Politics

Liveblog: D.C. Council Grills Michelle Rhee on Teacher Layoffs

Posted by Mike DeBonis on Oct. 29, 2009, at 10:13 am

Vincent C. Gray and the remainder of the D.C. Council have just gaveled to order a hearing on the "causes, implementation, and impact" of the D.C. Public School layoffs earlier this month.

LL will be following along on Channel 13 and live blogging the proceedings. (Actually, LL will be livetweeting and pasting those over here at City Desk.)

[Last update 7:05 p.m.]

# LL takeaway 10: LL is not sure if he can do this again tomorrow for the parks contracts hearing. 7 minutes ago

# LL takeaway 9: As every CM said, the tone is awful. Kwame was right; if the political games cont's, reform will crash and burn. 8 minutes ago

# LL takeaway 8: Council did establish that the process did evade its authority and is possibly illegal. That's a win for Gray. 14 minutes ago

# LL takeaway 7: Council did not establish beyond a doubt that this was done to fire bad teachers outside due process. That's a win for Rhee. 16 minutes ago

# LL takeaway 6: Rhee gave good reasons for the hiring of 900+ teachers ahead of the cuts. Her reasons for delaying the cuts were not as good. 18 minutes ago

# LL takeaway 5: Noah Wepman is not very good in hearings. Smart, sure, but Gandhi/Rhee need to keep this guy away from microphones. 21 minutes ago

# LL takeaway 4: Michelle Rhee is very, very good in council hearings. She keeps an even tone and knows when to call CMs on their BS. 22 minutes ago

# LL takeaway 3: Agency CFOs are supposed to be independent of agency execs and report direct to CFO. At DCPS, this seems not to be the case. 23 minutes ago

# LL takeaway 2: Once again, Peter Nickles made the decision that kept council out of advisory role. Add it to the list. 25 minutes ago

# LL takeaway 1: By shifting cuts from summer school to teachers, executive again ignored council directive. Add it to the list. 26 minutes ago

# Hearing is adjourned. Phew!32 minutes ago

# If money's been moved (per Wepman) to summer sch., that's illegal. If not moved (per Rhee), budget press. is less, and RIF was unnecessary.32 minutes ago

# Wrapping up, Gray says "a council budget action...was taken by you and taken by you as reason to expand the RIF."35 minutes ago

# Given reps of Nickles, Jim Sandman, Rhee says she "felt very confident of the legality" of RIF35 minutes ago

# Risk of lawsuits "far outweighed by the benefits" of doing subjective (not seniority-based) RIF, Rhee says.37 minutes ago

# "We've opened ourself to a lot more litigation." Rhee says "we can't sacrifice making the right decisions b/c we think we might get sued"39 minutes ago

# Rhee says "substantively we are very very close" but union is focused now on fighting RIF.41 minutes ago

# Wells is back on possible litigation. "Way to avoid this is to have an agreed-on labor contract. Where are we?"41 minutes ago

# Catania: "I think u needd a topflight govt affairs person whos a top Lt. of yours....We cannot have these surprises." Fenty needs the same.about 1 hour ago

# Catania: "DCPS as we knew it, if not for the reforms of you and this mayor, would be gone within 10 years."about 1 hour ago

# "On the road to reform," says Catania, "there are going to be occasions when there are injustices along that road."about 1 hour ago

# Man, talk about no respect. No one can get Wepman;s name right. Barry: "I've been very disappoint in Mr. Wem...Wepman."about 1 hour ago

# Has Spanish been eliminated at Ballou? Barry says yes; Rhee says no!about 1 hour ago

# Rhee tells Barry it's OK for a teacher to get fired by phone. Barry: "I give up on this one! That's absurd! That's just ridiculous!"about 1 hour ago

# Barry says he is against ineffective teachers but seems incapable of believing that any of the fired teachers were in that categoryabout 1 hour ago

# Lot of Seinfeld refs at this hearing. Rhee's wearing the puffy shirt; Gordon McDonald appears to be a high talker.about 1 hour ago

# MAB to Wepman: "You seem to be kind of out somewhere else...Dr. Gandhi didn't seem to know what you're doing."about 1 hour ago

# People who had been suspended for corporal punishment etc.; "not people you or i would want teaching our children."about 1 hour ago

# Rhee came armed with examples of bad teachers fired. "some people, if you saw what was in their file, you would be shocked."about 1 hour ago

# Rhee tells MAB: "I don't think it is a good idea in a blanket away to bring back all the people who were RIF'd"about 1 hour ago

# If MAB asks anything about UDC, LL is going to gag...about 2 hours ago

# HTJ "finds it hard to believe" that Rhee knows nothing about consulting contract. This apparently has nothing to do w/ the RIF.about 2 hours ago

# HTJ heard that someone from California is doing evaluations for a near-$1M contract. Rhee says there is consultant on contract.about 2 hours ago

# HTJ needs his own McKinley hearing.about 2 hours ago

# Let's talk AIDS! No, wait...let's talk aides!about 2 hours ago

# What is the Citywide Displaced Employees Program? HTJ wants DCPS to participate!about 2 hours ago

# Harry Thomas brings up recruitment letters that are still going out to potential teachers (more here: http://bit.ly/2vc3qI)about 2 hours ago

# Woo hoo! Last round! We could be done by 7!about 2 hours ago

# Rhee says this isn't the first time that she's talked about making a decision to shift cuts from summer school to RIF. Gray is skeptical.about 2 hours ago

# Rhee says once budget problem presented itself, "school needs" took precedence over spec-ed capacity building. Not her best answer.about 2 hours ago

# Gray's got a gotcha---why did you fire 29 special ed teachers if you were trying to hire many more? Rheeabout 2 hours ago

# LL is just noticing that Rhee is wearing some kind of poofy pirate shirt. Not ugly, just...poofy.about 2 hours ago

# She's now explaining what she chose to RIF and wqualize at the same time.about 2 hours ago

# Rhee says increased hiring this year was due to more ambitious school programs, plus a need for SpEd teachers to build capacityabout 2 hours ago

