Secret report shows ‘special’ treatment for public officials in D.C. school lottery

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the WP, Bowser did NOT apologize:

"The fallout from findings that a former schools chancellor misused her authority to place children of top city officials in coveted schools seemed clear. From city hall, where council members were inundated with calls last week, to neighborhood email groups, where parents fumed, there was outrage that well-connected people had stepped ahead of everyone else in the city’s notoriously competitive school lottery.

But the mayor doesn’t see it that way."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/after-favoritism-revealed-in-school-lottery-dc-parents-wait-on-apology/2017/05/21/8876c2da-3c25-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.0783d5fe86d5

From the article:

"[Rashad] Young, who had been the city administrator in Alexandria, Va., before Bowser announced his hire in late 2014, had not yet moved into the District when he entered the lottery in spring of 2015.

He won seats for his two sons at Murch Elementary School, a high-performing school in Northwest, but did not enroll by the May 1 deadline. The chancellor arranged for Young to claim the seats months later, after Young and his family moved to a $1.2 million house outside the Murch school zone and east of Rock Creek Park."

1.2M house, $297K annual salary, AND Murch ... hey Kaya, are you SURE that DC government officials are under-compensated???

If this is true this sucks big time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the WP, Bowser did NOT apologize:

"The fallout from findings that a former schools chancellor misused her authority to place children of top city officials in coveted schools seemed clear. From city hall, where council members were inundated with calls last week, to neighborhood email groups, where parents fumed, there was outrage that well-connected people had stepped ahead of everyone else in the city’s notoriously competitive school lottery.

But the mayor doesn’t see it that way."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/after-favoritism-revealed-in-school-lottery-dc-parents-wait-on-apology/2017/05/21/8876c2da-3c25-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.0783d5fe86d5

From the article:

"[Rashad] Young, who had been the city administrator in Alexandria, Va., before Bowser announced his hire in late 2014, had not yet moved into the District when he entered the lottery in spring of 2015.

He won seats for his two sons at Murch Elementary School, a high-performing school in Northwest, but did not enroll by the May 1 deadline. The chancellor arranged for Young to claim the seats months later, after Young and his family moved to a $1.2 million house outside the Murch school zone and east of Rock Creek Park."

1.2M house, $297K annual salary, AND Murch ... hey Kaya, are you SURE that DC government officials are under-compensated???

If this is true this sucks big time

What don't you think is true? Rashad Young's salary and home price are public record. The independent IG indicated Young received special treatment in the lottery. The Mayor effectively confirmed it. What's left to doubt?

[Anonymous]

Keep voting for Democrats!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the WP, Bowser did NOT apologize:

"The fallout from findings that a former schools chancellor misused her authority to place children of top city officials in coveted schools seemed clear. From city hall, where council members were inundated with calls last week, to neighborhood email groups, where parents fumed, there was outrage that well-connected people had stepped ahead of everyone else in the city’s notoriously competitive school lottery.

But the mayor doesn’t see it that way."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/after-favoritism-revealed-in-school-lottery-dc-parents-wait-on-apology/2017/05/21/8876c2da-3c25-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.0783d5fe86d5

From the article:

"[Rashad] Young, who had been the city administrator in Alexandria, Va., before Bowser announced his hire in late 2014, had not yet moved into the District when he entered the lottery in spring of 2015.

He won seats for his two sons at Murch Elementary School, a high-performing school in Northwest, but did not enroll by the May 1 deadline. The chancellor arranged for Young to claim the seats months later, after Young and his family moved to a $1.2 million house outside the Murch school zone and east of Rock Creek Park."

1.2M house, $297K annual salary, AND Murch ... hey Kaya, are you SURE that DC government officials are under-compensated???

If this is true this sucks big time

What don't you think is true? Rashad Young's salary and home price are public record. The independent IG indicated Young received special treatment in the lottery. The Mayor effectively confirmed it. What's left to doubt?

Send her a bill!!!

[Anonymous]

Folks need to get over this. Kaya had the legal authority to give special treatment to some of her friends or associates for school placement. Don't like it? 1 become superintendent or 2) Push for Bowser and city counsil to change the law. Otherwise, deal with it. You would have done the same thing. Maybe worse.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks need to get over this. Kaya had the legal authority to give special treatment to some of her friends or associates for school placement. Don't like it? 1 become superintendent or 2) Push for Bowser and city counsil to change the law. Otherwise, deal with it. You would have done the same thing. Maybe worse.

