Photo by Kurlylox1

Good morning, Washington. A nice day is on tap, so enjoy it. The news:

D.C. Council Approves Bill Allowing Same-Sex Divorce: After two years of allowing same-sex marriage, the D.C. Council has moved to simplify the process of same-sex divorce. The Huffington Post reports that the council approved legislation that would allow couples that married in the District but now live somewhere that doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages to get a divorce without having to be residents here. Under current law, at least one half of the couple has to have been a resident here for at least six months before starting divorce proceedings.

Occupy D.C. Worried About D.C. Protest Bill: Protesters affiliated with the Occupy D.C. movement are worried that the D.C. Council is targeting them with legislation that would prohibit them from blocking sidewalks and parks, prevent them from returning to the scene of a protest when asked to leave and forbid them from participating in “disruptive conduct” in public buildings. The Examiner reports that the protesters see the bill as yet another means to crack down on their First Amendment rights. Councilmember Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), the measure’s sponsor, argues that that’s not true, and that his bill merely moves disorderly conduct arrests from the U.S. Attorney to the D.C. Attorney General for prosecution.

Teacher Evaluations and Student Testing Aren’t Always Right: Part of the District’s aggressive school reform efforts involve carefully monitoring teachers to see how well they do with their students. But as the Post reports today, the city’s evaluation system can be too heavily weighted towards things like test scores and not flexible enough to take into account other less quantifiable variables. A long article tells the story of fifth-grade teacher Sarah Wysocki, who was fired after her second year on the job despite rave reviews from co-workers. The problem? Her students’ test scores didn’t go up enough, dragging her performance review down. Since test scores account for 50 percent of a teacher’s rating in the District, she was let go, even though her assistant principal had just praised her classroom teaching skills.

Briefly Noted: Street-sweeping tickets mistakenly handed out in Columbia Heights … No surprise here: Mitt Romney wins Virginia primary … Second phase of the Silver Line to Dulles expected to cost between $2.7 and $3.2 billion … Environmental activists in Maryland want fracking tax … D.C. sending more kids to out-of-state facilities when they get into trouble … Mayor Vince Gray says he conducted 2010 mayoral campaign with “utmost integrity.”

This Day in DCist: On this day in 2011, Maryland overturned a law that prohibited dogs at restaurants and we spied the Wizards’ new logo. In 2010, the District hosted an urban beekeeping class.