The District of Columbia was named as a finalist this morning in the U.S. Dept. of Education’s Race to the Top contest, an Obama administration program aimed at spurring school reform through enormous financial incentives. The lengthy Race to the Top application process required the submission of a reform plan that included rigorous academic standards, data systems that measure student achievement and growth, strategies that recruit, develop, reward, and retain effective educators, and proposals for…

D.C. Wire reports that at a meeting of the Deanwood Civic Association last night, Mayor Adrian Fenty again promised that his twin sons (currently in 3rd grade) would attend D.C. public schools beginning this fall. The post includes a quote from Fenty telling an activist, “I’ve always said, ‘When my kids finish the school they started when they were 2 years old, they will go to DCPS.'” The Mayor’s taken some heat in the…

One of the drawbacks to having a high-profile figure like Michelle Rhee running the city schools is that so much of the education coverage tends to be about Rhee herself, rather than the work her office is (or isn’t) doing. In a column last weekend, Colbert I. King argued that “the issue is not whether the chancellor is a polarizing figure with her take-no-prisoners approach, or is a fearless crusader against defenders of the…

Some notable finger pointing over the past week: a list showing 90 unfilled teacher vacancies surfaced, prompting complaints of a teacher shortage caused by Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s firing 270 teachers this summer; the long-awaited schools modernization plan was criticized by the D.C. council as incomplete and lacking community input; and a Washington Teachers Union information session about the quagmired teachers’ contract negotiations descended into name-calling and shouting matches. Perhaps Post columnist Jay Mathews had the…

Last week, the Fenty administration announced an aggressive plan calling for the closure of 24 schools within the District of Columbia Public Schools system. Parents and concerned members of the community are now being invited to attend a series of public meetings where they can raise concerns directly with Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso. We’ve posted the full schedule below. Wards 1, 2 & 6: *Monday, Dec. 10 from…

Good morning, Washington. The pernicious effects of this year’s drought could continue to haunt the region during next year’s holiday season, according to WTOP. Turns out that young Christmas trees and seedlings being grown in Maryland and Virginia were especially affected by the lack of rainfall, meaning that thousands of area children could suffer the indignity of having to make due with a sub-par decorative plant with which to entice entice Santa to leave them…

Mayor Adrian Fenty, Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso announced their plans to “right-size” D.C. public school system today that will include the simultaneous closure of 24 schools. School closures have been high on the to-do list for several years now as student enrollment has dropped from 55,000 to an estimated 49,600 students this school year. The new school closure plan differs from a previous one offered by former Superintendent…

Good morning, Washington. It’s only the end of September, but if drug store candy aisles are any indication, many of you are probably already thinking ahead just a little bit to the holiday season. What will you be for Halloween? Will you stay in town for Thanksgiving? What kind of Christmas bonus will you be getting this year? For some D.C. government employees, the answer to that last question is now up in the air….

Good morning, Washington. More news today on the Virginia abusive driver’s fees front, this time even closer to home. Arlington residents will be cheered to hear that an Arlington County General District Court judge has ruled that Virginia’s abusive-driver fees are unconstitutional. Judge Dorothy H. Clarke is the fourth District Court judge in Virginia to make such a ruling, but the first one in Northern Virginia. Naturally, the state will appeal the decision, and this…

Mayor Adrian Fenty will continue to send his children to a private school in the District this year, reports the Examiner. Unlike Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso, who have both enrolled their children at one of the District’s best public elementary schools, the Mayor and his wife have chosen to send their seven year-old twins to another year at the private school they have attended since preschool. The mayor…