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[quote=Anonymous]Interested to see the argument that the recent crime wave, and especially the troubling increase in minors committing violent offenses, can be traced to school closures during the pandemic. I agree with this as a major factor and it's something some of us raised during the closures.

I'll note here that progressives on the Council were not vocal in calling for schools to be reopened in 2020 or 2021, even after a vaccine was available and teachers were given priority access. Instead, I recall the progressive wing of the council remain either silent or continue to support the argument that schools needed to remain closed until we could guarantee absolute safety from Covid for everyone in the building. Again, even after vaccines were available. I have little love for Murial Bowser, but I seem to recall her focusing pretty hard on getting schools open and getting a wall of pushback from the teachers' union and progressives in the city who believed doing so would result in deaths. Again, AFTER vaccines. I also remember many of us arguing for maintaining some form of in-person school contact even before vaccines, to keep kids from checking out of the system. One thing we proposed was outdoor school on a hybrid or abbreviated schedule -- it wouldn't be perfect, but it would be a way for the schools to maintain more contact with students, give students much need in-person socializing opportunities, all while addressing critical safety concerns. We were told this was a pipe dream, unrealistic, and that virtual school was going great, despite persistent issues for high risk kids who lacked access to internet, devices, and adult support and supervision throughout the closures.

When I raised this precise issue in my neighborhood (in Ward 6) and here on DCUM, I was yelled at by progressives who told me I only cared about getting teachers to babysit my kids and that I wanted teachers to die. Repeatedly.

So if you are serious in arguing that this city's abandonment of children, and especially high risk children most likely to become involved in violent criminal activity at a young age, during the pandemic is partly to blame for this mess, I question how you can also offer support to the do-nothing progressive wing of the council, which wants only to parrot the slogans of myopic activists (Defund the Police, Only When It's Safe, Black Lives Matter) but have little interest in actually crafting policy that would help black people in this city. And before you yell at me that Charles Allen doesn't control the schools, I KNOW. But part of the point of having Ward Councilmembers is that they are supposed to advocate for their constituents. I wanted advocacy and instead was told that I was selfish.

Oh, and I'd love to ban guns or assault rifles or make it harder to bring weapons into the city or at least increase penalties for carrying weapons. I'd love it! Where is Allen on that issue? Did the crime bill he oversaw do any of those things? I guess I missed it.[/quote]

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