Comments on: Fenty Takes Ax to Earmarks: Loose Lips Daily

By: Anita

Anita — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:54:45 +0000

It appears that earmarks are usually set aside for the pet projects of highly connected DC government officials. Is it a bad thing that they might go the way of the dodo bird? Maybe not, given the ethically tenuous ground that DC officials walk on when earmarks are awarded to business associates, relatives, or romantic partners. The term "influence peddling" comes to mind when contracts for goods or services end up in the hands of inexperienced or ill-equipped providers whose only qualifications stem from a legacy of contract awards, making the right contribution, or having the correct bloodline/romantic partner/college alum.

When written policies come into practice, qualified providers are allowed to compete for lucrative contracts--thus creating the pool of quality goods and services that a free market economy is supposed to produce. When egos get in the way of this competition, we have more government inefficiency and waste at the taxpayers' expense. In addition, some of the city's most vulnerable residents experience shortfalls in care--sometimes leading to tragic consequences.

If the earmark recipients are providing quality goods and services to the District, they should not fear other providers vying for the same funds. If the earmark recipients are relevant to the needs of District residents, they have a market for their goods and services. If the earmark recipients cannot operate without life support from DC government, then these organizations need to form collaboratives, find other funders, create new revenue streams, or close their doors.

Earmark recipients need to take a lesson from Darwin: adapt or die.

By: downtown rez

downtown rez — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:35:41 +0000

Did the test scores at Eaton fall? If not, how could this contribute to closing the gap? What was the afterschool space repurposed as?

By: Q™

Q™ — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:44:39 +0000

33 Kids in the same class, now that's reform. Seriously though, the scary thing is that much like Fenty, evidence piles up of "slight of hand" deceptive progress, yet nothing is really done about it. Is this the future of DC Government? What is worse, being totally ignored by the DC Govt., or being led to believe that things are being done when they aren't.

By: Linda Lynn

Linda Lynn — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 19:23:06 +0000

Rhee is also closing the gap, which she perceives as a racial gap in student acheivement, I see as an economic gap, by removing services and making unwanted changes to schools in Ward 3 (of course her children's school isn't touched). The classroom she had her picture taken in for TIME magazine with a broom was a ward three school. There were 33 students in that classroom. That school, Eaton, still pays for its own art and music teacher. Rhee, on a visit to the school cut the space for the after care program, a program totally funded by parents. The parks and recs aftercare program nearby may close this fall so where are the students going to go? Additionally many good teachers and a principal left due to Rhee. So the gap may be closed by reducing the production in the highter achieving schools. Ironically, this school has a large out of bounds population, one child coming from southeast to attend, many from Ward 4.

By: Tom

Tom — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 18:11:05 +0000

Juicing the stats are juicing the stats, I am more interested in DC student acceptance rates at 4-year and 2-year colleges. I then would like to see the retention rate of those finishing their 1st year and going into the 2nd. I want to see spelling bee, science fair, and every other academic achievement possible.

As a former DCPS

By: Downtown rez

Downtown rez — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:57:10 +0000

It's not statistical manipulation so much as it is recognizing the rules of the game, and directing a portion of your efforts toward making sure that a portion of your overall strategy accounts for those rules.
That's not dishonest, it's smart.

By: Q™

Q™ — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:49:23 +0000

@RT & Kelly, I think you both are missing the point here. Rhee is only going after the low hanging fruit and instituting something that MOST teachers know from the classroom. In the Bell Curve of student achievement, of COURSE you put more of your focus on those on the cusp. Saturday school isn't so much novel as it is something that used to happen in the past. It also doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that you must aggressively look at the student rolls to eliminate inelligible kids who are dragging the score down. Statistical maniuplation...you better believe it. But as it was said before, "Are the children LEARNING?" Are they getting the academic life skills to contribute to society, to get a job? A test score doesn't say that.

By: Kelly

Kelly — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:25:12 +0000

RT, the question is how *valid* are the results? If you're gaming the system, as the WaPo letter writer defines it, the results can then just be classified as Disraeli's statistics.

The point is that the increase (which is not "significant" as everyone is reporting) came not from pure gains in achievement but a manipulation of the numbers.

In the end, that doesn't matter.

By: RT

RT — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:18:12 +0000

Rhee gets the job done. Haters have nothing to say- you can't address all the damage done over the past 3 decades in two years, but progress has been made. That much is clear. You can disagree with the way she's gone about it, but she's gotten results. In the ends, that's all that matters.

By: Fred

Fred — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 15:10:50 +0000

Regarding the cops and the gambling ring, read "Gang Leader For a Day." The DC story makes total and complete sense after having read that book. I'm not surprised or shocked.