# Rhee disputes that DCPS hired many more teachers than average, cites 10-yr avg of 600 to 700. And in 1999, 1,121 were hired.about 2 hours ago

# Wells says anyone (cough, Nickles) advising an override of a council line item designation has "selective amnesia"about 2 hours ago

# Wells' take: When mayoral takeover was done, mayor didn't want line-item budget control, said should be "collaboration with the council."about 2 hours ago

# Tommy Wells: "I know that the schools in Ward 6 have improved."about 2 hours ago

# Catania to Rhee: "We are all grownups and we all have to get past our personality issues....I need you to be a better communicator."about 2 hours ago

# Catania: "I am frustrated by all the parties involved. We are fighting the old battle of the school takeover...this is the stalking horse."about 2 hours ago

# Catania's point: Rhee is free to underspend on teachers w/o council approval, then send the savings over to restore the summer school budgetabout 2 hours ago

# Catania pulls out home rule charter; seems to be trying to debunk this illegal reprogramming charge.about 3 hours ago

# Rhee says she had seen budget pressures develop, but she expected that she'd be able to make central office cuts to avoid teacher layoffs.about 3 hours ago

# Rhee calls notion she packed the DCPS teaching corps in order to force RIF "absolutely incorrect."about 3 hours ago

# Of 934 teachers hired, more than 900 had been hired by end of July, when budget pressure was supposedly discovered, Rhee says.about 3 hours ago

# Graham having real trouble remembering Noah Wepman's name.about 3 hours ago

# Graham: "Well. Hasn't this been an interesting day." He apparently had been anticipating "harmony and camaraderie."about 3 hours ago

# Kwame tells Wepman: "You should be fired."about 3 hours ago

# Rhee says "when i weighed those two things out, keeping the summer school program intact was in the best interest of children."about 3 hours ago

# Kwame: "I'm jumping off the train. I'm not going to let my kids crash and burn." What does that mean?about 3 hours ago

# "we have to take a different tone. you have to take a different tone," says Kwame. "because the tone you're using isn't working."about 3 hours ago

# Kwame: "The way that we're going about this school reform, we're gonna crash and burn."about 3 hours ago

# Barry: "I'm a supporter of the RE-form. I mean, I didn't sign up for this, but I voted for the RE-form."about 3 hours ago

# Barry tells Rhee he "resent[s] this attitude we can make change the way we want to, to hell with the council"about 3 hours ago

# Then Wepman says, even though there was no reprogramming, he followed the law.about 3 hours ago

# Gray does a smart thing here; brings Gordon McDonald from CFO's office, who testifies that DCPS didn't do reprogrammingabout 3 hours ago

# Wepman says that his "interpretation of the UPSFF, this action did not necessitate a reprogramming," which would've gone for council reviewabout 3 hours ago

# Principals are "terrified," Barry says. Also says "parental involvement in Ward 8 is even lower than where it was when you came."about 3 hours ago

# It's Barry time! He wants to talk "atmosphere, the toxicity, the atmosphere of disrespect"about 3 hours ago

# M Brown presses Rhee on "intimidation factor." Says principal told him, "If I ask about a maint. issue, I could lose my job."about 3 hours ago

# M Brown: "Maybe we can get some NAEP officials in here..."about 3 hours ago

# MAB and Rhee are bickering over test scores! "Everyone's wrong but you!" says MABabout 3 hours ago

# Rhee smacks MAB for saying NYC reform isn't working, noting, inter alia, that mayoral control was renewed. MAB cites NYT as saying otherwiseabout 3 hours ago

# M Brown says there has been "unbelievable disrespect and lack of dignity" for labor. "Reforming the reform"!about 3 hours ago

# Michael Brown starts by noting that he didn't vote for Rhee confirmation. Calls a "crutch" when she says she acts in best interests of kidsabout 3 hours ago

# "What you described is different from what actually happened at McKinley" says Thomasabout 3 hours ago

# Ah yes! Peter Nickles! DCPS GC Jim Sandman, too. No written opinion was rendered.about 3 hours ago

# Rhymes with "Neter Pickles"about 3 hours ago

# HTJ is pointing fingers. Literally. He wants to know who advised her to ignore council spending directive. LL thinks he knows the answer!about 3 hours ago

# Harry Thomas Jr. says Rhee "defied, broke, and did not follow the law." Oh yeah, "disrespected" it, too.about 4 hours ago

# Rhee says she'll play nice in the future.about 4 hours ago

# Evans: "We cannot continue to have this kind of craziness."about 4 hours ago

# "The cuts could have been made in a way that could have caused less acrimony," Rhee says, but that would not have been as good for kidsabout 4 hours ago

# It is Rhee's "professional opinion" that RIF was done in such a way that was in the best interests of children.about 4 hours ago

# Evans is flinging some softballs here.about 4 hours ago

# Evans says to Rhee it "would have been better to let us know" that she had ignored summer school directive. I'll say.?about 4 hours ago

# Evans felt school cuts "were something we had to do"; he's long been proud of his willingness to cut any agency in govtabout 4 hours ago

# Rhee: "was within my authority as agency head" to move cuts from summer school to RIF. Gray: "Maybe we should just disband this council."about 4 hours ago

# Rhee remembers time when she tried to get Gray on the phone to talk RIFs, and he wasn't available.about 4 hours ago

# Rhee tries asking Gray a question. Says Gray: 'If you want to ask questions, run for the council and come up here.'about 4 hours ago

# Gray is losing it a bit. Rhee has come loaded with good talking points, pointing out that July budget decisions weren't open to gen publicabout 4 hours ago

# "In times when you make difficult decision, that things don't happen in the best manner." Throws it right back at Gray!about 4 hours ago

# Gray is going off on the council-blaming. Yikes. "no question in my mind" that intention was to lay resp. at council doorstepabout 4 hours ago

# Smart line from Rhee: compares her move to council's "hard decision to cut city budget rather than use reserve funds"about 4 hours ago

# link to McCartney column: http://bit.ly/Wm1F1about 4 hours ago

# She points out that the Post retracted the main conclusion of the column---that private money could have filled the budget gapabout 4 hours ago

