Mary Cheh's Terrible Idea

As reported by Lisa Gartner in the Washington Examiner, Ward 3 Council Member Mary Cheh is drafting a proposal to open a new middle school in her ward. This is a terrible idea that would only exacerbate inequities within DCPS and provoke further division within the City. It would politicize the building of schools, turning institutions of learning into political spoils.

The article states that the school would relieve overcrowding at Alice Deal Middle School -- the Ward 3 middle school that is generally considered to be the best public middle school in the city. However, a closer reading reveals that the school is actually aimed at replacing Hardy Middle School. Hardy has been a source of controversy that may well have contributed to the defeat of former Mayor Adrian Fenty. After former DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee held private meetings with Key Elementary School parents (Key feeds into Hardy), Rhee removed Hardy's long-serving principal Patrick Pope. Pope was very popular with current Hardy families -- many of whom were out-of-bounds -- but disliked by many inbounds families. This fueled allegations that Rhee was attempting to rid the school of out-of-bounds, mostly black, students in favor of inbounds, mostly white, students. The resulting controversy has plagued Hardy ever since and the school has failed to develop to a level acceptable to most inbounds families. Indeed, many current families say the school has gotten worse.

The relationship of the newly-proposed school to Hardy is more openly addressed by the Washington Post's Mike DeBonis. He quotes Geoff Kuck, "a Key parent who is leading the push for a new Ward 3 middle school" as saying, "The challenge we have as a community is there’s not a lot of buy-in at Hardy." DeBonis further writes, "But they also don’t want to be left to the whims of DCPS or charter lotteries or the costs of private education or moving vans." The irony of this is that Mr. Kuck and his group are in the exact same position as every other DCPS middle school parent outside the Deal boundaries. It is the same position of the vast majority of families at the elementary school level as well.

Apparently, having seen their successful effort to oust Pope fail to yield the hoped for results, Key parents have moved to "Plan B". A brand new school. And, just to ensure there is no misunderstanding as to for whom this school is intended, its proposed location is on the far western edge of Ward 3, West of MacArthur Blvd and a stone's throw from the Potomac River. There is not much chance of out-of-bounds students (other than the stray Ward 2 resident) making that commute.

The audacity of this proposal is shocking. Currently, Ward 5 does not have a single DCPS middle school. Ward 4 has only MacFarland Middle School, built in 1923 and desperately in need of renovation (parts of Ward 4 are inbounds for Deal). Ward 3 already has the newly-renovated and very popular Deal. The also recently-renovated Hardy -- located in Ward 2 but serving Ward 3 families -- may not meet Key Parents' standards, but still ranks near the top of DCPS middle schools. In terms of simple need, almost every ward is far ahead of Ward 3. Cheh's proposal will surely anger parents outside Ward 3 and further the belief that the city's wealthier -- and whiter -- residents get preferential treatment.

During the Democratic mayoral primary race, there was much concern expressed that if then Council Chair Vincent Gray were victorious, he would intervene in the Hardy situation and re-hire Pope as principal. Gray was forced to go to great lengths to say that he would not micro-manage the school system. That was the Chancellor's job. Now, a single Council Member wants to do the micro-managing. This will encourage other Council Members to engage in similar endeavors. Recently we witnessed how one Council Member exchanged his vote regarding taxes for a promise of a grant to a foundation on whose board he sits. This exchange was conducted during a public Council session in full view of the Press and was broadcast on TV. What kind of similar -- though perhaps less public -- deals might be made to obtain new schools in a specific Ward? Schools are too important, too essential to the City's future, too fundamental to increasing equality to become political footballs.

Mr. Kuck expresses concern for out-of-bounds students that attend West of the Park schools. He is now prepared to leave Hardy to them. A better course of action is to work to improve schools in other wards. The parents of Palisades want to have a good neighborhood school. In that regard, they are no different from most of the District's parents.