Jonetta Rose Barras, The Examiner
2007-12-20 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

It’s hard to be unmoved by the image of a young child, bundled in winter gear, carrying a sign pleading to save his school. Saying “no” seems heartless. Closing and consolidating schools in the District is anything but that.

An examination of the facts related to each school suggests Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and his public education team have offered hard but good choices.

Consider Stevens Elementary where Bernard Hackett, guiding his son in a lesson in civic activism, helped organize a protest earlier this week against its proposed closing. Only eight of 18 elementary age children living near Stevens actually attend the school. Most of the 236 children enrolled in the school in 2006 were from Wards 7 and 8. Thus, Stevens is not a neighborhood school, according to data collected by the 21st Century Fund, the D.C Public Schools and other groups that collaborated to develop the list of 23 facilities to be closed or consolidated.

Further, Stevens is no paragon of academic achievement. Only 46 percent of the students there scored at the proficient level in reading; 27 percent scored at proficient in math, according to documents provided by DCPS.

The test scores of many other schools on the closings list aren’t much better. At Rudolph Elementary — a Ward 4 school — 29 percent of the students have a demonstrated proficiency in reading, and 27 percent are at that level in math. At Slowe in Ward 5, 36 percent of the students were proficient in reading and 16 percent were proficient in math.

Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso, schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and the mayor believe that closing schools will improve children’s physical learning environments while providing money to fund enhanced academic offerings. These, coupled with a rigorous curriculum, attracting and retaining a high-quality work force and expectations and demands of performance excellence are the fundamentals of any serious education reform.

D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray this week helped the legislature continue its commitment to education reform. Lawmakers approved the mayor’s request for additional funding for this school year. They also approved a bill that allows the chancellor to fire poor performing workers — despite the belief of some that employees are more important than children.

“I want to protect the rights of people in this city. People who are competent have a right to serve until they retire,” Ward 5’s Harry Thomas said.

Quick, someone tell him the days of guaranteed government jobs have long passed.

Besides, what about the rights of children?

Fortunately, Thomas was in the minority. The reform work of the legislative branch is hardly complete, however. If the council wants to ensure its efforts yield positive outcomes for children, it can’t wimp out on school closings — even if its heartstrings are plucked by the sight of 5-year-old, placard-carrying Robert Hackett hoping to save Stevens.