administrator, Billy Kearney, who had been serving as the school system's director of principal recruitment. Kearney was a key figure in the filling of more than principal 40 vacancies over the summer, about half of which were created when Rhee fired people for poor performance.
Webster, 37, a former assistant principal at MacArthur Middle School in Anne Arundel County, is the third principal to be replaced since the beginning of the school year. Galeet BenZion, principal at Shepherd Elementary, was fired last month, and the principal at Shadd Transition Academy was reassigned to other duties.
In a phone interview yesterday evening, Webster said she had been "set up" by District officials. She said she was put in charge of the Anacostia middle school without the resources made available to other struggling schools. Hart was one of nearly two dozen D.C. schools placed in federally mandated restructuring for failing to meet benchmarks for math and English test scores. Last year, just 17 percent of Hart students read at proficiency level.
Webster said publicity about the situation at Hart also played a role in her dismissal. On Sunday, The Washington Post published an article that described a school in disarray, with students fighting, roaming the halls and disrupting classes, according to parents, teachers and police. One student was arrested for possession of a shotgun.
"If I had been able to keep things quiet, I'd still be there," Webster said.
Webster had been hired as principal of Roosevelt STAY, an evening program at Roosevelt High School for people 15 or older who want to complete work on a diploma. She said she was reassigned to Hart after the principal who had been hired decided not to accept the post.
Hart's disciplinary problems did not begin this year. A review team that evaluated the school last year for Rhee noted many of the same conditions that contributed to Webster's ouster.
The school was a shambles when she took over in late July, Webster said. Summer renovations had barely begun, and the school had 21 teacher vacancies. With the summer hiring process winding down, she said, she was "forced to grab whatever was left" from a pool of teachers "excessed" by schools that had closed or experienced enrollment declines. At meetings of principals, she said, colleagues told her that she had teachers they were happy to be rid of.
Webster said principals at some other schools that were being restructured under the federal No Child Left Behind law had more latitude in hiring teachers. Brian Betts, the new principal at Shaw at Garnet-Patterson Middle School, was able to replace more than 30 of the 37 teachers who finished the 2007-08 school year.
Webster also said academic programs and social services promised by Rhee as part of the restructuring never got off the ground. Many of the people involved are still in training, she said. Only one instructor is available for an accelerated reading program.
Webster said she tried to avoid suspensions when discipline deteriorated because they are counterproductive. "They come back worse than when they left," she said. "They come back with this swagger. It's 'I was suspended, now what?' "
Eventually, however, the suspensions mounted, and there were nearly 80 in one week in October, she said.
There is plenty of blame to go around for Hart's predicament, Webster said. She acknowledged that she probably alienated staff members by coming in with an attitude that was too hard-edged -- an attitude she said was influenced by her superior's judgment that the school was in terrible shape.
"I will tell you, when you come into a building where you are told everyone is crap, you come in hard," she said. In retrospect, she said, she should have taken time to form her own opinions.
But others also shoulder responsibility, including an administration that didn't understand, or care to acknowledge, the depth of Hart's needs.
"I would say that everyone is responsible," she said. "The community, the administrators, the teachers, the central office."
good ol' socialist capitalism
Everybody wants a bailout - what happened to good ol' capitalism?
"If life were a thing that money could buy/
Then the rich would live and the poor would die..."
Donatelli Development, others request tax breaks for D.C. projects
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/05/18/daily75.html?surround=lfn
Thursday, May 21, 2009, 2:55pm EDT |
Modified: Thursday, May 21, 2009, 3:15pm
Donatelli Development, others request tax breaks for D.C. projects
Washington Business Journal - by Jonathan O'Connell Staff Reporter
If the D.C. Council approves abatements for developers, Highland Park is one property that would benefit. View Larger Donatelli Development was one of six property owners that came to the D.C. Council Thursday seeking what its executives call badly needed tax breaks in the recession.
President Chris Donatelli is requesting an estimated $8.5 million in commercial property tax abatements for his Highland Park development atop the Columbia Heights Metro station and his nearly completed Park Place development atop the Petworth station.
Donatelli originally planned condominiums for both projects but in the downturn has decided to offer both the 229-unit Highland Park, which is open and being actively marketed, and the 156-unit Park Place, which is nearly complete, as apartments.
He told the D.C. Council's finance and revenue committee that in building other projects in the city like the Ellington on U Street and Kenyon Square in Columbia Heights, "We have never before found it necessary to request a public subsidy or tax abatement." But he said that rents weren't what he had hoped for to this point. "We've realized lower rents than we expected on these units," he said.
A bill to give the Donatelli projects a lift was submitted by Councilman Jim Graham, D-Ward 1, and Councilwoman Muriel Bowser, D-Ward 4. If it were to pass and money were to be then appropriated separately, the city would provide 100 percent real property tax exemption for 10 years and a reduced relief for the following 10 years. Bowser, who has been pushing for improvements to Georgia Avenue, site of Park Place, said Donatelli had been a pioneer in entering the city's neighborhoods early and said the city needed to step in "because we recognize how important it is for these projects not only to move forward but to thrive."
Seeking the largest relief before the committee was the Union Station Redevelopment Corp., whose president, David Ball, charged that the city ought not to be seeking property taxes from sub leases in Union Station and requested $50 million in relief through 2024.
