NBC Washington: What's Ahead for D.C. Schools?

Reform will continue, but what will it look like?

By P.J. ORVETTI

Updated 2:16 PM EDT, Fri, Oct 1, 2010

“It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous state may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments without risk to the rest of the country.”

That’s what Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote in a 1932 dissent. The District of Columbia is not a state, but it has been a laboratory for experiments in governance and policy, even if its residents don’t always like it.

D.C. has a greater level of autonomy now than it has had at any point in its history, but only at the pleasure of Congress. It was less than a decade ago that the federal Financial Control Board suspended its oversight, and Congress can curtail D.C.’s self-governance at any time.

It is hard to predict the future of education anywhere in the United States, but it is even harder to guess what will happen here. When Republicans are in power, D.C. is a laboratory for taxpayer-funded vouchers. When Democrats are in charge, teacher pay and funding issues are at the forefront.

In as much as D.C. can control its own fate, however, positive change is on the horizon for the public schools, without or without Michelle Rhee.

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A Report Card for Rhee

She's almost certainly leaving. So how did she do?

By P.J. ORVETTI

Robyn Twomey

Michelle Rhee is not going to stay on as D.C. Schools Chancellor. Thinking otherwise is to follow in the steps of those still pushing anAdrian Fenty write-in campaign -- a willful denial of the results of the Sept. 14 Democratic primary.

The absolute best case for Rhee under Mayor Vincent Gray would be a continuation of things as they are -- near-total authority with the full support of the mayor. And there’s no way Gray would give her that. More realistically, Rhee would see her autonomy curtailed greatly, and major decisions made subject to mayoral veto.

So why, when Rhee is basking in the national glory attached to the film “Waiting for ‘Superman,’” would she want to stay? She can have her pick of urban school systems to lead -- or may go even higher.

Though I seem to be alone in this prediction for now, I think Rhee could end up as the U.S. secretary of education in the near future. Republicans are expected to make big gains in November, and replacing Arne Duncan with Rhee -- a high-profile Asian-American woman who appeals to conservatives -- would be a logical political move for President Obama.

Rhee will be on the scene for a long time, even if it’s not in District governance. But just who is she, anyway?

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Could Gray Vouch for Vouchers?

Chavous hints at "true revolution" in education

By P.J. ORVETTI

Getty Images

If Vincent Gray really wants to continue reforming D.C.’s public schools, but in a more conciliatory way than that taken by Adrian Fenty and Michelle Rhee, a good start would be to push for a revival of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program.

The experimental federal program, which provided vouchers of up to $7,500 to low-income children to attend private schools, was cut off by President Obama early in his term. While the Obama Administration agreed to let students who were already taking advantage of the program continue getting the aid until they finished high school, scholarships that had already been promised to 216 students were rescinded.

A federally mandated evaluation indicated that the use of an Opportunity Scholarship resulted in the equivalent of more than three and a half extra months of learning in terms of measurable progress. Surveys showed that a clear majority of D.C. residents supported the continuation of the program. But because of Obama’s decision, those 216 students, and those who might have followed them into future Opportunity Scholarships, will have to stay in a school system where nearly two-thirds of fourth graders cannot read at a basic level.

Perhaps alluding to the startling fact that nearly a thousand incidents of violent crime were reported in D.C. public schools during one recent school year, federal Education Secretary Arne Duncan said late last year that Opportunity Scholarship students “were safe, and learning and doing well.” An endorsement of the program? Well, no. “We can’t be satisfied with saving 1 or 2 percent of children and letting 98 or 99 percent down.”

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