# Oof, Rhee goes hard after Bob McCartney column suggesting that private money could have covered the RIFabout 4 hours ago

# Powerpoint: "Officers were not instructed to escort staff from the building, stand at doorways, or implement the RIF."about 4 hours ago

# Having cops in schools was an "unfortunate coincidence" with demise of Hawk One, Rhee says.about 4 hours ago

# Rhee says that "disruptions" were "not widespread"about 4 hours ago

# Rhee on "misunderstandings"...only 7% of those fired had 25+ yrs experience; 54% had 10 yrs or lessabout 4 hours ago

# Rhee is now going through the RIF process.about 4 hours ago

# Rhee says cutting summer school would have "dramatically affect[ed] graduation rates."about 4 hours ago

# To wit: 'the av. age of the District's teachers is 42, the av. age of those who were [fired] is 48. The av. age of the 934 new hires is 32.'about 4 hours ago

# Bill Turque has a story up on pre-hearing protests http://bit.ly/3GL79Y interesting tidbit on RIF'd teacher demographicsabout 4 hours ago

# There's a Powerpoint!about 4 hours ago

# "I take full resp for my management decision" to cut teachers rather than summer school, Rhee says.about 4 hours ago

# Here we go! Rhee starts her testimony blaming controversy on "natural tensions after a staff reduction plus some misconceptions"about 4 hours ago

# Also Gray's absolution of Gandhi was telling. He wants to crucify Wepman, but it looks bad for Gandhi to have an agency CFO freelancingabout 5 hours ago

# LL halftime thoughts: Gray needs to cut the demagoguery. He's scoring his points, but if this is seen as inquisition, the less that mattersabout 5 hours ago

# Five minute break, then Rhee is up. So far so bad for her side. Council got Wepman to admit summer school directive was ignored.about 5 hours ago

# Gray says, "Mr. Wepman, why don't you stay?" He didn't want to hear that.about 5 hours ago

# Gray wants a private meeting w Gandhi ASAP, saying testimony "raises some questions about all the actions that have been taken"about 5 hours ago

# Barry is back: "this CFO team is not as independent as it ought to be." Tells Gandhi to "pay more attn to this situation." He has a point.about 5 hours ago

# Gray lays it out: 'This gov't need to find a way to bring these people back to their jobs.' Calls testimony 'unbelievable.'about 5 hours ago

# Picture emerging: that DCPS was in its own little world when assembling its budget, that Wepman was more loyal to Rhee than indpndt CFOabout 5 hours ago

# Gandhi says he was not aware of $13M in spending pressures when certifying the 2010 DCPS budgetabout 5 hours ago

# Gray is trying to nail Wepman on DCPS ignoring council directive to cut summer school, not teachers. And he does.about 5 hours ago

# Wepman won't say who first proposed RIF; mentions "conv's with the chancellor and members of her mgt team."about 5 hours ago

# Now Mary Cheh is digging into Wepman. He says, besides RIF, options were central office cuts, athletics, summer school, after-schoolabout 5 hours ago

# Before Rhee starts testimony, LL is going to grab lunch. Back in 10!about 6 hours ago

# Catania is trying like hell to bail Rhee out from the hole she dug by blaming the cuts on the council rather than "spending pressures."about 6 hours ago

# Gandhi says that it "is not so" that DCPS has overspent. Generates great laughter, given that that was rationale for RIF...about 6 hours ago

# Jim Graham doesn't know Wepman's nameabout 6 hours ago

# LL would feel more sorry for Wepman if didn't know very well that this sort of inquisition was comingabout 6 hours ago

# Gray says Wepman 'gives further credence to the theory that there were people who were unwanted & this was a great opp to get rid of them.'about 6 hours ago

# Gray calls Wepman evasions on why fire old rather than new 'disingenuous' and says it 'doesn't do service to the position that you hold.'about 6 hours ago

# Gray quite relishes making Wepman queasy. He's doing it with a basic question: If 990 were hired and 300 were fired, why not just hire 600?about 6 hours ago

# Wepman not very good at this. Needed some "murder boards" or something....about 6 hours ago

# Rumble when Wepman admits that new teachers were offered jobs when a hiring freeze had been put in place. Not going too well for him.about 6 hours ago

# Wepman on mentioning RIF to Gandhi's shop: 'In retrospect, I probably should have done it earlier.'about 6 hours ago

# Gandhi says that comms between DCPS CFO and him "should have been better."about 6 hours ago

# Gray tells Wepman to cut out the "extraneous rhetoric"; most of that, however, seems to come from the other side of the dais.about 6 hours ago

# Wepman says multiple options were on the table to deal with budget issues. There were 10 to 15, he says.about 6 hours ago

# In response to M Brown question, Gandhi says his information "is as authentic, as objective, as correct as we know."about 6 hours ago

# Wells asks if Gandhi gave opinion to Rhee whether RIF was necessary. Nat: "We don't advise the chancellor whether to RIF people or not."about 6 hours ago

# Wepman says DCPS spent $40M in stimulus money on teacher salaries; that without it, the problem would have been doubled.about 6 hours ago

# Wells is also concerned about possible liability, which he places at potentially $80M or moreabout 6 hours ago

# Tommy Wells shows up, says he's a reform supporter, etc, but "I do not want reform...to be undermined by unnecessary and costly litigation."about 6 hours ago

# Yvette says she "doesn't want to beat a dead horse"; Gray tells her, "it's been beaten for 2 mos already. Keep beating it!"about 7 hours ago

# Graham to Gandhi: "I have the impression that you don;t want to answer this question" on how much of $$ gap can be attributed to councilabout 7 hours ago

# Graham says layoffs "should not have been laid at the doorstep of the council."about 7 hours ago

# Catania's point: Did RIF reflect spending pressures from prior year(s)? That would be a more palatable explanation than council cuts.about 7 hours ago

# Ooh, Catania vs. Gandhi---always a fun time.about 7 hours ago

# "Any good manager," Gray says should to find money to cover a 1.6 percent cut without mass layoffs. Barry calls the RIF 'diabolical.'about 7 hours ago

