The District’s public school system needs improvement so desperately that it seems any reform efforts could only be constructive. But the District Council is managing to make a bad situation worse in their public hearings on the potential mayoral takeover.
Much evidence suggests that the proposed legislation will not produce the desired results, but even more alarmingly, the legislative process has been compromised from the word “go.”
For starters, the legislation is being pushed through with no one representing Wards 4 or 7. The seats were vacated when Ward 4 Councilmember Adrian Fenty (D) became mayor and Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray (D-Chairman-At-Large) became the chairman.
Those councilmembers who are present have made the hearings as citizen-unfriendly as possible.
Two weeks ago, several councilmembers left a hearing early, declining to listen to the testimony of concerned parents. Last Wednesday’s hearing resembled a shouting match among preschoolers.
When witnesses criticized the plan, Councilmembers David Catania (I-At-Large), Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5) falsely portrayed them as supportive of the status quo.
“I don’t see how anybody in this world can advocate we keep what we have,” Barry said, responding to testimony that had actually objected to the lack of transparency in the legislative process and criticized the legislation.
New York City Councilmember Charles Barron traveled to D.C. to criticize school centralization; his experience in a city whose public schools operate under mayoral control should have made him a valuable resource.
Instead, Catania seemed to be auditioning for a role on Law and Order by asking Barron leading questions and not allowing him time to respond.
“If he’s gonna ask me a question, then he should allow me to answer the question,” Barron said.
But Catania seemed less interested in answers than in discrediting Barron. “Those who are coming to defend the system without a solution are supporting a system that produces the lowest test scores in the country,” he said. His comment seemed a non sequitur: Barron was neither defending the system nor advocating low scores.
Rev. Anthony Motley, president of the Jobs Coalition, criticized the Council’s unfortunate behavior in his testimony.
“I’ve never in my whole time of coming to this City Council heard or felt the anger that has come from some of my councilmembers towards the citizens here,” he said.
Not all councilmembers gave such a disappointing performance. Carol Schwartz (R-At-Large) and Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) distinguished themselves from the unsympathetic crowd.
Mendelson used his time to correct the misconceptions that had characterized the hearing, while Schwartz showed integrity in empathizing with the frustration of those who feared the issue was a lost cause.
“The people that are sitting at this table, at least the D.C. people, know that the die is cast here,” she told the witnesses. “It’s already been decided by the mayor and a majority of this council.”
The Council has shown improvement in the most recent hearings, but the process is almost over: Tuesday’s was the fifth of seven hearings. The Council has precious little time to turn the situation around if it wants much needed school reform to bear the stamp of legitimacy.
