Washington, D.C.

Who ever thought to read a teachers union official admit that No Child Left Behind serves to document failures? And, " As a union, we must ensure that we are part of the solution and not an embedded part of the problem."

April 20, 2008 - George Parker, president of the Washington Teachers' Union, writing in the Washington Post,

For too long, the D.C. public schools have languished at the bottom of the academic barrel and suffered from a systemic failure of consensual neglect. The mandates of the No Child Left Behind law highlight our failures and serve as an annual reminder of what we, as a city, have created for our students: a school system that has cut dreams short.

Until recently, promises of student achievement, accountability, teacher support, academic standards, student assessments and adequate funding were merely lip service and were rarely acted on. The school system didn't change; it simply evolved in a state of arrested development. Superintendents came and went with little to show for their efforts, except for the remnants of scattered reform models that were never effectively implemented.

He concludes:

The old-school paradigm of union rigidity must give way to a new-school approach of working productively with school leaders to improve student achievement.

Read the whole thing.

Washington, D.C.

June 11, 2007 - David Frum comments on the Washington Post's examination of Washington, D.C. schools.

That last point makes you wonder: Is it quite accurate to describe the DC schools as "dysfunctional"? Doesn't that depend on what you take their true "function" actually to be? If you imagine that function to be educating the young, well yes obviously they are not very successful at that. But what if they have a very different function? What if their real function were to create employment and transfer wealth? At that, after all, they are extremely successful.

And this may explain why "reform" attempts so often fail. Reforms intended to improve the quality of education threaten to damage the schools' ability to carry out their most fundamental mission: employment and enrichment.

Washington Post articles.

Part 1 - Can D.C. Schools Be Fixed?
Part 2 - Reforms Checkered History

Interactive Graphic, contains scorecard information about school performance, teacher qualifications, crime, repairs and health and safety reports. (Links to schools on the map allow you to read the latest health and safety inspection reports.)
Note the "Your eyes: Do you see something in your school's data that we should know more about?" with contact information

TT - From the failed War on Poverty that became a war on families to the bogus educational reforms that became a war on children, Washington, D.C. epitomizes failed government schools.

The Washington Post refuses to say so, but the reason is obvious. It's spelled C-O-R-R-U-P-T-I-O-N. If they can't acknowledge that basic fact, then, yes, reforms are doomed.

When the media and educrats complain that charter schools rob the schools of money and the best students, it's money the education system would blow anyway. The students who escaped are the ones they would have neglected, sentenced to crime-ridden schools, teachers who are unqualified, filthy environments and failure.

We talk about liberating those in Darfur. How about inner city children who are captives of cronyism, political patronage, corruption, and media campaigns to derail reforms that can force change? The failure of Washington, D.C. schools isn't a civil rights story. It's a sewer.

Washington, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

How is someone with his background allowed to be in a classroom?

June 6, 2007 - Joshua J. Clarke, 26, a teacher's aide at Community Academy, was arrested for cocaine possession with intent to sell. He had a dozen plastic bags containing crack cocaine.

The Washington Post also reports that Clarke was fined last year in connection with a 2004 drug charge, and in 2003, in Montgomery Country, he was given a suspended sentence and a term of probation in connection with assault and firearm charges.

A hearing is scheduled for June 25.

ABC 7 coverage.

Washington, D.C.

May 25, 2007 - According to the Washington Post, 300 Washington, DC teachers have been notified that they will be fired next month. The reason? They aren't certified.

Last year, the school superintendent reported that about one-fourth of the teachers in the school system -- or about 1,100 -- were not certified. The reasons varied:

They lacked a valid D.C. teaching license
They had a provisional license that had expired.
They failed to pass the licensing exam.
They needed more college credit hours in the subject they were teaching.

In August, they reported that they filled more than half of the teacher vacancies by rehiring 470 uncertified teachers who needed a year to complete their requirements.

"If you're not certified in five years, under the No Child Left Behind law, we have no choice," White said. "If you don't have it by June 30, you will be terminated."
--------------------------------------------------------
TT - In other words, the teachers couldn't pass the district credentialing requirements. Their students had similar difficulties.

In 8th grade reading, 55% of Washington, DC students score below Basic.
For blacks, it's 58% who score below basic.
Only 11% are considered proficient - reading at grade level.
For blacks, it's 8% reading at grade level.

District of Columbia Average Spending Per Pupil = $12,801
(National avg = $8,287)
National rank in spending - 3rd

Teacher Pay: District of Columbia ranks 1st in the nation.
District of Columbia National Beginning Teacher Salary DC $38,566
National Avg. $31,704

District of Columbia Average Teacher Salary $62,909
National Avg. $46,597

Source: Alliance for Excellence in Education, Feb 2007 LINK
Find your state statistical information here.

Washington, DC

Acquitted of all charges.

Jan 4, 2007 - Ricardo Roberts, 41, social studies teacher and basketball coach at J.H. Johnson Junior High School, was arrested and charged with first-degree child sex abuse. The charges are in connection with having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

The alleged relationship came to light last month after a witness working in the school after hours Dec. 4 reported seeing the girl emerge from a room where Roberts had been seen changing his clothes a short time earlier, according to the charging papers.

He has been suspended. He is being held without bond. His pregnant wife was in the courtroom when he was charged.

Washington Post calls him an "educator."

Update Apr 13 : A poster says that he was found NOT GUILTY. Looking for a link to confirm.

Update Apr 13 - Roberts was acquitted of having sex with a 13-year-old student. He was held without bail since January. Since that time, his wife gave birth to a son - now 2 months old.

Washington, D.C.

Dec 20, 2006 - LaNora Ali, age 53, a public D.C. school teacher at the time of the drug activities, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on on charges of cocaine, crack and heroin distribution. Ali was arrested as part of a 6 person drug trafficking operation. They were all convicted in August.

Dobie, Bynum, and Ali, a D.C. public school teacher since 1977, working at Shadd Elementary School as a computer lab teacher at the time of her arrest, purchased cocaine and cocaine base from Martin [another defendent] and sold the drugs to others.

At Martin's request, Ali stored about $130,000 in cash at her residence, police said. After Martin's neighbors complained to the Takoma Park Police about the volume of traffic at Martin's house, Ali helped Martin move her drug business to Paula's School of Performing Arts located at 5559 South Dakota Avenue in Washington, D. C.

Marion Barry's town.