It's not wrong for us to expect our government officials to act ethically. Even if she had the power, Kaya should not have used it disproportionately to help other mayoral appointees

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Folks need to get over this. Kaya had the legal authority to give special treatment to some of her friends or associates for school placement. Don't like it? 1 become superintendent or 2) Push for Bowser and city counsil to change the law. Otherwise, deal with it. You would have done the same thing. Maybe worse.

Guess what—you can believe that the Chancellor should have the power to make discretionary placements in rare instances AND simultaneously believe that he/she shouldn't use them to reward their friends. It's almost like the average resident expects the schools chancellor to make ethical decisions in order to wisely use the authority given to her!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:David Grosso calls for a review of all 4 years of lottery data

Link: http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/first-read-dmv/Review-All-Four-Years-of-DC-School-Lottery-Councilmember-Says-423045494.html

Well, assuming all of the data and relevant emails will be made available, the next step would be to subpoena Kaya Henderson about what she did. As long as she doesn't lie, she's not going to be in any legal jeopardy. As for her future employment prospects, probably not so great.

Grosso loves Kaya and would never do anything that would put her in bad spot. Plus he was in charge of oversight during these years so could potentially reflect badly on him. This is just window dressing for us dumb voters

+1 Yup. Lottery data will not show anything as these are discretionary spots. Grosso will say x thousand kids were fairly matched in the lottery process, and these 7 cases were aberrations.

7X4=almost 30. and that is if 7 is representative and not a low outlier. All those kids need to be out at the end of the year. Their parents can afford to move IB. It might be they can only apply this to government officials (so kaya's friend and Fenty is off the hook). But at least we can eliminate this as a perk of office! Maybe this will be the beginning of the end of cronyism in DC - but only if there are immediate consequences. I feel much more strongly about this than about residency cheaters, which happens by those who make less than 100,000 a year and don't have the same economic (though inconvenient) options these people have.

That makes zero sense. The children were placed in those schools within the approved process; Kaya had discretion and she used it. There is no reason or justification to remove kids at those schools who now have a right to their feeder pattern.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:David Grosso calls for a review of all 4 years of lottery data

Link: http://www.nbcwashington.com/blogs/first-read-dmv/Review-All-Four-Years-of-DC-School-Lottery-Councilmember-Says-423045494.html

Well, assuming all of the data and relevant emails will be made available, the next step would be to subpoena Kaya Henderson about what she did. As long as she doesn't lie, she's not going to be in any legal jeopardy. As for her future employment prospects, probably not so great.

Grosso loves Kaya and would never do anything that would put her in bad spot. Plus he was in charge of oversight during these years so could potentially reflect badly on him. This is just window dressing for us dumb voters

+1 Yup. Lottery data will not show anything as these are discretionary spots. Grosso will say x thousand kids were fairly matched in the lottery process, and these 7 cases were aberrations.

7X4=almost 30. and that is if 7 is representative and not a low outlier. All those kids need to be out at the end of the year. Their parents can afford to move IB. It might be they can only apply this to government officials (so kaya's friend and Fenty is off the hook). But at least we can eliminate this as a perk of office! Maybe this will be the beginning of the end of cronyism in DC - but only if there are immediate consequences. I feel much more strongly about this than about residency cheaters, which happens by those who make less than 100,000 a year and don't have the same economic (though inconvenient) options these people have.

That makes zero sense. The children were placed in those schools within the approved process; Kaya had discretion and she used it. There is no reason or justification to remove kids at those schools who now have a right to their feeder pattern.

These public officials acted unethically and knowingly accepted a public benefit, at the expense of residents. They should either give back the seats or resign.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the WP, Bowser did NOT apologize:

"The fallout from findings that a former schools chancellor misused her authority to place children of top city officials in coveted schools seemed clear. From city hall, where council members were inundated with calls last week, to neighborhood email groups, where parents fumed, there was outrage that well-connected people had stepped ahead of everyone else in the city’s notoriously competitive school lottery.

But the mayor doesn’t see it that way."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/after-favoritism-revealed-in-school-lottery-dc-parents-wait-on-apology/2017/05/21/8876c2da-3c25-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.0783d5fe86d5

From the article:

"[Rashad] Young, who had been the city administrator in Alexandria, Va., before Bowser announced his hire in late 2014, had not yet moved into the District when he entered the lottery in spring of 2015.

He won seats for his two sons at Murch Elementary School, a high-performing school in Northwest, but did not enroll by the May 1 deadline. The chancellor arranged for Young to claim the seats months later, after Young and his family moved to a $1.2 million house outside the Murch school zone and east of Rock Creek Park."

