Dena Levitz, The Examiner
2008-05-17 07:00:00.0
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Washington, D.C. -

D.C. Council Members sparred with top aides of the mayor during a Friday hearing that illustrated the struggle between competing interests over control of the District’s troubled school system.

The hearing was called to consider legislation from council members Harry Thomas and Marion Barry that would give the council final say over proposed school closings.

Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee infuriated the council and community in February by issuing a list of school closures without seeking any public input.

Council Chairman Vincent Gray slammed the lack of transparency that pervaded that process and that has also kept the lawmakers -- who approved the mayoral schools takeover -- out of major decisions like the firing of 98 central office workers.

“The council was forced to the perimeter,” Gray said. “I don’t think any council member wants to run the school system..but we did expect to be involved in meaningful decision making.”

City Administrator Dan Tangherlini countered that the legislation was a knee-jerk reaction to a one-time school closure that no one hopes to see again.

“It’s time we stop fighting the last war,” Tangherlini said during the two-hour exchange.

What Thomas and Barry proposed was a highly specific protocol for getting rid of campuses that spells out specific community meeting standards and requires annual listings of school building conditions.

The biggest point of contention between the two branches of government was over control.

Tangherlini argued that heavy council involvement in school closings would divert the attention away from what is best for the city and would pit wards against each other in defense of local schools.

He also likened the dynamic between the council and mayor’s office to the relationship between two partner paramedics.

“One drives, one works on the patient. They’re very much a team yet they have very specific roles...like with a budget where the mayor proposes and council disposes,” Tangherlini said.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com