Are you voting for Fenty or Gray?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:to 17:00 - If Rhee were to say that she would work for the children of the District irrespective of who the Mayor was, would that impact your thinking?

The issue is not simply Rhee. Fenty has given Rhee unconditional support, event though he knows that she is one reason he may lose this election. Gray is not capable of giving that level of support. He by nature wants to please everybody. One can't improve the schools while pleasing everybody. Not possible!!! Much of the current poltical/social/educational/etc leadership in DC is directly responsible for the system's current state of affairs. I agree fully with the previous comment about "laser like focus." You want either to improve the school system or to please the current establishment. Both is NOT possible.

Bingo! I like Gray but I do not think he has the ability to blow off the political establishment in order to empty 825 No Capitol. Fenty is no angel, but he had enough confidence to understand he needed a chancellor who was willing to take on the entrenched interests of...Prince George's county.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[
. The bottom line is do you spend your time ensuring that some fired teacher was given proper notice or ensuring that DC students get the best education possible as soon as possible. That is THE real choice!!! DC youth needs a school system that has a laser like focus on them, NOT us adults.

The choice is not between adults and children. Adults teach children. Without adults there would be no education for the children. Adults are not the enemy, but somehow Rhee has made a lot of people think they are. She is amazing.

[Anonymous]

"Awful hard to win the war if you're shooting at your own troops..."

[Anonymous]

I would like a Fenty voter to explain how they can possibly support this breathtaking level of corruption and graft. Truly a vote for Fenty is a vote to embrace the worst excesses of the Barry administration.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/debonis/2010/09/bill_slover_challenges_fentys.html

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-opinions/2010/09/mr_fenty_and_the_banneker_cont.html

[Anonymous]

We are a biracial couple in Ward 4--both voting for Fenty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[
. The bottom line is do you spend your time ensuring that some fired teacher was given proper notice or ensuring that DC students get the best education possible as soon as possible. That is THE real choice!!! DC youth needs a school system that has a laser like focus on them, NOT us adults.

The choice is not between adults and children. Adults teach children. Without adults there would be no education for the children. Adults are not the enemy, but somehow Rhee has made a lot of people think they are. She is amazing.

Lets see. DC public schools have been a disaster for what 20 years. And who has been running them?? So, while there certainly are many many excellent teachers and principals in DC public schools, the historic education establishment in DC, whether Ed Board, Teachers, Teachers Union, and School Administration, ARE directly responsible for the poor shape of the system as a whole. To suggest otherwise is no more than failing to take responsibility. So, with some limited exceptions, why would one want to listen to that establishment. They are responsible for the mess. Is it someone else's fault?? I agree with the first quote above.

[Anonymous]

You cannot stake your entire reform effort on one personality. Give me a break. The world does not end if Gray wins. Someone mentioned support? There is a difference between support and irrational dedication. Everyone needs checks and balances! Rhee cannot have complete autonomy to do and spend what ever she wants. The entire city cut their budget to support DCPS. Have the results justified her style and the amount of money she has been allowed to spend - funds that are well above her budget!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You cannot stake your entire reform effort on one personality. Give me a break. The world does not end if Gray wins. Someone mentioned support? There is a difference between support and irrational dedication. Everyone needs checks and balances! Rhee cannot have complete autonomy to do and spend what ever she wants. The entire city cut their budget to support DCPS. Have the results justified her style and the amount of money she has been allowed to spend - funds that are well above her budget!

Agree in part with the first sentence. But Gray, if he wins, will spend far too much time seeking to keep each group happy. That simply can't be done if you seriously want to improve the school system effectively and quickly. I would rather err on Rhee's side for the moment, and certainly would give her a few more years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[
. The bottom line is do you spend your time ensuring that some fired teacher was given proper notice or ensuring that DC students get the best education possible as soon as possible. That is THE real choice!!! DC youth needs a school system that has a laser like focus on them, NOT us adults.

The choice is not between adults and children. Adults teach children. Without adults there would be no education for the children. Adults are not the enemy, but somehow Rhee has made a lot of people think they are. She is amazing.

Lets see. DC public schools have been a disaster for what 20 years. And who has been running them?? So, while there certainly are many many excellent teachers and principals in DC public schools, the historic education establishment in DC, whether Ed Board, Teachers, Teachers Union, and School Administration, ARE directly responsible for the poor shape of the system as a whole. To suggest otherwise is no more than failing to take responsibility. So, with some limited exceptions, why would one want to listen to that establishment. They are responsible for the mess. Is it someone else's fault?? I agree with the first quote above.

The DC Public School Board was running them. That entity was abolished at the beginning of Fenty's term (legislation which, btw, Fenty originally opposed). As a result, for the first time the political power and authority to run DCPS was consolidated in one office - the office of the Chancellor. Michelle Rhee is the first person to have the opportunity to use that power, and some would say she has abused it. Under Mayor Gray someone else will have that power, and we trust that this new individual will use their executive authority with more effort to develop consensus. As Mary Cheh has said "just because you have a say, doesn't mean you get your way." And many of us can accept that, we would simply like to have our say. Michelle Rhee has not allowed that.

[Anonymous]

really, adults run everything in government and in life, for that matter. Does that make "adults" the problem?

Rather simplistic, no?

And to blame teachers, the adults with the least power to make changes in the system, is plain ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

2 more Ward 3 votes here for Gray.

[Anonymous]

2 votes for Fenty in this household and awaiting the impending mess of Gray's administration. I feel the way I did when GDubya got in. Hi sleezy, fast talking, silver tongued manner reeks of bs and is so obvious to me but apparently not to the masses. The same people who are ripping apart Fenty today ought to keep the venom in their veins for when Gray really makes a mess of things.

[Anonymous]

Two votes for Fenty here. Black, middle-class, Ward 4, DC residents for nearly twenty years and voting based on the improved quality of life under Fenty. Our son is six months old and Rhee is the only one we see making the changes that might make DCPS a feasible choice.

[Anonymous]

Non DC resident fly on the wall here. But do you really think you will see significant improvement in DCPS with Gray as mayor (regardless of what happens to Rhee). I'm really curious. What do you envision DCPS looking like in 4 years after a Gray term? What will the average DCPS experienced in four years?

Please do not talk about Fenty. I want to know about DCPS under a Gray term when you look back at his legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:really, adults run everything in government and in life, for that matter. Does that make "adults" the problem?

Rather simplistic, no?

And to blame teachers, the adults with the least power to make changes in the system, is plain ridiculous.

No, it is not. DC has many good public school teachers. But teachers as a group (and that includes the union) along with the rest of the DC education establishment created the mess that Rhee is trying to fix. To suggest that teachers as a group bear no responsibility for the mess reflects exactly the attitude that got DC into the mess. Teachers do bear some responsibility. And the union focuses more on preserving jobs rather than on educating kids. I am not anti-union. The entire system, including the bureaucracy, bears responsibility. But teachers can't ignore their share of the blame.