D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray has challenged the ability of two national education experts to be unbiased judges of the city’s school reform, but one of those analysts said his assessment is based purely on the facts.

The council is weighing whether to accept Brown University professor Kenneth Wong and Rick Hess, director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, as independent evaluators for the school district.

Hess was not at the hearing. But during a phone interview with The Examiner, he defended his ability to be objective.

“That’s the nice thing about letting the data tell the story,” he said. “It’s not my place to decide whether DCPS is succeeding. Our job is to report the information so that others can assess.”

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As reported by The Examiner last week, some community members and schools advocates have said they are concerned over speeches and writings in which Hess has praised both Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s progress and the concept of mayoral takeovers.

They said these public expressions of support for the reform under way raise questions about his ability to be impartial.

Gray, during exchanges with Wong, who did attend the hearing, praised both men’s knowledge and expertise. But he warned them against being “predisposed to support the takeover.”

“How can we feel comfortable that there will be objectivity?” Gray asked.

Wong’s response was that he and Hess were “cautiously optimistic” about the mayoral takeover strategy and would not automatically classify Rhee’s leadership and strategy as favorable.

“We feel that this is a very promising strategy. There are, of course, variations within the system,” he said.

Mayor Adrian Fenty nominated them for the posts earlier this month, nearly eight months later than required in the law that established the mayor’s takeover of the public schools. The purpose of independent evaluators is to monitor the massive changes occurring in the overhaul the city’s long-troubled schools.

A vote has not been taken on the appointments, but a decision is expected soon. Evaluators must move forward with their analysis swiftly in order to compose a comprehensive report in September.

Wong and Hess are slated to be paid $750,000 in private dollars over five years.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com