1.2M house, $297K annual salary, AND Murch ... hey Kaya, are you SURE that DC government officials are under-compensated???

Can anyone explain how he supposedly won these seats in the first place with no DC address to put on his form? His application should have been last behind every single DC OOB resident with a valid address applying. The explanation that he won the seats at first in the lottery at all seems extremely fishy to me.

[Anonymous]

This is what happens when you support the Democrat political machine. Should have voted for Catania.

I'm not sorry for any of you: you fully deserve to be screwed over.

[Anonymous]

Again- this process is screwed up. Why is Murch (overcrowded with long wait lists) accepting someone who isn't even a DC resident? (Re claim that he got in but missed the enrollment deadline). This doesn't seem right to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the WP, Bowser did NOT apologize:

"The fallout from findings that a former schools chancellor misused her authority to place children of top city officials in coveted schools seemed clear. From city hall, where council members were inundated with calls last week, to neighborhood email groups, where parents fumed, there was outrage that well-connected people had stepped ahead of everyone else in the city’s notoriously competitive school lottery.

But the mayor doesn’t see it that way."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/after-favoritism-revealed-in-school-lottery-dc-parents-wait-on-apology/2017/05/21/8876c2da-3c25-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.0783d5fe86d5

From the article:

"[Rashad] Young, who had been the city administrator in Alexandria, Va., before Bowser announced his hire in late 2014, had not yet moved into the District when he entered the lottery in spring of 2015.

He won seats for his two sons at Murch Elementary School, a high-performing school in Northwest, but did not enroll by the May 1 deadline. The chancellor arranged for Young to claim the seats months later, after Young and his family moved to a $1.2 million house outside the Murch school zone and east of Rock Creek Park."

1.2M house, $297K annual salary, AND Murch ... hey Kaya, are you SURE that DC government officials are under-compensated???

Can anyone explain how he supposedly won these seats in the first place with no DC address to put on his form? His application should have been last behind every single DC OOB resident with a valid address applying. The explanation that he won the seats at first in the lottery at all seems extremely fishy to me.

+100. Which makes this situation even worse, because now they are lying about the lie. We need an audit of that whole process, because he should have been behind all the siblings, all the DC residents applying OOB, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is what happens when you support the Democrat political machine. Should have voted for Catania.

I'm not sorry for any of you: you fully deserve to be screwed over.

I did and I blame every damn old person in my neighborhood whose kids are already long gone for Bowser. And Cheh. They all had signs for both of them on their lawns. I had my Catania sign and the neighbor across the street no longer speaks to us. He had 3 Bowser signs in his yard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the WP, Bowser did NOT apologize:

"The fallout from findings that a former schools chancellor misused her authority to place children of top city officials in coveted schools seemed clear. From city hall, where council members were inundated with calls last week, to neighborhood email groups, where parents fumed, there was outrage that well-connected people had stepped ahead of everyone else in the city’s notoriously competitive school lottery.

But the mayor doesn’t see it that way."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/after-favoritism-revealed-in-school-lottery-dc-parents-wait-on-apology/2017/05/21/8876c2da-3c25-11e7-9e48-c4f199710b69_story.html?utm_term=.0783d5fe86d5

From the article:

"[Rashad] Young, who had been the city administrator in Alexandria, Va., before Bowser announced his hire in late 2014, had not yet moved into the District when he entered the lottery in spring of 2015.

He won seats for his two sons at Murch Elementary School, a high-performing school in Northwest, but did not enroll by the May 1 deadline. The chancellor arranged for Young to claim the seats months later, after Young and his family moved to a $1.2 million house outside the Murch school zone and east of Rock Creek Park."

1.2M house, $297K annual salary, AND Murch ... hey Kaya, are you SURE that DC government officials are under-compensated???

Can anyone explain how he supposedly won these seats in the first place with no DC address to put on his form? His application should have been last behind every single DC OOB resident with a valid address applying. The explanation that he won the seats at first in the lottery at all seems extremely fishy to me.

Non-resident applications and resident applications are weighted the same. Only applications with a preference are ranked ABOVE those. The control is that if a non-resident is matched, they must verify DC residency by May 1, to avoid giving an advantage to non-residents over residents. That's why it's such bullshit that Young was given an extension by Kaya.

Also I believe Young's kids are in upper elementary which is much less competitive than PK, so not inconceivable that he would receive a match for 1 (just lucky). Once 1 is matched, the other kid gets moved to the top of the wait list. I'm sure Kaya told the school to let that kid in too