WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Raise your hand if you’re fed up.

Each day, D.C. Public Schools officials find new ways to display their incompetence and disregard for children.

You’d think declining student test scores, first-quarter budget cuts affecting classroom instruction, and a facilities improvement plan that will see many of us collecting Social Security before it’s completed would be enough.

Now, The Examiner’s Michael Neibauer reports that young professionals promised education stipends for working in DCPS have yet to receive their money. Central office administrators cite budget pressures.

What pressures? DCPS has a $1.5 billion budget, and a dwindling student population.

Perhaps school officials can find money in that Central Investment Fund, which has been the focus of reporting by The Examiner’s Bill Myers. Superintendent Clifford Janey may have used money from that fund for lunches with union representatives and politicians. And D.C. Board of Education employee Brenda Belton may have enriched herself and her friends using the account.

Meanwhile, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, outgoing board president, appears in denial. She has blasted Steve Kapani, the financial analyst for the board’s charter school office who disclosed the alleged misuse of funds. But Cafritz has come within a sound bite of defending Belton, who is at the center of investigations involving the FBI and the D.C. inspector general.

The board recently fired Belton; Kapani is on administrative leave.

Some board members now want to relieve themselves of duty. They say they should pay less attention to charter schools and more to DCPS. Cafrtiz says the panel could contract with a university or nonprofit to monitor charter schools.

Am I missing something?

Didn’t Belton allegedly contract with so-called private companies and individuals to monitor charter schools, write reports, and provide phantom training sessions? Aren’t there allegations that some of the “contractors” actually may have been one company with aliases or multiple personalities?

What part of this mess and the board’s failure to perform its fiduciary responsibilities doesn’t Cafritz understand?

The board is right to get out of the charter certification business. Allowing it to determine what schools are opened or closed thwarts the basic foundation of education choice. The authority to grant charters in the District should rest only with the State Education Office.

Democratic mayoral nominee Adrian Fenty, who has talked about a takeover, hasn’t mentioned charter schools or the federally funded voucher program in any of his discussions. Does he want control of the entire public education apparatus and agenda, or just the board and Janey?

The system’s failure to pay fellows, the possible misuse of a fund earmarked for poor children, and the scandal in the charter school office underscore the education crisis.

My solution: Fire the whole lot. Then, give every child a voucher payable to any public or private elementary and secondary school.

Are you with me?

CLARIFICATION

On Sept. 21, 2006, and Oct. 5, 2006, a column by Jonetta Rose Barras described the District's chief technology officer as "serial District law violator (Sept. 21)" and a "serial law violator (Oct. 5)" In neither column was there any support for this phrase and it should have been removed from the column. The Examiner regrets the failure to do so.

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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