I support Vincent Gray for DC Mayor because...

[Anonymous]

Bottom line: the total number of school age children in DC is shrinking rapidly. It's never coming back to where it was in the 50s and 60s. And that's a sign of the city's health.

Some of those schoolchildren are in charters; others are in DCPS. But the *total* number of schoolchildren is falling. There aren't enough kids to fill those buildings, period.

In any municipality run by rational adults, when you get declining enrollment, you close schools. They did this in MD and VA long ago. Because we're a stew of political dysfunction, it's only in the last decade or so that this has been politically possible in DC.

[Anonymous]

One last thing: if there's one thing nearly all DC charters have in common, it's that they have little long-term experience with large-scale facilities management. In other words, while they may think it makes sense to takeover large crumbling facilities, perhaps counting on expanding enrollment via a dwindling pool of students, they often don't have the competence to evaluate such things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only the OP specifically asked for reasons to support Gray other than that he is not Fenty. Therefore posts railing against Fenty are not responsive, and may only cause OP to re-think her inclination to vote for Gray. She stated that she would like to vote for him, but does not wish to do so based on the fact that he is not Fenty. Thus, posting an article about how much Fenty allegedly sucks, without one mention of Gray, is not responsive to the OP's question, and only highlights the silliness of voting for Gray only because he is not Fenty.

I didn't post the link, so I'm not sure why you are acting as if I did. I only spoke to criticism of the article, which I thought was off-base. If you don't think the link belongs here, talk to the person who posted it. If your issue with the article is that it didn't go far enough in specifically outlining exactly what direction DC should go in, that is a tall order for a single article. The writer tackled the topic of why he wouldn't support Fenty. He gave HIS reasons for why he wouldn't support ONE candidate. He didn't talk about who he would support. Maybe that is coming in a follow up article, maybe that was tackled by another writer, maybe it won't be addressed. But the idea that an article entitled "Why I Can't Support Fenty" fails to achieve its thesis because it discusses ONLY Fenty is just asinine.

"Just assinine". "The most absurdest nonsense."

Goose, you may as well sign in. I can always recognize you

Sorry if big words are hard for you. Keep working. You'll figure it out. I suppose the alternative of speaking in grunts and jibberish is something you fulfill? Or should I add more whining? Or is it the CONTENT that is the problem? Maybe I'll just pepper in some lies to make it more palatable (UH OH! BIG WORD ALERT) for you?

[Anonymous]

Are you two still at it?

[Anonymous]

With regards to ed reform, I think Gray offers a really solid perspective on how to enact change. Yes, the methodology isn't fully fleshed out, which is important, but the ideology is a sound one. Looking for increased access to greater educational opportunities, through his work on universal pre-K and the CC of DC, is a strong position statement. Seeking more collaboration with community members is very important and, as an educator, I cannot stress the value of this if done genuinely and effectively.

For me, those are two very important ideals to strive for. Again, there are questions about HOW he will do those things, but making them a key point of the platform gives a sense of the direction he will take things. So, for me at least, those are two reasons I would vote positively for Gray when thinking about education reform.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you two still at it?

Well, it's just frustrating when some of us are attempting to talk the issues and ONE of us is attempting to disrupt that through any means necessary. Sigh... I figured I was done dealing with children for the teacher. I guess not so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Only the OP specifically asked for reasons to support Gray other than that he is not Fenty. Therefore posts railing against Fenty are not responsive, and may only cause OP to re-think her inclination to vote for Gray. She stated that she would like to vote for him, but does not wish to do so based on the fact that he is not Fenty. Thus, posting an article about how much Fenty allegedly sucks, without one mention of Gray, is not responsive to the OP's question, and only highlights the silliness of voting for Gray only because he is not Fenty.

I didn't post the link, so I'm not sure why you are acting as if I did. I only spoke to criticism of the article, which I thought was off-base. If you don't think the link belongs here, talk to the person who posted it. If your issue with the article is that it didn't go far enough in specifically outlining exactly what direction DC should go in, that is a tall order for a single article. The writer tackled the topic of why he wouldn't support Fenty. He gave HIS reasons for why he wouldn't support ONE candidate. He didn't talk about who he would support. Maybe that is coming in a follow up article, maybe that was tackled by another writer, maybe it won't be addressed. But the idea that an article entitled "Why I Can't Support Fenty" fails to achieve its thesis because it discusses ONLY Fenty is just asinine.

"Just assinine". "The most absurdest nonsense."

