Have you ever felt cheated? Did you ever wait in a long line, hungry and thirsty, only to be told when you got to the head of the line that there was no more food or drink? Well, you might know how the D.C. charter schools feel.
Have you ever felt cheated? Did you ever wait in a long line, hungry and thirsty, only to be told when you got to the head of the line that there was no more food or drink? Well, you might know how the D.C. charter schools feel.
Is this a Redskins town or what? The ‘Skins still own the news cycle days after their devastating defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks.
Is this a Redskins town or what? The ‘Skins still own the news cycle days after their devastating defeat at the hands of the Seattle Seahawks. Front page articles, stories that lead newscasts, an explosion of comments on Twitter. The inauguration? What inauguration? I exaggerate, but not that much.
It's been one crazy political season. We have, up to now, endured an onslaught of ads from political parties, candidates, PACs and other "for and against" groups.
It's been one crazy political season. We have, up to now, endured an onslaught of ads from political parties, candidates, PACs and other "for and against" groups; we have watched as the candidates have risen or fallen in the polls as the result of debate performances. But then along came Gallaudet University.
What would you do if you had $1 billion? Start your own cable network? Buy a Hawaiian island? Or maybe buy yourself an NFL franchise?
What would you do if you had $1 billion? Start your own cable network? Buy a Hawaiian island? Or maybe buy yourself an NFL franchise? What if you decided to give back to your community, to have a decade's long impact on the quality of life.
If you are truly objective, it would be hard to argue that charter schools haven't been one of the most effective ways to elevate academic achievement.
If you are truly objective and you place the interests of the students of the District above all the politics surrounding public education, it would be hard to argue that charter schools haven't been one of the most effective ways to elevate academic achievement.
The 2012-2013 school year in the District will feature 58 schools, all with populations under 300 students, opening their doors without the compliment of a school library and librarian.
The 2012-2013 school year in the District will feature 58 schools, all with populations under 300 students, opening their doors without the compliment of a school library and librarian. We are talking about schools that serve around 17,000 students.
When reporters sought comment from D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray about the illegal shadow campaign that helped him win the election, here's what he said: "This is not the campaign that we intended to run."
When reporters sought comment from D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray about the illegal shadow campaign that helped him win the election, here's what he said: "This is not the campaign that we intended to run." I'd say that is a gross understatement.
WASHINGTON -
When reporters sought comment from D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray about the illegal shadow campaign that helped him win the election, here's what he said: "This is not the campaign that we intended to run."
I'd say that is a gross understatement.
The Mayor urged District voters to focus not on the campaign that U.S. Attorney General Ron Machen called, "Compromised by backroom deals, secret payments and a flood of unreported cash." But to instead focus on what his administration has accomplished.
I'm sorry Mr. Mayor. That's just too hard to do, especially when we are talking about $650,000 of illegal campaign contributions.
Most of that money was spent during a critical point in the campaign - the week of the Democratic Primary. That amount of money is too large to ignore.
So what does the Gray scorecard look like?
Well, you have the nefarious Sulaimon Brown debacle, the shadow campaign, and now the latest revelation: the Gray campaign's illegal access to a city public housing database. 6,000 public housing resident's private information that the campaign reportedly used to get out the vote in an election that allowed for same-day voter registrations.
I realize that there are some residents and business leaders of the city that feel the District is making strides in improving the overall quality of life. But do the strides that the city has made offset the rapidly growing sense that the results of the election are tainted? It doesn't appear so.
In a recent poll conducted by The Washington Post, 61 percent felt Mayor Gray was not trustworthy or honest; 63 percent felt that he is running an unethical administration and 54 percent felt he should step down.
The drumbeat of discontent is getting louder. The time has come for the Mayor to address this growing controversy head on. The time has come for an explanation for what went wrong with his campaign and the time has come to hold himself accountable for the illegal conduct of his campaign.
