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Mayor says school board 'has been doing a good job'
(Published March 22, 2004)

By KATHRYN SINZINGER
Staff Writer

Muting his long-critical evaluation of the D.C. Board of Education, Mayor Anthony A. Williams told a group of residents and educators March 18 that he believes the school board "has been doing a good job."

The mayor, speaking before the Ward 7 Education Council at Sousa Middle School, also pledged to "work with whatever [school governance] process we have to ensure the superintendent has the autonomy to do his job."

While noting that he continues to advocate for a change in the District’s home rule charter that would convert the independent D.C. Public Schools into a subordinate agency in the mayor’s cabinet, Williams conceded that his plan has so far failed to generate widespread community support.

"Yes, I have my governance proposal...but when are we going to focus on the larger issue?" the mayor said, presenting his vision as "a comprehensive plan for the nourishment of children" that turns schools into "neighborhood centers" for providing community services.

The mayor acknowledged that recent events, including school violence and the resignation of two superintendents within four months, have forced government officials to re-examine their efforts and evaluate their mistakes.

"All of us have received a wake-up call," Williams said. "The school board has stepped up ... and particularly over the past four, five months has been doing a good job. ...I’m willing to do my part."

The mayor said he is "trying to defer to the [school] board and their judgment" in the selection of an interim superintendent of schools to replace Elfreda W. Massie, who announced last month that she will leave for a job at a private educational firm in mid-April. Massie was appointed to the interim superintendent’s job to replace Paul L. Vance, who resigned in mid-November. Both criticized political interference as a driving force behind their decisions to leave.

But the mayor said he also is "committed to interviewing" candidates to become the D.C. Public Schools’ next permanent superintendent as part of a joint effort by the school board, the D.C. City Council and himself to find "the best superintendent."

In other remarks before the group, some in response to questions, the mayor:

• said he would consider holding an "education summit" to solicit citizen input on the direction of the District’s schools "once we get a new superintendent."
• answered "yes" when asked if he would consider supporting a return to an all-elected school board and putting forth his own slate of candidates as a way of promoting his agenda for the District’s schools.
• blamed the current court-supervised system of providing special education services to D.C. students for draining the schools’ budget of funds that are needed for other educational programs. "I do not believe the reason you’re not seeing [the millions spent on special education] is thousands of bureaucrats are not doing their job," he said. Michelle Walker, the mayor’s chief aide on education issues, told the group that "$20,000 to $70,000 per child" is being spent to send D.C. children to special education programs "as far away as Utah."
• said public charter schools "ought to be held to the same standard" as public schools under the federal government’s "No Child Left Behind" program mandates.