Goose, you may as well sign in. I can always recognize you

Sorry if big words are hard for you. Keep working. You'll figure it out. I suppose the alternative of speaking in grunts and jibberish is something you fulfill? Or should I add more whining? Or is it the CONTENT that is the problem? Maybe I'll just pepper in some lies to make it more palatable (UH OH! BIG WORD ALERT) for you?

Goose, I thought we had come to an understanding when we exchanged apologies. I was only trying to point out that, when making arguments, although you sometimes start off with substantive points, you often end with signature phrases that really add nothing to your argument. These include: "That's just assinine!" "That's just the most absurdest nonsense!" "That's just ridiculous!" and some kind of empty analogy, like: "That's like calling a cat a dog!' or "That's like calling red blue!" or "That's like saying the world is flat!" Often these arguments are sprinkled with capital letters. It's become a bit endearing. But do you really think these conclusory statements are effective?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Looking for increased access to greater educational opportunities, through his work on universal pre-K and the CC of DC, is a strong position statement. Seeking more collaboration with community members is very important and, as an educator, I cannot stress the value of this if done genuinely and effectively.

Leaving aside how Gray will implement this, who isn't for increased access to PS/PK? And I'd imagine if you asked Rhee whether she thinks "community involvement" is important, I can't imagine she'd say no.

So can we at least agree that implementation is everything here?

[Anonymous]

Dorrie wrote:So I started this thread because I was looking for reasons to support Gray beyond "He's not Fenty." And while we've gotten a handful of positive statements, mostly we've fallen into the pit of anti-Fenty.

I guess I should go confront all my neighbors who have Gray yard signs. (Though the ones I've talked to so far have said it's all about him not being Fenty.)

I sure hope that I don't feel this way eight weeks from now. Because while I'm not too keen on having a continuation of many of Fenty's practices, I think our city also needs a leader who offers more than not being someone else.

It is not our responsibility to convince you, it's Gray's. I for one am ready to vote against Fenty and Gray looks like the best alternative. Alexander seems to be the closest other candidate to viability, but I can't bring myself to consider someone who advocates a majority vote on the rights of a minority (same-sex marriage). Sometimes you go with the best you've got, even if you're not thrilled.

I think the link to Gray's website has already been given (it's http://www.vincegrayformayor.com/).

I hope this did not sound snippy; it was not intended that way. And I hope I'll be forgiven for repeating a point made earlier; I don't think this is the first redundancy here.

[Anonymous]

Dorrie. I think you're absolutely right. It may not be anyone's responsibility to convince you that Gray is better than Fenty; the point is that no one here can do it.

Even Jeff, who hates Fenty's guts, isn't going to vote for Gray, because, in his words, he has no reason to expect any better from Gray. If you can't find any reason to convince you that Gray is a better candidate than Fenty, maybe you should stay home with Jeff on September 14th. He's a very kind man. He'll probably brew some tea, make you some popcorn, and let you use one of his computers Really, you'll be in good company.

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:Even Jeff, who hates Fenty's guts, isn't going to vote for Gray, because, in his words, he has no reason to expect any better from Gray. If you can't find any reason to convince you that Gray is a better candidate than Fenty, maybe you should stay home with Jeff on September 14th. He's a very kind man. He'll probably brew some tea, make you some popcorn, and let you use one of his computers Really, you'll be in good company.

Oh, I won't be staying home. I still have to go vote for Mendelson and I'm sure my local ANC race is going down to the wire. As for my mayoral vote, whoever the Statehood/Green candidate is will get at least one vote in my precinct.

[Anonymous]

As for my mayoral vote, whoever the Statehood/Green candidate is will get at least one vote in my precinct.

Write in Nader!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Bottom line: the total number of school age children in DC is shrinking rapidly. It's never coming back to where it was in the 50s and 60s. And that's a sign of the city's health.

Some of those schoolchildren are in charters; others are in DCPS. But the *total* number of schoolchildren is falling. There aren't enough kids to fill those buildings, period.

In any municipality run by rational adults, when you get declining enrollment, you close schools. They did this in MD and VA long ago. Because we're a stew of political dysfunction, it's only in the last decade or so that this has been politically possible in DC.

Let me guess, you are in a JKLMM or E school district.

[Anonymous]

A refusal to vote in the mayoral race, is a vote for Fenty

[Anonymous]

Let me guess, you are in a JKLMM or E school district.

Wrong.

Let me guess... no, wait, never mind. Rather than my guessing, why don't you just tell me what part of my argument you disagree with, rather than churning out sequences of capitalized letters?