WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Some want the private sector in charge of D.C. Public Schools’ multibillion-dollar modernization fund — not Superintendent Clifford Janey. Others want the D.C. Office of Property Management to handle routine maintenance. Security already is under the Metropolitan Police Department.

Since his mayoral primary victory, D.C. Council Member Adrian Fenty has been talking education takeover. Next week, he leaves for New York to scope out reforms implemented under Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Outgoing D.C. Board of Education President Peggy Cooper Cafritz sees disaster writ large.

During the control board era, the Army Corps of Engineers renovated existing schools; it botched the job. Recent court testimony from OPM’s former deputy director Michael Lorusso proves that agency is no paragon of efficiency — or ethics. Let’s not talk about MPD.

Interviewed at her Northwest D.C. home, where she is confined with a serious illness, Cooper Cafritz opens her own bottle of elixirs: longer school days; a merger of government recreation and school sports programs; certified teachers in Head Start; Benjamin Banneker High School as model for all regular high schools; decertification of the Washington Teachers’ Union; and a wrap of social services, including mental health care, at every school.

“Before there’s a takeover, we have got to see the mayor’s office and the school system working together in a substantial way,” she says, adding that New York has a deeper and better-trained cache of teachers, accounting for its success.

“A lot has been accomplished in two years,” Council Member Kathy Patterson said, underscoring the school board president’s assessment. “But some of the things that haven’t been accomplished are the most visible.”

“[Janey] just needs to quicken the pace,” Cooper Cafritz added. But complaints extend beyond pacing and include a school calendar with less than the legally required 180 days of instruction, declining test scores and unfulfilled promises.

Recently, several schools, including School Without Walls, Wilson Senior High, Hearst Elementary and Walker-Jones Elementary were told to cut their budgets. Patterson says she is looking into the problem.

The principal of Walker-Jones was told “her budget was too big; she expects a $1 million reduction,” one informed education insider said.

School finance officials say it’s not that much — just slightly more than $300,000. But when Walker-Jones consolidated with R.H. Terrell Junior High, the superintendent promised more resources and money. Eight weeks into the school year, the story changes.

“She may have to cut teachers and supplies,” the education source said. “There are highly paid individuals in the central office sitting around doing nothing. Janey has a chief of staff, Peter Parham. He has a special assistant, Robert Rice. Why does he need both?

“[Janey] is smart,” the source continued. “[But] I’ve never seen anyone so dumb when it comes to implementing his own ideas.”

That frustration is one reason why there is a budding “dump-the-superintendent” movement — though no one calls it that.

Jonetta Rose Barras is the political analyst for WAMU radio’s D.C. Politics Hour with Kojo and Jonetta. She can be reached at Rosebook1@aol.com.

Comments from Examiner Readers

7:26 AM MST on Fri., Feb. 22, 2008 re: "Calling what you do in the classroom teaching"

Lisa said:
Do a grammar check -- you have a who/whom problem in the first sentence of the 6th paragraph. Are there no editors around?

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2:52 PM MST on Thu., Feb. 21, 2008 re: "Calling what you do in the classroom teaching"

Examiner Reader said:
Ms. Barras, Please stop straddling the fence!!! One minute you are heralding Rhee as the best thing since slice bread and now you speak the truth...A woman WITHOUT a Plan

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5:39 PM MST on Wed., Aug. 29, 2007 re: "Column: Drilling down in D.C. schools"

Examiner Reader SL said:
This article truly addressed the major issue that continues to cripple the school system and drive highly qualified teachers from educating in the district. There is an urgent need for accountability starting all the way from the top. Without significant changes, it we will only be like a bandaid being placed over an infected wound.

