Effect of the mayoral race on DCPS

[Anonymous]

Ugh. If Rheeform is such a good thing, how come the charters continue to outperform DCPS?

[Anonymous]

A couple of weeks ago I, as a completely undecided voter, attended a question and answer session with Gray in Ward 4 and left with a very bad impression of the man and his movement.

I asked a direct question about school reform and what he planed to do to if he were elected mayor. The entire exchange was too long to recount here but he never answered my question, told me to read his website and got testy with me when I pushed him on K-12 when he was talking about pre-k. Several of his supporters JEERED at me when voiced support for Michelle Ree.

(Before anyone jumps in (1) Universal Pre-K is a fantastic goal. (2) I support Ree but DO NOT think she is irreplaceable and I understand why some people are so pissed off at her.)

Afterword TWO different campaign workers came up and apologized for the jeering. I asked several people there, including the host of the event, if I misread Gray's answers or reaction to me. They all agreed with me.

I have since read his website.

My impression of Gray is that his allegiance is to the sort of people who make decisions based on the needs of adults not children. These people will slow school reform.

[Anonymous]

Don't you have a wedding to plan?

[Anonymous]

12:41, I find that seriously hard to believe. I have seen the Chairman during Council hearings on education and have been AMAZED at his knowledge base. Unfortunately, I think that in order to get elected, he must ride this very fine line with his comments regarding education. I think that is unfortunate because the man really is brilliant. I did not have an opinion of him until I saw him in action. At one point, the Superintendent of Education actually told him that he apparently knew more than she did. That speaks volumes - for him and her.

[Anonymous]

12:43 - Your attitude is the vibe I got from his supporters at the meeting and is pathetic. Are you secretly campaigning for Fenty by trying to alienate possible Gray voters who may also, possibly, support Ree?

13:30 - You boiled it down for me, the "fine line" he has to walk is the problem. Many, many people in the city see it this way: on one side of the line are children that have been stuck in terrible schools for decades, on the other is grown-ups who are getting their feathers ruffled. I don't want someone is office who is going to spend a lot of time placating adults at the expense of children. The schools need to be fixed now.

Also, at the Council meeting he was prepared to talk about education. He studied up and arrived with that on his agenda. The event I attended was sponsored by a business association, I don't think he was expecting school-talk. Off the cuff he made a terrible impression on all levels.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:12:43 - Your attitude is the vibe I got from his supporters at the meeting and is pathetic. Are you secretly campaigning for Fenty by trying to alienate possible Gray voters who may also, possibly, support Ree?

13:30 - You boiled it down for me, the "fine line" he has to walk is the problem. Many, many people in the city see it this way: on one side of the line are children that have been stuck in terrible schools for decades, on the other is grown-ups who are getting their feathers ruffled. I don't want someone is office who is going to spend a lot of time placating adults at the expense of children. The schools need to be fixed now.

Also, at the Council meeting he was prepared to talk about education. He studied up and arrived with that on his agenda. The event I attended was sponsored by a business association, I don't think he was expecting school-talk. Off the cuff he made a terrible impression on all levels.

Yep. Also one of the many reasons why schools have sucked for so long. Gotta walk that "fine line" if you want to hold onto political power in this town. In any case, if Fenty does lose, he'll have sacrificed his second term in part for the greater goal of knocking out the "log jam".

And we'll get to hear all the posters who've attributed every single positive thing under Fenty/Rhee go forward and attribute every positive development under Gray to whomever Gray appoints. Whatever, someone had to come in and clean house. Now it's done, and hopefully we can move forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:. Many, many people in the city see it this way: on one side of the line are children that have been stuck in terrible schools for decades, on the other is grown-ups who are getting their feathers ruffled. I don't want someone is office who is going to spend a lot of time placating adults at the expense of children. The schools need to be fixed now.

This sounds like you've bought a line right out of Rhee's playbook - pitting the kids against the adults

What about an adult who threatens to leave the kids if she can't get exactly her own way?

[Anonymous]

I can't get past the fact that Fenty wants to continue to flout the law and give public schools to his developer friends, contributors, and former fraternity brothers. School buildings are a PUBLIC asset, not his personal property to dispose of as just so many spoils of war. I want him to follow the law and give school buildings to schools. Gray doesn't see himself as above the law or entitled to use city property to enrich himself and his supporters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:. Many, many people in the city see it this way: on one side of the line are children that have been stuck in terrible schools for decades, on the other is grown-ups who are getting their feathers ruffled. I don't want someone is office who is going to spend a lot of time placating adults at the expense of children. The schools need to be fixed now.

