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Update, 3:30 p.m.: The statehood site is now live, though it's pretty basic.
Just as quickly as the 2008 presidential campaign signs have come down, new ones have taken their place.
Over the weekend, D.C. voting rights activists hung signs advocating for statehood. Designed to look like the District's flag and emblazoned with Obama's "Yes We Can!" slogan, the signs were the brainchild of Shadow Senator Michael Brown and paid for by the D.C. Statehood Fund. The fund collects money from the check-box on D.C. tax forms that allows residents to donate money to education and lobbying for voting rights. Brown said that he and fellow Shadow Senator Paul Strauss, Shadow Representative Michael Panetta and 50 volunteers were out hanging signs over the weekend; of the 10,000 that were printed, about 8,500 went up.
If you look closely, you might see a URL at the bottom of each sign -- statehood.dc.gov -- but if you actually try and visit the site, you won't have much luck. Brown said that he was aware that the site isn't yet live, but that he's working with the city to try and get it up within the next day or so.
The renewed push for statehood comes at the same time as the House and Senate will be debating legislation that would grant D.C. a voting seat in the House. Though the measure has been praised by many as a pragmatic approach to gaining voting rights for D.C. residents, others have said that it distracts from the larger question of becoming the 51st state. The District's shadow delegation, which is charged with advocating for statehood, has been stuck in the awkward position of both pushing for the legislation on the Hill while remaining engaged in the statehood movement.
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Would statehood advocates support eliminating the the Federal grant to DC students to attend other state's universities at the "in-state" rate? One could reasonable expect that if DC were to become a state, it would be expected to operate a fully functional state university system thus eliminating the need for such a program.
If Wyoming, a state with fewer people and resources then DC can operate a state university system with a major research university, community colleges, and smaller state colleges, then shouldn't DC be able to to produce something better than UDC?
On the same token, would the "State of DC" now be expected to run its own Department of Corrections (as opposed to sending prisoners to the Federal system), its own park service (as opposed to having several neighborhood parks run by the NPS), and its own District Attorney's office (as opposed to major crimes being handled by the Dept. of Justice)?
In a perfect world, DC could actually benefit from handing some of these things themselves, but where will the money come from?
Just something to think about when discussing statehood.
That only works for folks who graduate from DC public schools I think. I'm a 6 year resident and VA Tech wants to milk me for out-of-state tuition, even at the NoVa campus.
I'd love to see many of the city's parks returned to DC control. Permitting for events, upkeep, etc. through NPS is awful.
The in state tuition deal only applies to undergraduate education which is probably why you're having issues. As far as I know it has no connection to DCPS.
It's not just public school graduates, but for any DC resident; however it is only for your 1st undergraduate degree, and it's not free out-of-state tuition, but the feds kick in the difference between instate and out of state costs, so one could get the instate rate. Being as we are not a state, it seems pretty fair to me.
The program seems fair on its face, but when you get into the details, it's not as great as it seems. First off, the eligibility isn't as simple as "DC residents", as discussed below.
Furthermore, they only provide $5k per semester. That sounds like a lot, but recently a lot of state schools have jacked the out-of-state tuition in order to keep the in-state rate down. At my alma mater, the difference is now greater than $5k. It's over $10k at Michigan.
hillvada: wyoming doesn't have pervasive urban poverty to deal with, either. not an excuse, just sayin'.
sizing DC up to any state usually leaves you open to a lot of problems in trying to make that direct comparison.
Actually, DC already operates its own Department of Corrections: See http://doc.dc.gov/.
Interesting that most of the signs I have seen have slid down the poles are are now 'swinging in the breeze' at the bottom of the pole. Telling?
Yes, I've noticed this too. It appears, that much like monkerotica, the signs are not very well hung at all.
When are we going to become a bit more creative? "Yes we can" is tired. This is a taxpayer well funded group. We deserve better than a retread slogan.
How about, "Yes we can, if Frank Sinatra says it's okay."? Cause Frank calls the shots for all those guys.
I'm holding off on supporting statehood until we agree not to call it New Columbia. Lets just keep calling it the District of Columbia. Who cares that it wouldn't be a district anymore. There are a lot more silly state names than the District of Columbia. Rhode Island and the Providence Plantations? Mississippi? "New" Mexico?
As if those make any more sense than the state of the District of Columbia.
How about just Columbia, or Potomac, or something? I agree, definitely not New Columbia, because (1) it wasn't settled by people from Columbia, (2) the abbreviation NC is already taken, and (3) hasn't naming things after Columbus gone out of style?
"Columbia" isn't a country. "Colombia" is.
Since DC is always in need of revenue enhancement, why not sell the naming rights? The State of Rooty Tooty Fresh N' Fruity brought to you by IHOP has a nice ring to it.
Aren't these signs basically littering? I mean, the message is fine and dandy, but who's going to deal with the signs when they start falling apart? Or when they're defaced? If it's basically vandalism to attach "Bust the Bank!" signs on public space, how is this different?
And it's rather ironic that the sign has a tiny website reference, yet the website isn't up and running. Good timing, fellas!
(apologies if this is a double comment - it looks like my first try was eaten....)
two things:
>> the DC Tuition Assistance Grant Program (DCTAG) is for high school graduates 24 years of age or younger who have been DC residents "at least 12 months prior to the applicant’s first time in college and continued residency throughout the applicant’s college matriculation." though not explicit, it damn near means you would be a DCPS graduate to benefit. not arguing the program, just clarifying (and weeping a bit since i can't use it myself).
>> the website is working(ish). it now leads you to a page with the basics. hopefully they plan on putting up more dynamic info.
Where do you get the idea that they have to be DCPS grads? Someone could live in the District, send their kids to private school, and not make more than a million a year (and even on that point, that page doesn't make it clear whether it's the student that can't make more than $1 million or the parent. It only makes sense if it's the parents, but the page isn't clear on that)
right - they don't have to be DCPS grads, hence the "damn near." let's just say it damn near means you would be a graduate of a high school located in DC (or it's environs, wrt private schools) to benefit.
the greater point here is that there are a number of long-term, non-traditional residents who do not or can not benefit from in-state tuition. we have one "state" school, UDC. if they don't offer the degree you want (and in my case they don't), then your choices are VA and MD state schools which charge out-of-state tuition to DC residents not fitting the above criteria, or the private universities.