WASHINGTON (Map, News) - D.C. Council Member Adrian Fenty can look at today’s report from the State Education Office and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to understand a takeover of D.C. Public Schools means more than ensuring widgets are ordered, the bathrooms are cleaned and textbooks arrive on time. It certainly extends beyond whether the superintendent is supervised by the D.C Board of Education or a deputy mayor.

The Bridgespan Group, working at the behest of the SEO and the Gates Foundation, looked at 4,300 ninth-grade students in the 2001-02 school year. Based on research, the group found that most do not graduate from high school; 32 percent do not enroll in college; and 69 percent do not graduate from college in five years.

“The majority of public school students are simply not prepared for college,” says Deborah Gist, head of the SEO. Her office and DCPS have pledged to double the number of students completing college in five years from 9 percent to 18 percent by 2010.

The Bridgespan study is as disturbing as the one released nearly a decade ago by the financial control board; it indicated the longer a child stayed in DCPS, the worse that child’s academic performance became. Six superintendents and billions of local and federal dollars later, not much has changed.

When Mayor Anthony Williams sought to seize control of DCPS, council members put on the brakes. They were more enamored of an antiquated governance model than the tens of thousands of children caught in a poorly performing system that too often graduates functional illiterates.

Mayor-controlled schools have been in operation for years in cities such as Boston, Chicago and New York. When executives in those municipalities took over, their systems suffered, quoting President Bush, “a culture of low expectation.” In the District, this is exacerbated by a deficient teacher corps and under-educated parents, who often run households without libraries, let alone state-of-the art computers.

If Fenty does move to take over schools, attracting and building a superior teacher corps and educating parents will be his most difficult challenges. Succeeding would guarantee the Gist 2010 goal.

Tax credits could be provided to landlords for making units available at reduced rates or free of charge to young teachers ages 25 to 35 who hold master’s degrees and agree to work three to five years in DCPS. As for parents: The business community could help install computers and create libraries in every low-income home; it could use the census tract to decide where to start.

Fenty could refocus his considerable political machine, launching a campaign to educate parents and galvanize the community, duplicating what occurred in 1950s and ’60s when residents rose up against deteriorating, segregated schools. The race of the culprits may have changed, but children are still the victims.

Jonetta Rose Barras is the political analyst for WAMU radio’s D.C. “Politics Hour with Kojo and Jonetta.”

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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