# Gray volunteers an answer: "The answer to me is, no, it didn't have to be done this way."about 7 hours ago

# Barry wants Gandhi to say that DCPS would have been facing same budget pressures without council cuts. Gandhi won't say it.about 7 hours ago

# Wepman says, given the fiscal pressures, that he "advised that chancellor that we had to take some action."about 7 hours ago

# Barry wants to know about Wepman's comms with Rhee b/c "Michelle Rhee has been using different numbers at different times."about 7 hours ago

# Thomas says, "I won't follow that line of questioning," as though he could. Much laughter!about 7 hours ago

# Is Gandhi digging the hole deeper for Rhee and Fenty?about 7 hours ago

# Evans is confused by CFO explanations of why there was a supposed $8M "decrease" in per-student funding, when council froze the formula.about 7 hours ago

# Says Jack Evans: 'I'm starting to understand what happened here...' Wants more detail on summer school spending.about 7 hours ago

# Gandhi stipulates that there was no cut in the per-student funding formula, that it was held constant from last year.about 7 hours ago

# Gandhi is asked a question by Gray; Gandhi turns to Wepman, says 'Do you want to answer that?' Says Gray, 'Is that a punt Dr. Gandhi?'about 7 hours ago

# "What does [a cut to] summer school beginning in the middle of June have to do with RF'ing teachers?" asks Grayabout 7 hours ago

# Gandhi says stim guidelines "encourages seemingly contradictory decisions"---between saving jobs and avoiding short term spending commitmentabout 8 hours ago

# "Cuts to local funds cannot always be replaced by stimulus funds," Gandhi says.about 8 hours ago

# Now he's describing possible uses of stimulus funds in the D.C. Public Schoolsabout 8 hours ago

# Nat Gandhi is reading off a lot of numbers now. What it all means, we will soon find out.about 8 hours ago

# With Gandhi: Budget chief Gordon McDonald; David Hines, budget deputy in charge of education; and DCPS CFO Noah Wepmanabout 8 hours ago

# It's Gandhi time!about 8 hours ago

# Bowser tells union folks what she thinks they want.about 8 hours ago

# Bowser's up. She wants to know: "Why were so many hired?" And "was there a pattern in who was let go?"about 8 hours ago

# "collaborative community of success for our students and our teachers" is what Yvette wants. Expect to hear "collaborative" a lot, too.about 8 hours ago

# Yvette's turn. "what has frustr. me the most is that my integrity as a CM has been challenged." refers to "mistruths" in DCPS explanationsabout 8 hours ago

# Catania smacks up the unions a bit.about 8 hours ago

# LL is trying to livetweet and finish LLD at the same time. Please bear with him.about 8 hours ago

# But Catania is "not about to organize the school system around the mortgages of adults"about 8 hours ago

# "there certainly have been missteps in the path of reform," says Catania, and says there are "legitimate concerns" about the RIFabout 8 hours ago

# David Catania steps up. "What I'd like to talk about is how illiteracy really will kill you...due...to our failed school system"about 8 hours ago

# Jim Graham would have appreciated a little heads upabout 8 hours ago

# Jim Graham wonders about the geographic breakdown of layoffs "does it way something about where qualified teachers were located?"about 8 hours ago

# Jim Graham starts out: "We got a big problem here." He refers to cops in classrooms, escorting teachers out.about 8 hours ago

# Kwame wants "true reform by any means necessary!" UNITEabout 8 hours ago

# Kwame: "I'm gonna move some legislation, cause we're gonna do something about these absent minded parents!"about 8 hours ago

# Kwame wants "some level of respect." Respect count is now 3.about 8 hours ago

# Kwame's problem: That good teachers were let go, not bad teachers.about 8 hours ago

# Kwame Brown starts out on a hard-line reformist note: Bad teacher "need to go!" Don't expect this to last.about 8 hours ago

# Barry says he doesn't want Rhee out; "I want this chancellor to stay right here and reform this system for real"about 8 hours ago

# Barry says Rhee, Fenty "set this system back at least 10 years," generates applause. Gray warns them to "applaud in your head."about 8 hours ago

# Barry calls the firings "inhumane...uncompassionate" And "none of us should have signed on to this."about 8 hours ago

# Ohh Marion. Decries "piss poor planning" leading up to layoffs.about 8 hours ago

# Oct. 2 was "the day justice died...compassion was killed," says Barry.about 8 hours ago

# Barry: "I never ever seen it so bad...never ever seen the level of disrespect from" Fenty and Rhee. Says teachers are "terrorized"about 8 hours ago

# OMG, M Brown going on again about how UDC and DCPS don't work together. Save it for another hearing!about 8 hours ago

# "There is a compassion issue," Michael Brown says. Shoulda given teachers a chance to find new jobs!about 8 hours ago

# M Brown says there is a "level of intimidation that if you raise a question your job is on the line....That is not democracy."about 8 hours ago

# Barry ticked that Vince skipped over him for Michael Brown. "Mr Chairman, I was here first!"about 8 hours ago

# Thomas wants "fairness, dignity, and respect to those we serve." Expect to hear "respect" a lot today. LL will try to keep a count.about 8 hours ago

# HTJ: "If we're going to put children first, then we should listen to the children sometimes." In ref to McKinley protests.about 9 hours ago

# PLEASE GOD NO. Says Harry Thomas Jr: "All I can say is, here we go again, 18 more hours, whatever it takes."about 9 hours ago

# Also: Were they illegal? Could this have been done "in a less disruptive fashion"?about 9 hours ago

# Evans asks: Were the actions necessary? Were they taken in students' best interest?about 9 hours ago

# Here is the Sun editorial: http://bit.ly/4i4Hs1about 9 hours ago

# Gray: "Stop scapegoating!"about 9 hours ago

# Oh boy, Gray is already pulling out the "native Washingtonian" card. I don't more at this from an academic or purely spectator perspective"about 9 hours ago

# Gray mentions Balt Sun editorial that compared reform efforts in that city with here. Says he "just happened upon it." Perhaps in LL Daily?about 9 hours ago

# Gray describes "summer hiring frenzy of over 900 teachers"about 9 hours ago

# Gray cites "multiple inconsistent explanations by the executive"about 9 hours ago

# Vince fairly spits when he says he wants to knwo why the council was blamed for layoffs.about 9 hours ago

# Michelle Rhee is in the house, so that's good! Also there: Nat Gandhiabout 9 hours ago

# LL is prepping to liveblog/tweet Michelle Rhee's appearance before the D.C. Council. Stay tuned!about 9 hours ago

Tags: D.C. Public Schools, Michelle Rhee, Politics

Comments

Typical DC BS October 29th, 2009
10:49 am

#1

Vincent Gray and most of the DC City Council are barely beyond useless. Lots of hot air, no action.

