Harry Jaffe, The Examiner
2007-01-22 08:00:00.0
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WASHINGTON -

The Wilson Senior High PTA gathered Wednesday to discuss Mayor Fenty’s plan to commandeer the public schools — but first, a few scenes from “Bat Boy.”

Five students, who had performed in the play’s short run at the school in December, sang and delivered their lines. Sarah Giffin played the sheriff; Katie Cox was Meredith, the mom; Rosa Kelly was the daughter, Shelly; Andy Ferlo played Dr. Parker, the dad; and Byron Grant was Bat Boy.

When it ran last year, we watched from bleachers arranged on the stage. In last week’s impromptu performance, minus costumes, lighting and a full cast, we watched from chairs arranged in Wilson’s library.

Even in that sterile space lit by fluorescent tubes, the players mesmerized us. Wilson’s players did “Bat Boy” as a quirky and provocative tragedy. They made the audience laugh and squirm and ultimately stunned them into silence at the play’s sad and bloody conclusion.

What has “Bat Boy” to do with Fenty’s school takeover plan? Plenty.

I would match Wilson High’s version of “Bat Boy” against any school or professional performance. Given the opportunity, students in D.C. schools can soar as high as any in the land.

Listen to the adjectives we apply to D.C.’s public schools: “failing,” “crumbling,” “wasteful,” “unsafe.” Members of the business elite like to say the only way to save the schools is to “blow up” the system.

I would like the critics to listen to the Wilson kids perform “Bat Boy.” The adjective they would use is “excellent.”

The message for Fenty and the City Council and the well-meaning reformers is this: Don’t overlook the things that work in our schools. Keep in mind that many students and many programs excel. As you change the management system, preserve and enhance the schools and teachers and students that make us proud, already.

Take the jazz program at Duke Ellington School for the Arts. Davey Yarborough, a native Washingtonian and one of the top saxophonists and composers around, has built Ellington’s program into one of the best in the nation.

Take the nationally recognized auto mechanics program at Ballou Senior High. The new facility is certified by the National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation and was chosen as the setting for a TV show.

Take the band at Anacostia High. Against a backdrop of chaos and violence, the musicians and marchers still gather and practice and perform.

Harriet Bronstein, the director who started producing plays at Lafayette Elementary years ago and moved on to mold students into actors at Alice Deal Junior High and Wilson, laments the loss of drama programs in other city schools. Her “Oliver!” production at Wilson last year was another masterpiece.

“Bat Boy” dies at the end of Wilson’s play; any school takeover plan should let existing programs like Wilson’s live forever.

Harry Jaffe has been covering the Washington area since 1985. E-mail him at hjaffe@washingtonian.com.