Vienna-based Metropolitan Development seeks $20.3 million in tax exemptions for a project in Shaw, part of Committee Chair Jack Evans's Ward 2. The new development, north of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, would include 256 apartments, 15,000-square-feet of ground level retail and underground parking to replace the Kelsey Gardens housing complex.
Perseus Realty came seeking $138,000 in tax abatements so it can build 1 Hotel & Residences, touted as the first LEED-certified hotel in D.C. The 180-room hotel would be a five-star property at the corner of 22nd and M streets NW, at the site of the former Nigerian Embassy, and operated by Starwoord. Nonprofits the Studio Theatre and KIPP DC charter schools sought relief for their properties on 14th Street NW and on Douglass Road SE, respectively. All will require separate appropriations from the city to receive relief.
Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, opposed all of the abatements and suggested that the city ought to make larger choices about which property owners ought to receive breaks rather than picking them seemingly at random. Unlike subsidies like tax increment financing, "there is no application process for tax abatements and no required financial analysis by the [Chief Financial Officer].
Lazere said it wasn't fair to bail out one or two property owners in the recession when hundreds of other businesses and nonprofit organizations were in the same predicament. Developers like Perseus and Donatelli, he pointed out, knew the risks of beginning their projects before the downturn began. "We do not believe that a changed economic climate or the fact that some include affordable housing are sufficient reasons for tax abatement subsidies," he said.
But Evans said that even if the process could be improved, the worst thing the government can do in a recession is leave businesses to flounder. He said he planned to move all of the bills. "When a government pulls back in that type of environment it makes it much more dire circumstances than when the government steps up to the plate," he said.
"If life were a thing that money could buy/
Then the rich would live and the poor would die..."
Donatelli Development, others request tax breaks for D.C. projects
http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2009/05/18/daily75.html?surround=lfn
Thursday, May 21, 2009, 2:55pm EDT |
Modified: Thursday, May 21, 2009, 3:15pm
Donatelli Development, others request tax breaks for D.C. projects
Washington Business Journal - by Jonathan O'Connell Staff Reporter
If the D.C. Council approves abatements for developers, Highland Park is one property that would benefit. View Larger Donatelli Development was one of six property owners that came to the D.C. Council Thursday seeking what its executives call badly needed tax breaks in the recession.
President Chris Donatelli is requesting an estimated $8.5 million in commercial property tax abatements for his Highland Park development atop the Columbia Heights Metro station and his nearly completed Park Place development atop the Petworth station.
Donatelli originally planned condominiums for both projects but in the downturn has decided to offer both the 229-unit Highland Park, which is open and being actively marketed, and the 156-unit Park Place, which is nearly complete, as apartments.
He told the D.C. Council's finance and revenue committee that in building other projects in the city like the Ellington on U Street and Kenyon Square in Columbia Heights, "We have never before found it necessary to request a public subsidy or tax abatement." But he said that rents weren't what he had hoped for to this point. "We've realized lower rents than we expected on these units," he said.
A bill to give the Donatelli projects a lift was submitted by Councilman Jim Graham, D-Ward 1, and Councilwoman Muriel Bowser, D-Ward 4. If it were to pass and money were to be then appropriated separately, the city would provide 100 percent real property tax exemption for 10 years and a reduced relief for the following 10 years. Bowser, who has been pushing for improvements to Georgia Avenue, site of Park Place, said Donatelli had been a pioneer in entering the city's neighborhoods early and said the city needed to step in "because we recognize how important it is for these projects not only to move forward but to thrive."
Seeking the largest relief before the committee was the Union Station Redevelopment Corp., whose president, David Ball, charged that the city ought not to be seeking property taxes from sub leases in Union Station and requested $50 million in relief through 2024.
Vienna-based Metropolitan Development seeks $20.3 million in tax exemptions for a project in Shaw, part of Committee Chair Jack Evans's Ward 2. The new development, north of the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, would include 256 apartments, 15,000-square-feet of ground level retail and underground parking to replace the Kelsey Gardens housing complex.
Perseus Realty came seeking $138,000 in tax abatements so it can build 1 Hotel & Residences, touted as the first LEED-certified hotel in D.C. The 180-room hotel would be a five-star property at the corner of 22nd and M streets NW, at the site of the former Nigerian Embassy, and operated by Starwoord. Nonprofits the Studio Theatre and KIPP DC charter schools sought relief for their properties on 14th Street NW and on Douglass Road SE, respectively. All will require separate appropriations from the city to receive relief.
Ed Lazere, executive director of the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, opposed all of the abatements and suggested that the city ought to make larger choices about which property owners ought to receive breaks rather than picking them seemingly at random. Unlike subsidies like tax increment financing, "there is no application process for tax abatements and no required financial analysis by the [Chief Financial Officer].
Lazere said it wasn't fair to bail out one or two property owners in the recession when hundreds of other businesses and nonprofit organizations were in the same predicament. Developers like Perseus and Donatelli, he pointed out, knew the risks of beginning their projects before the downturn began. "We do not believe that a changed economic climate or the fact that some include affordable housing are sufficient reasons for tax abatement subsidies," he said.
But Evans said that even if the process could be improved, the worst thing the government can do in a recession is leave businesses to flounder. He said he planned to move all of the bills. "When a government pulls back in that type of environment it makes it much more dire circumstances than when the government steps up to the plate," he said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