I wish someone would stand up at these hearings and tell the city council that one of the reasons they turned over all school functions to Mayor Fenty's control was because of the horrendous job they have done for the past 20 years overseeing DC schools. They should also give a shout-out to Michelle Rhee for finally standing up to the teachers union and telling them the school system exists primarily for the students' benefit, not to provide jobs for teachers. And they should end it by asking if they can make a list of all the parents whose kids disrupt classes to come down to the hearings, line up, bend over and have everyone take turns kicking them in the ass because of their poor parenting skills.

Just ran out of breath.
Ward 5 October 29th, 2009
11:30 am

#2

THIS IS HILARIOUS: OMG, M Brown going on again about how UDC and DCPS don’t work together. Save it for another hearing

As I ws thinking the same thing.

C. Rhee would be received so negatively if she tried to work with those under her as opposed to being a one-woman army. And until the parents start being parents the schools will not change. I dont care who she has in the classrooms... I've seen it first hand, these kids have no respect, even less for the newer teachers.
Ward 5 October 29th, 2009
11:36 am

#3

I meant Rhee "wouldn't"
another day another hearing October 29th, 2009
12:39 pm

#4

My worst fear is that in the midst of grandstanding for an election year, they fire or run Rhee out of town. Then what? Another superintendent eventually is hired, has to "study" things, pick their pet project to make an impact, undo changes made... and we're back where we started from.

Maybe Rhee overplayed her hand this time. And, she could use a few people skills.

On the other hand, could anyone who cared a lot about what people really think of them get this system undercontrol?
Voice of History October 29th, 2009
1:29 pm

#5

Note to "Typical DC BS:" The Council never ran the school system, and "independent" school board did.
proballdc October 29th, 2009
1:47 pm

#6

I am watching the hearing, damn Cheh questions like a persecuting attorney. You can tell she knew the answer to the question before she asked it and one question's answer makes it impossible to lie your way out of a similar question later, which, in fact was the whole point of the interview. I'm impressed.
proballdc October 29th, 2009
1:51 pm

#7

Wow....these teachers, the one's without performance problems, are going to be rehired. I see now why the judge in the case reserved judgment until next week. This hearing, thus far, makes the dismissal of teachers with satisfactory to exceptional performance appraisals illogical if purely based upon financial pressures, considering they KEPT new teachers with days experience and no performance appraisals at all.

I am not certain who is more incompetent, the Chancellor or Nat Ghandi and crew. I am beginning to believe the latter.
Comrade Al Gonzales October 29th, 2009
2:09 pm

#8

Well put, Prob. Cheh is a heroine; Rhee, a villain. The teachers with decent appraisals will have to be rehired & paid lost wages, attorneys' fees, & costs. DC taxpayers will have to pay - again - for the idiocy of the power-mad Rhee & for the stupidity of the feckless Fenty.

And you're right on Nat Gandhi, too. He's in way over his head - & you can see how easily it would be to steal millions of dollars from his office. Oh that's right, that's already happened - twice.

The more you see how DC is run, the more it becomes apparent that the people here - ignorant poor people & self-obsessed yuppies - have no idea how to control the people they elect. I'm in favor of abolishing home rule & just letting the Feds run everything here.
downtown rez October 29th, 2009
2:33 pm

#9

Nice:
"But Catania is “not about to organize the school system around the mortgages of adults”about 3 hours ago"

Also, Council, why on earth would any parent want to cut childrens' summer school instead of excess teachers?

Who does the school system exist to serve?
proballdc October 29th, 2009
2:34 pm

#10

I think the federal government is having a tough enough time managing the national government. Local government should be left to the locals. The District voters just 1. need to show up to the polls in EVERY election and 2. educate themselves on the history, character and positions of candidates and base their decisions on those areas vs. popularity. Some who claim to abhor Fenty today loved the man when elected and he is the same person today as he was the day he was elected.

Remember, he had stolen money from that elderly man's estate, serving as it's trustee, until caught by his family and brought before the D.C. Bar and sanctioned.

He was as much a man of low ethics and character then as he is now. I, for one, am not surprised.

Question is, will the District voters repeat their mistake.
Typical DC BS October 29th, 2009
4:26 pm

#11

Voice of History - you are correct, an "independent" school board ran the DC public schools. (I like the quotation marks around "independent"!)

My recollection is that the DC City Council constantly meddled in school affairs, though, and ran roughshod over the school board.
KidsFirst October 29th, 2009
4:30 pm

#12

I'm a DCPS teacher in Ward 8. Most of the teachers I work with are incompetent and should be fired. My students are smart, well-behaved, and hard-working. They do extremely well on tests. I support the Chancellor 100%. The WTU does NOT care at all about students. Somebody argue with me.
Jason Cherkis October 29th, 2009
4:36 pm

#13

I'll argue with you KidsFirst. It's easy to scapegoat teachers. Despite Rhee's mandate for change, she continues to get mired in the same old arguments of management vs. teachers. Where's the focus on cracking down on truancy. Perhaps the biggest problem facing a DCPS teacher is attendance. Half the kids don't show up for class. I'd argue this has little to do with teachers.
Tired of the BS October 29th, 2009
4:37 pm

#14

And yet, two years into Rhee's tenure, after hundreds have been fired, the incompetent teachers are still with you. Maybe she's justnot firing the right people!
Jason Cherkis October 29th, 2009
4:45 pm

#15

And one more point I'd make about Rhee: hiring Teach For America newbies is not the answer. Those teachers are all deer-in-the-headlights. One public school teacher I know says it takes four years to become good. These teachers rarely last more than two years.
Tired of the BS October 29th, 2009
4:51 pm

#16

This is the essence of DC govt (you see it in development policy as well as in education). Take a real problem, use it as an excuse to do something self-aggrandizing and unlikely to work. Then, when your approach fails, argue that the fact that it hasn't worked yet means you need to do it even more. It's insane.