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3:01 PM MST on Mon., Aug. 6, 2007 re: "Column: Drilling down in D.C. schools"

Right...tell me another one said:
You know this is not going to be popular, but although Janey had the rights ideas on curriculum, you swear he was a paid consultant and never managed staff. He did not set a mission, did not review employees based on if they lived up to the mission even his own Declaration of Education and for that reason did a disservice to those who are/were talented in central office. Because he failed to set the tone. After awhile the bullies would take hold. The people who were in their cars at 5:01pm, and took Friday's off as they "worked from home" all week. He fired maybe one person--whose work was such an embarassment --she was barely literate and was asked not to return by a parents group. Her position Head of Communications. (I could not make this up). But who were talented, head of accountability, deputy business officer, community liaison all left when they were great talents.

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7:42 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 2, 2007 re: "Column: Drilling down in D.C. schools"

Examiner Reader said:
Unfortunately Assistant Superintendent Francisco Millet's story is common in the District of Columbia Public Schools. I can name another Assistant Superintendent who shares his style and attempts to intimidate teachers.

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5:36 PM MST on Thu., Aug. 2, 2007 re: "Column: Drilling down in D.C. schools"

Karen Dickerson said:
The earnest attention being paid to the current state of the DCPS is long overdue and much welcomed. Many residents undoubtedly applaud the sweeping reforms Chancellor Rhee and the Mayor plan to institute and recognize that not everyone in the system is inept, an idiot, or even a crook. Going beyond simply making it �look pretty� will be a drastic cultural change and a tragic blow to those comfortable with the status quo, as well those unaccustomed to be held accountable �not to mention being charged with the task of actually having to think. Being �progressive� is daunting and yes, even �troublesome� for some, but when one takes into account the increase in the number of charter schools in the District (only a few of whom actually meet federal student-performance benchmarks), Fenty�s and Rhee�s initiatives represent a unique opportunity (if not a noble undertaking) to improve student performance rates and provide students in the District�the Nation�s Capital�with a world-class educat

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8:31 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 2, 2007 re: "Column: Drilling down in D.C. schools"

Examiner Reader said:
When will Ms. Rhee announce the leadership team that she has assembled. There are people showing up but no one has been formally introduced, at least, to the employees in the trenches. Ms. Rhee couldn't tell the council what the duties of her transition team would be but she could give you the salary "range" not even the job title so I guess they will just "do what their supervisor tells them to." Millet is a whole different creature but he isn't the only parasite in the school system. Building moral is not a concern of these people even though Leadership 101 dictates a collaborative environment for effective change.

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8:14 AM MST on Thu., Aug. 2, 2007 re: "Drilling down in D.C. schools"

Mike Licht said:
>Re: Drilling down in D.C. schools< Anonymous Examiner Reader: it is not that everyone in the central office of DCPS is an idiot or a crook but that the lack of rational structure wastes the talents of any of those people with experience and credentials you cite, so they cannot possibly serve as assets and help students. If an agency with so many Budget Analysts cannot spend Federal Grant funds legally or purchase textbooks on time, and a system with so many Curriculum Specialists cannot teach children, it is indeed time to clear out the central office and start over. The sooner the better.

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6:57 PM MST on Wed., Aug. 1, 2007 re: "Drilling down in D.C. schools"

Examiner Reader said:
Frankly I am sick and tired of the media portraying everyone in central office as an idiot or a crook. There are people at Central with experiences and credentials who are assets to the system and help students. In fact, due to the lack of communication from the Rhee administration to the current central office staff (perhaps based on their mistaken belief that all are incompetent) many excellent people who ARE employable in top jobs in the area are leaving. When will that story be told?!

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11:36 AM MST on Fri., May. 25, 2007 re: "Jonetta Rose Barras: Dan Tangherlini: The wizard�s assistant"

Examiner Reader Ms. Betty Lewis said:
Why don't we let the court seperate the lies from the truth. Lanier moved to fast on her personal vendetta against the Commander. Bauman from the FOP is an idiot, Lanier assigns police and the cars and the bikes, not the Commander. We know that all the trashing of the Commander's reputation is coming out of Lanier's office, maybe the investigators that are working on the Commanders case will uncover the true reason that Lanier was picked for Chief, knowing that she is not the brightest star in the sky . Why has Lanier surrounded herself with Commanders and Assistant Chief that had domestic charges filed against them ?

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