Results tagged “schoolboard”

We read all the local columnists, so you don't have to. This week we find meat-eaters being compared to Michael Vick, a lot of bum opinions on city schools and District residents being called "granola." Courtland Milloy: According to Milloy's Wednesday column in the Post, your choice to eat a hamburger isn't all that different than Michael Vick's decision to brutally fight, torture and kill dogs for money. "We'll kill a duck, deer, turkey --...

Registered voters in Wards 1 and 2 received a postcard in the mail a few weeks back announcing the special election scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 21 -- but in the off chance you quickly tossed in the garbage, allow us to fill you in: In April, D.C. Board of Education member Jeff Smith resigned his seat in protest immediately after the D.C. Council gave preliminary approval to Mayor Adrian Fenty’s school takeover plan, so now...

In case you missed the news yesterday, the Washington Post has devoted an extraordinary amount of front page column inches to the record breaking temperatures D.C. saw yesterday. At 12:05 p.m. on Wednesday, the temperature hit 102 degrees at Reagan National Airport, according to the National Weather Service, breaking the previous all time high record for Aug. 8, of 101 degrees, set in 1930. The oppressive heat also had a number of other newsworthy...

The D.C. Council is meeting for the final day of its summer session as we speak, and as we mentioned in this morning's roundup, a confirmation vote for deputy mayor for education Victor Reinoso has been postponed until at least September. But other key Fenty school takeover appointments are expected to be confirmed today, including Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Allen Lew, acting director of the new Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization. Yesterday, Lew...

Maybe we just have a short memory, but yesterday was the first day of the summer that felt oppressively awful in that distinctly D.C.-ish way. Apparently we weren't the only ones — NBC4 says that a bunch of kids from the National Student Leadership Council who were visiting Capitol Hill became sick from the heat, requiring treatment in a Senate office building (they're all fine). Today promises to be two degrees hotter. Md. Teacher Sentenced...

We do hope you had a pleasant, relaxing, not too horribly hot weekend, Washington. Even if you didn't, chances are your Monday morning is shaping up to be less of a hassle than it is for the staff of Sen. Jim Webb (D-VA). Webb finally admitted over the weekend that he owns the gun that his aide, Phillip Thompson, was arrested for carrying into the Capitol in March. What kept him from clearing up...

The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics changed its tune yesterday and reversed an earlier decision by stating that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's school takeover plan cannot be the subject of a referendum. Once again, it comes down to the Home Rule Charter: attorneys for the election board said in papers filed yesterday that because Congress and President Bush have approved an amendment to the city's Home Rule Charter that gives the mayor direct control...

Brenda L. Belton, who was fired last year from her job as director of the Office of Charter School Oversight amid allegations of embezzlement and fraud, has indicated she will plead guilty to five counts, including theft from a program receiving public funds, conversion of public money, bankruptcy fraud, and federal and local tax evasion. Belton stands accused of wrongfully paying herself more than $418,000, and wrongfully obligating the government in seven separate contracts worth...

Yesterday we told you about the referendum petition approved by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics regarding Mayor Adrian Fenty's school takeover legislation, which recently passed the U.S. Senate. The petition was filed by D.C. resident Mary Spencer, who is seeking to put Fenty's school plan on a special election ballot so that D.C. residents could vote on the issue directly. Today, the WaPo's David Nakamura clarifies an issue that was speculated about...

Good morning, Washington. We pestered you yesterday about your Memorial Day plans. Today, a word of warning: make sure they don't include flip-flops. As FOX5 helpfully warns us, the sandals can lead to sprains, broken bones or even the dreaded Flipflop-Induced Foot Failure Syndrome (aka FIFFS). We had no idea we were in such peril. Bad Day For Bobb: Yesterday the U.S. Senate unanimously approved Mayor Fenty's school takeover plan. Rest assured, we'll have...

Well that was fast. After placing a second hold on legislation granting Mayor Adrian Fenty direct control over the District's public schools, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) this afternoon agreed to lift her hold and let the proposal move forward in the Senate. According to the Post, Landrieu did so after being assured that School Board President Robert Bobb (pictured right), who had asked for the hold, and Fenty had agreed to sit down and iron...

Two senators, two holds on District legislation -- sounds like business as usual up on Capitol Hill, doesn't it? The Post brings news that Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) became the second Democratic senator to put a hold on the legislation that would formalize Mayor Adrian Fenty's bid for increased control over the city's troubled public schools. Two weeks ago, Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-Md.) used the same tactic to force the District to negotiate over the...

The Examiner has a story this morning that accuses the deputy mayor for planning and economic development, Neil Albert, of a potential conflict of interest in lobbying the District to give a $57 million contract to EdBuild, the company he founded in 2005. The school board is scheduled to vote on EdBuild’s contract today. Albert told The Examiner that he sat down with Council Chair Vincent Gray and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso, and...

Several hundred citizens turned out on Monday evening in support of the effort to quickly rebuild Eastern Market, and to share their feelings on a temporary location for the displaced vendors. Mayor Adrian Fenty, At-large council members David Catania and Phil Mendelson, Ward 6 council member Tommy Wells, city administrator Dan Tangherlini, and District 3 School Board member Lisa Raymond turned out to show their support too, as well as to canvass the opinions of...

Yesterday the WashTimes ran a story on a bill being introduced by D.C. Council member Jim Graham that would give budgetary oversight of the D.C. Water and Sewer Authority to the D.C. CEO CFO, Natwar Gandhi. This morning, the WaPo follows up with a story comparing the bill to Fenty's school takeover plan -- essentially the WASA board, much like the D.C. school board, would become mere advisors to their own budget process, while Gandhi's...