When Rhee took over, I honestly doubted things could get worse. Boy was I wrong. It's stunning.
huh? October 29th, 2009
4:56 pm

#17

What school do you work at KidsFirst?
dcdc October 29th, 2009
5:03 pm

#18

why don't people get that when a school system has been messed up for DECADES, it is not a pretty clean up?
huh? October 29th, 2009
5:05 pm

#19

I don't know that anyone said that making schools better would be clean, did they?
Tired of the BS October 29th, 2009
5:17 pm

#20

Because we're following the details much more closely than you, apparently, are dcdc. So we see high-performing teachers fired and incompetent ones kept on. We see endless churn among principals with toadyism seemingly the main job requirement. We see poorly-performing schools closed to send kids to schools that are just as bad or worse.

So while I'm willing to believe that in a situation like DCPS things would have to get uglier to get better, I'm not willing to believe that any ugliness is per se a sign of improvement. That's would just be stupid.

And, geez, this is a system with so much low-hanging fruit, there should be some progress by now. Proving that you know WTF you're doing makes people more willing to follow you when the going gets rough. Rhee came in with a lot of goodwill (people desperately wanted her to succeed), but no background, no vision/planning/program, and her track record here is abysmal. So it's not squeamishness on my part, or investment in the status quo, or even a dislike for her abrasive style and scorched earth approach that makes me think Rhee is a disaster -- it's what she's done (created an environment in which no good teacher would want to work) and what she hasn't done (created models of attainable excellence, reformed special ed, worked with parents).
Jason Cherkis October 29th, 2009
5:29 pm

#21

Here's a little anecdote from one former teacher I talked to. When she went to meet with Rhee, she caught her in the lobby of DCPS' admin building. She was told that she'd have to wait for Rhee to take elevator up by herself. Then she could take the next elevator. It was awkward to say the least.

Rhee meets teachers in lobby. Teachers are then not allowed to take elevator up with Rhee.

Rhee rides alone!
The Advoc8te October 29th, 2009
5:38 pm

#22

Perhaps I am clueless but I support the Chancellor. I fix this mess is not going to be pretty and I think everyone needs to be held accountable. No one is guranteed a job for life - performance should be linked to job security.
huh? October 29th, 2009
6:04 pm

#23

Advoc8te, I think that everyone would like to support someone like Rhee. She says the right things about education being a civil rights issue and everything's all about the kids. We all want kids to succeed in this city. Every single one of us.

The problem is she has no knowledge of classroom education, has no management experience, and isn't qualified to be a principal in her own system. Besides that, her ideas about teaching are questionable. The changes that she's put into place have nothing to do with children and everything to do with adults.

You add this to her arrogance, you've got a recipe for disaster. People desperately want things to get better, but there is no evidence that what she's doing is making schools better. And don't give me the test scores are improving b.s. First, even if they did rise, those changes have everything to do with Cliff Janey's changes. Second, there was and will continue to be massive cheating on tests.

She and her corporate ilk have taken the term "reform" and say that anyone who doesn't like what they do are anti-reform. We're not anti-reform. We want changes. We just don't think that she actually knows what she's doing.
Jason Cherkis October 29th, 2009
6:07 pm

#24

huh? You make excellent points. Rhee was brought in with let's face it: a very limited resume.
Marciela October 29th, 2009
6:25 pm

#25

It is very easy to see that Wells and Catania support Rhee. It is also easy to see that she and Fenty have completely divided DC more than I've ever seen it before. The bottom line for me:
1. Rhee lies very well but she was not on her lying A-game today,
2. She kept referring to DCMR and other laws, even quoting it. Yet she fires people without respect to the law.
3. The teachers and the principals/assistant principals are going to win their suits and the city will pay even more.

She has no people skills. Gains have been made in certain neighborhoods across the city, Wards 3 and 4, but not for most of the poorer children and their families.

What she is doing is not reform, it's just hire/fire and rhetoric.
Marciela October 29th, 2009
6:27 pm

#26

And what leader in his or her right mind would think being sued is worth it to move on when you break the law? The bottom line is that the law works in one way: you follow it or you break it and there are consequences when you break law.
Tired of the BS October 29th, 2009
6:29 pm

#27

So when Catania said that, but for Rhee and Fenty, DCPS as we know would have ceased to exist within 10 years, was he thinking "and now, it'll be destroyed in less than 5!"
Downtown Rez October 29th, 2009
6:38 pm

#28

My experience as a parent with DCPS children has improved under Rhee, as has my school. What else can I say?
I just hope the gains I see at the early grades are carried forward each year.
Angry Al Gonzales October 29th, 2009
6:46 pm

#29

KidsFirst - you have no truancy in your class? Your kids show up clean & fed & well-rested? Homework done?

In a DC public school? Right.

The two main problems with the schools are poverty & the parents of the kids. When you have 90% of the kids coming from desperately poor families, when the parents have little or no education, when the rich & bourgeoisie put their kids in private schools, changing a few hundred teachers is not going to change anything.

Change the system - put a 100% tax on private school tuition. You want to pay $30,000 to send your kid to NCS or wherever, fine, pay a $30,000 tax. Tax upper incomes at 90% as was done from 1942-1982.

Use that money to educate the parents & the kids. Keep schools open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Use "community schools" as Arne Duncan did in Chicago.

Then you will see some improvement. Without profound, fundamental change in society, any tinkering with the schools is not going to produce any major improvement.
Downtown Rez October 29th, 2009
6:48 pm

#30

Scores are also improving in Ward 2, Marciela. That matters all the more because so many students in ward 2 are out of boundary. Think Ellington, School Without Walls, Ross, etc. And many of those students are low income.
You are painting an incomplete picture.
Ward 5 October 29th, 2009
7:00 pm

#31

Jason to add to your elevator ride - Rhee (this year) went into Dunbar HS and was asked to walk through the metal detector, she (in a not so polite tone) informed the security guard that she's not walking through it and he better "ask someone who she is" lol. My assumption is regardless if he knew who she was or not, he had better asked or he'd lose his job.

