Since D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee fired 98 administrative employees, pandering by some D.C. Council members has reached an almost nauseating level. Lawmakers are demanding loudly and in the press privileged information on affected workers, implying that something untoward has occurred. They know, however, that by law certain personnel data can’t be released.

But wait. Wasn't it the council that approved Mayor Adrian A. Fenty’s request to make nonunion central administration employees “at will?” Didn’t that action provide Rhee the authority to fire whomever she wants, regardless of the results of the evaluations she was mandated to conduct? Wasn’t it only a couple of weeks ago that council members, including Chairman Vincent C. Gray, blasted Rhee for not using her firing power? And didn't the council initially tell the chancellor she had 180 days — not seven days — after the bill’s enactment to provide a report of her personnel changes?

So what happened? Fear. Not unlike with school closings, when citizens — even those who don’t live in the District — complain loudly, council members run scared.

Did legislators think reforming a wholly dysfunctional education system would be the proverbial walk in the park?

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There's sufficient documented evidence that DCPS’ central administration is bloated and ineffective. It's partially responsible for swallowing millions of public dollars while failing to adequately educate tens of thousands of District youth. Those millions of pieces of personnel documents found on the floor at the school system headquarters and the late distribution of textbooks are just two well-reported examples of central administration failure.

Rather than pander to a few adults, the council may want to focus its attention on the more than 40,000 youths who are enrolled in traditional public schools. Who thinks of the children anymore in this political battle over territory and prerogative?

To be sure, there are real concerns to be raised. For example, last summer, the mayor and chancellor talked about using, with a few modifications, the master education strategy developed by the now defunct D.C. Board of Education and former Superintendent Clifford Janey. But over the past eight months, Fenty and Rhee have presented piecemeal administrative, academic and capital improvement changes, raising questions about how things actually fit together.

It's hard to know, for example, if the recent terminations will lead to a streamlined, more cost-efficient management system, or how they might improve delivery of services to neighborhood schools. Certainly, residents don't know what has happened to the millions of dollars that have been given to the DCPS.

No one expects pandering as the politically expedient response du jour to be eliminated entirely. It could be reduced if Fenty and Rhee present their comprehensive administrative and academic master plan, including goals and objectives for the next three years, and an easy-to-read road map for getting there.

That is, if they have one.