Good morning, Washington. It's hard to believe that Queen Elizabeth's visit is already over — to be honest, we found it a bit disappointing. Sure, it was fun to have President Bush embarrass himself in front of her. And yes, we were as fascinated as anyone to read about precisely what she ate at Monday's state dinner. Still, we can't help feeling like this royal visit was less hilarious than it could have been....

Welcome to May, Washington. It's beautiful outside and will stay that way throughout the week. In fact, checking WUSA's weather forecast this morning, we smiled at all the pretty suns and mild temperatures. The clearest meteorological message, though, is the helpful "Warm" and "Nice" written neatly across the image. Not too shabby. It's also nice weather for balloting. Today, voters in Wards Four and Seven head to the polls to elect new D.C. council members....

Candidates in next Tuesday's special election to fill two open D.C. Council seats have collectively raised over $1 million in the course of the campaign. Voters will chose council members for Wards 4 and 7, after those positions were left empty by Mayor Adrian Fenty and at-large Council Chairman Vincent Gray. Voters in D.C. Public Schools' Second District will also elect a school board representative. In Ward 4, ANC Commissioner Muriel Bowser leads the pack...

Today Mayor Adrian Fenty takes his school takeover plan back to the D.C. Council, where it's expected to get final approval. Earlier this month, the council voted 9-2 to give Fenty control of Washington schools, with wide berth to appoint a school superintendent who would report directly to the mayor and an elected school board serving only in an advisory capacity. Under the proposal, the council would maintain line-item budget control, be able to set...

It was an awfully busy day for the D.C. Council Tuesday, so we thought we'd give you a quick glance at everything that went down in yesterday's session. >> As expected after a 9-2 committee vote earlier in the day, the Council voted by the same margin to approve Mayor Fenty's takeover plan for D.C. Public Schools yesterday. The council will need to give final approval in a second vote, and Congress is of course...

No, when rising in the wee hours of the morning to we didn't suffer a sudden wave of nostalgia for bad perms, The Bangles and "Mr. Belvedere". We were confronted by all four networks confirming that temps are hitting eighty degrees today. Awesome. This mild weather was welcome news for the hundreds of Georgetown students who camped out in line to get their hands on one of the 1,000 tickets made available around 9:00...

Given that the state of the District's public schools is one of the city's most pressing problems, we were excited to see Mayor Adrian Fenty host an online chat at the Post to clarify and explain his ambitious plans for a mayoral takeover. Unfortunately, the chat ended up sounding much like most of President George W. Bush's public appearances -- staged and scrubbed free of criticism. Fenty fielded 16 questions in total, none of which...

Have you been dying to get a few minutes to ask D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty questions about his controversial plan to take over the District's public schools? Washingtonpost.com will give you a chance this afternoon at 1 p.m., when they moderate an online chat with the Mayor about his proposal. You can submit your own questions for the Mayor here. We'd really like to know what the Mayor thinks about Colby King's idea to...

Better late than never, right? That seems to be the philosophy guiding D.C. Schools Superintendent Clifford Janey and School Board President Robert Bobb, who this week kick off a $75 million repair blitz in 70 of the city's 142 schools. Writes the Examiner on the campaign: Systems to be repaired include bathrooms, water fountains and lighting — all issues that have been identified as having the greatest impact on the students’ and teachers’ quality of...

What's up, D.C.? Remember those halcyon days of 70 degrees a few weeks ago? Yeah, now hit yourself over the head* to induce amnesia and get ready for another chilly day. Tonight we could even see a few more flurries. (*Note: the DCist legal department does not advise this treatment for extreme cases of it's-actually-winter-itis) State of Emergency: Yesterday, the District's Board of Education passed the "Emergency Student Achievement Act of 2007" in an attempt...

Good chilly morning to you, Washington. Our neighbors to the north have officially got themselves a new rock-star Governor, as Martin O'Malley was sworn in yesterday afternoon in Maryland to the sounds of the Saw Doctors, an Irish rock band that flew from Dublin for the event, and later to his own band, O'Malley's March, at his inaugural ball. Not that we're jealous or anything, but does anyone know if Mayor Fenty plays an instrument?...

The Montgomery County School Board unanimously approved a new sex education curriculum for 8th graders and high school sophomores at their board meeting this morning. The district's old curriculum caused an uproar in 2005 as it included a video for 10th graders showing a woman putting a condom on a cucumber, a discussion of homosexuality and bisexuality in 8th grade sex-ed classes, and the singling out of certain religions for being intolerant towards homosexuality. The...

Maybe the biggest news about D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's formal announcement of a planned school takeover is that it might not be news at all. Flanked by nine members of the D.C. Council -- a considerable number given that there are currently only 11 seated -- Fenty yesterday detailed his plans to hand most budgetary and management authority to a chancellor appointed by him, leaving the elected School Board to handle education policy matters. While...

Good morning, Washington. It's December 20th. Are you still maintaining the farce that you're accomplishing productive work at the office? If so, we salute your spirit. Most of the DCist staff gave up days ago, opting instead to camp out in our office kitchens and wait for the arrival of gift baskets from vendors. How many Hickory Farms beefsticks is it healthy for an adult to eat per day, anyway? Christmas Comes To D.C. Government:...

Batten down the hatches, Washington. Proving that no good spell of weather goes unpunished, we've now got some major storms headed our way. Two separate storm lines, to be precise, are barreling down on the metro area as we speak, the first having just begun, and the second, more powerful system, expected between noon and 5 p.m. With winds at 30 mph, we'd suggest upgrading your umbrella to something more than cheap and crappy. District...