On a serious note, the schools will not change until the parents take more responsibility for their children. The teachers, new/old good/bad black/white, nor the Chancellor can do it alone. It takes a collective effort. This is coming from a DCPS Parent.
Jason Cherkis October 29th, 2009
7:04 pm

#32

Parents have to be empowered to buy in. Rhee only fuels their worries. One year, it's your school is closing. The next, it's your kid's teacher is getting fired with a phone call. This doesn't help Rhee's credibility with parents.
Marciela October 29th, 2009
7:24 pm

#33

@Downtown Rez: This is not directed at you personally but Ross has 130 students. They should be doing well. Those students are getting the small class sizes and attention they need. School Without Walls principal allegedly is the one who got a 30 on his evaluation so it must be the staff carrying that school.

The fact that the schools are out of boundary speaks specifically to my point because the children who are forced to attend their neighborhood schools in low-income areas are continuing to suffer.
Comrade Al Gonzales October 29th, 2009
8:24 pm

#34

Exactly. The schools in Georgetown, Palisades, Glover Park, etc. are fairly good schools. The rest of the schools stink.

Most objective observers agree that the parents are the key. How do you reach parents who are desperately poor & uneducated?

You have to educate the parents at the same time you educate the kids. It will take a generation, but you need to break the cycle of uneducated, ignorant parents begetting uneducated, ignorant children - until you break that cycle, nothing will change.

Hence, raise taxes. Educate parents alongside their kids. Every evening at school - parents educated in one room, kids helped with homework in another.

We need higher - much, much, much higher - taxes, along with community schools. Otherwise, you can change everything else - superintendent/chancellor, teachers, principals, curricula, etc. - & no long term, significant improvement will follow.

It will never happen. Americans, & baby boomers in particular, are terrified of higher taxes, & politicians naturally take the path of least resistance. You see crowded hallways in virtually every school in America today. That did not happen twenty years ago. That's because the parents of the baby boomers built plenty of schools, paid higher taxes, & their kids received far better educations than kids today.

No higher taxes, no parental education, no community schools - no real, lasting improvement. That's your choice, Sophie.

oh & KidsFirst really didn't want to argue, did she? or else she's off having hot teacher sex right now...
Marciela October 29th, 2009
8:52 pm

#35

This:
"The fact that the schools are out of boundary speaks specifically to my point because the children who are forced to attend their neighborhood schools in low-income areas are continuing to suffer."
is a remarkably wrong way to view things. No one in this city is "forced" to attend any particular school given the out of boundary and charter options.
I'll also note that Ellington, Hardy, SWW, and Thompson are remarkably larger than the one example out of all the Ward 2 schools you chose.
You are cherry-picking your data- one of the myriad of things Rhee-haters accuse her of doing.
Just curious- do you currently have your own children in DCPS?
Tired of the BS October 29th, 2009
9:16 pm

#36

Some kids are forced to attend neighborhood schools because their parents/guardians, for whatever reasons, cannot, will not, or do not explore other options. For some working parents, OOB is a not a viable option, given their schedules and/or commutes. You may or may not think those parents are "forced" into neighborhood schools (depending on formalistic your notion of choice is), but an elementary school kid -- i.e. the person whose future is at stake -- is forced into a neighborhood school under those circumstances. And that kid didn't choose his or her parents or neighborhood either. Which is why every neighborhood school needs to be a good one. And why it really sucks that these reforms are making school worse for those who are already the least well off. It's a very nasty kind of triage.
Ward 5 October 30th, 2009
8:07 am

#37

I will admit its not as easy to just apply to an "out of boundary" school, given that most lack space. After my daughter's school (Brookland -out of boundary-for her) was closed I was told to send her to Brown middle school the following year. (Yeah RIGHT)! On the campus of Spingarn??? I think not! I wrote numerous letters & e-mails to everyone I could including the Chancellor to relay the concerns I had about my child's safety in attending that school. To no avial... I haven't received an answer yet and that was 2 years ago... It was then I decided with a charter.

Jason, I see your point with the parents as well. We all have to find a way to work together if we're all really trying to reach the same target.

Does anyone know - out of those 900+ she hired - were any of those RIF? I have a family memeber who just got accepted into DC Teach (or something like that) and was told that he'll be in the classrooms no later than January. How is this even possible?
Art October 30th, 2009
8:40 am

#38

Someone needs to call the councilmembers on their hypocrisy. It's sickening to watch them talk about how unfair the RIF process is. First, the RIF process is laid out in DC's municipal regulations. If they don't like it, they can easily legislate. Second, and most importantly, those very councilmembers often don't even give their staffers the due process of a RIF. They simply fire at will. Don't believe me? Ask Kwame Brown's former committee staffers what happened to them.
huh? October 30th, 2009
9:58 am

#39

Art, a RIF cannot take place at someone's leisure. It has to be absolutely necessary-no other choice. In this case, it doesn't appear that it was absolutely necessary and was decided on in a less than transparent way. Catania's reading of the law during the hearing, and his immediate interpretation, is clearly flawed. Certainly that law does not read that an administrative decision to fire people, thus deliberately creating under spending can be used to justify an administrator's unilateral reprogramming. That would be crazy. And it would be a terrible precedent for the rest of the government.

We are certainly showing our young people the worst during these hearings. And while I would put some of it on the council, I think that Rhee, Fenty, and Nickles bear most of the responsibility for the tone that has been set. You saw that even some of Rhee's supporters on the council said that she will fail if she doesn't change her ways. She needs to take that very seriously, but I doubt she will.

Fenty campaigned as a populist. He certainly isn't one. We cannot allow the executive to have unchecked power. That is simply unacceptable. I think it's time for a recall. It's gotten out of hand.
Angry Al Gonzales October 30th, 2009
10:12 am

#40

Rhee's statistics prove a prima facie case of disparate impact. Older workers were targeted by Rhee's RIF.