This sounds like you've bought a line right out of Rhee's playbook - pitting the kids against the adults

What about an adult who threatens to leave the kids if she can't get exactly her own way?

This is a bizarre, and frankly, immature way of looking at things. Rhee was hired by Fenty. He asked her to be schools chancellor, and she agreed. Presumably she agreed to take the position under a certain set of requirements. Now, I'm not sure what you do for a living, PP, but when you have an executive-level job, this is pretty basic stuff. The idea that, should the voters decide to take a different direction by rejecting the Rhee/Fenty reforms, that Rhee is being "unfaithful" or "betraying the kids" sounds like something a petulant nine-year-old would write.

[Anonymous]

I think making a circus out of the budget hearings* because you're poorly prepared isn't exactly taking the children's side. I'm tired of Rhee learning on the job.

*Recap for those who have forgotten:

Rhee rejects advice of Schools CFO who tells her she is spending too much on Central Office. CFO leaves. Rhee pressures Gandhi to hire guy she wants for CFO who then gives her the wrong amount for the average teacher salary so Rhee thinks she has to make cuts. Rather than cutting out summer school, she makes cuts a few weeks into the school system and the children's classrooms are disrupted.

Fast forward to most recent budget hearings.

Rhee: oh we have much more money than we thought because my preferred CFO (who has since left) gave me the wrong number for the average teacher salary and so we actually have more money than we thought.

Gandhi: No you don't. You spent too much on the Central office.

Rhee: Bummer. I'll get the money from foundations! Oh but one hitch, they won't guarantee the money unless I'm here.

Gandhi: We can't do that. The money has to be certified to be available.

Rhee: Oh I guess I should have thought of that first.

And then of course something was worked out so Gandhi was okay with this situation. I am so tired of being told I support mediocrity because I expect Michelle Rhee to know more about running a large bureaucracy. None of this upheaval was necessary.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the recap. Now could we get a link to an objective source? Sorry, but the tone of piece didn't exactly scream "objectivity."

I don't claim that the unhinged Rhee-haters have no reason, but the lunacy doesn't exactly help your cause.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the recap. Now could we get a link to an objective source? Sorry, but the tone of piece didn't exactly scream "objectivity."

I don't claim that the unhinged Rhee-haters have no reason, but the lunacy doesn't exactly help your cause.

That actually was a fairly accurate recap, if somewhat sarcastic. If this is the first time you are hearing about all of this, you really should drop words such as "unhinged", "Rhee-haters" and "lunacy" from your vocabulary. You clearly need to be better informed. Perhaps after learning a bit more, you will find yourself being described in such terms.

[Anonymous]

14:43 - How can the Chairman ever know MORE than the State Superintendent of Education??? The man is smart. If I had an UNLIMITED budget because I am NOT accountable to anyone, I would be able to move mountains. She was the one who said that SCORES, SCORES, SCORES were the answer. Now, what is her excuse? Oh, she's reviewing the numbers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the recap. Now could we get a link to an objective source? Sorry, but the tone of piece didn't exactly scream "objectivity."

I don't claim that the unhinged Rhee-haters have no reason, but the lunacy doesn't exactly help your cause.

I read it all in the Washington Post in assorted articles/blogs around the time of the hearings.

But not on the editorial page.

Yep, calling me a lunatic -- that really works as an argument. Doesn't impress anyone.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the recap. Now could we get a link to an objective source? Sorry, but the tone of piece didn't exactly scream "objectivity."

I don't claim that the unhinged Rhee-haters have no reason, but the lunacy doesn't exactly help your cause.

That actually was a fairly accurate recap, if somewhat sarcastic. If this is the first time you are hearing about all of this, you really should drop words such as "unhinged", "Rhee-haters" and "lunacy" from your vocabulary. You clearly need to be better informed. Perhaps after learning a bit more, you will find yourself being described in such terms.

Fair enough. Just saying, all this stuff about "Rheeform" and little Brechtian absurdist plays aren't an argument, and only serve to alienate folks. I've actually been on the cusp of a toss-up voter between Fenty and Gray, but what I see is, for all Fenty's many flaws, the people he's appointed have--love them or hate them--been serious folks. What I see from Gray's camp is a) ambiguity about who's going to fill positions from the actual campaign; and b) this kind of utter derangement from his supporters.

I'm not saying there's no reason for them to act that way; perhaps there is. But whereas that kind of enthusiasm might be infectious at a DC United game, it has just the opposite effect in this forum. And I can assure you that most folks don't have this total depth of knowledge at their fingertips, and the tone here and on washingtonpost.com just makes Fenty's supporters sound like an army of crazies, ,waiting to take over...