So then the District gets a chance to rebut the plaintiffs' case by introducing evidence of "legitimate business necessity". The District cannot prove that, because the budget had plenty of money to keep all the teachers RIFed.

The average hire over the past ten years was 600-700 new teachers. Rhee hired 900 new teachers & then fired about 250 teachers. If Rhee had hired 600-700 teachers instead of 900 teachers, no one would have been RIFed.

The District loses this lawsuit - big time. If you want to fire someone for poor performance, do it. If you try to use a RIF a la Michelle Rhee, that is prohibited by law & you will lose - big time.
Skipper October 30th, 2009
12:05 pm

#41

I wonder which is worse: Angry Al's legal acumen or his predictions of convictions for various Councilmembers, executive agency directors, etc.?
stayone October 30th, 2009
12:38 pm

#42

This is pretty simple. This situation involving DCPS would not be happening in a predominantly white school district!! You can bet on that.
Downtown rez October 30th, 2009
12:40 pm

#43

TotBS-

I think my general statement about not being forced is accurate. But I do understand this observation:

"Some kids are forced to attend neighborhood schools because their parents/guardians, for whatever reasons, cannot, will not, or do not explore other options."

And I agree every neighborhood school needs to be a good one for that (and other) reasons.

To me, it is especially important to have teachers who are not jaded, who do believe that kids can learn, and who do whatever is necessary to reach kids in schools. Because if the kids don't get a learning- positive environment at home, than school is the only place they will. DCPS needs to focus on the school environment and not use the home environment as an excuse.
Downtown rez October 30th, 2009
12:41 pm

#44

Oh, and the 8:52 post by "Marciela" was by me. I copied-pasted her name in the wrong space. I was trying to respond to her and in a rush. My bad.
Typical DC BS October 30th, 2009
12:57 pm

#45

Stayone-

Don't believe white school districts are run any better. One of the issues with DCPS is that it is a large school system, so the problems are large scale as well.

I was a school board member in central Illinois and we had problems with teachers, their unions, poor and uneducated parents, etc., just on a smaller scale.
ibc October 30th, 2009
1:42 pm

#46

Glad we've heard from all the folks who believe DCPS is primarily a jobs-creation program for Maryland residents. We've tried it your way for the last half-century. It's been an abysmal failure. You've left us with the worst school system probably in the history of human civilization.

Fortunately there's now a majority of DC residents who are invested in the best interests of actual schoolchildren. That means--regardless of the vocal minority of anti-Rhee folks--those elected officials obstructing Rhee are going to be seen as obstructing school reform. And that's going to be political suicide.

The fact that Rhee's strategy is completely in alignment with the Obama Administration's strategy is just icing on the cake.
Downtown rez October 30th, 2009
7:23 pm

#47

@ ibc
Woo-hoo!
PhillipMarlowe October 30th, 2009
10:09 pm

#48

Mrs. Rhee, around 3:45 was deliberately misleading about the NAEP MAth scores (reading scores for 2009 are not out yet).
This is not so surprising as she told a lie that the 2009 DC-CAS scores at Shaw Middle School went up, when actually, they went down.
Nor surprising considering her "Baltimore Miracle" of taking kids from 13th percentile to the 90th percentile in two years (after which, she quit.)

That all being said, the DC council members sounded stupid yesterday.
But my PG County Council isn't much better.
Five to Go October 31st, 2009
4:55 pm

#49

Let's start from the beginning. Fenty was elected mayor because the older establish city council did not do enough for the avergae citizen. The voters elected Fenty for a change of vision. Then Fenty sends Victor Reinoso to find a chancellor. Victor R. finds Michelle Rhee a failed two year Baltimore city school teacher, to run our poor school system. Big Mistake. Michelle Rhee could not make it in the classroom as a teacher. I would love to see her evaluations! Now here we are. This hateful chancellor, who by the way could never be a Superintendent ( you have to have a doctorate degree), is blowing smoke up some people's asses. She is not wanted nor is she needed in this city. We had an excellent Superintendent, Dr. Clifford Janey, and of course Andrian Fenty fired him upon his election.
Lastly, Michelle Rhee went around the city council, and the Law to fire all of her haters (who by the way are all correct in their opinion of her). The children in this case are Left Behind, as usuall. Anyone in the Baltimore City school system please share your thoughts and ideas about M. Rhee when she was in the classroom.
Truth Hurts October 31st, 2009
10:05 pm

#50

Nothing I've read here, and nothing certain politically motivated council members have said, persuades me that Rhee's not trying to improve DC's historically abysmal schools. I'd be interested in seeing some legitimate polling data reflecting the views of parents with children in DC schools. Presumably their primary goal is the education of their kids. Is there recent reliable data on this?
Five to Go November 1st, 2009
12:26 pm

#51

Where Oh Where are the parents of DCPS children? Why are you all letting Michelle " Rheetarded" snatch your child's teachers out of the classroom during the school day?
So (her favorite word to start her sentences) let the children run the schools. This city should Wake Up. All of this type of New York City Style Reform is not working out. Let's go back to the elected school board, the mayor should not have total control over our schools (the current Mayor is a thief,liar, and a complete idiot). We need the Feds to look into taking back control over this school system.
2thru November 1st, 2009
7:08 pm

#52

They already are looking into taking this city over and who can blame them? I ama resident of this city and I find it appalling that Michelle Rhee an uncredentialed, inexperienced, novice can experiment on our children. Moreover, she consistently defies the law and that is a horrbile example for the children. Parents are voting with their feet as they are leaving DCPS to go to private and charter schools as well as schools in other jurisdictions. While Ms. Rhee insists that she is gaining students, has anyone other than her people counted the students in DCPS? Furthermore, if the population was growing as much as she alleges, why is she so desperately trying to force SPED students who are in proviate institutions to come to DCPS? Oh right -to save money for the law suits the city will have to pay for her illegal termination of employees.

Has anyone bothered to follow up on the cheating scandal? How can she claim victory if her scores are bogus? Special attention should be paid to the scores of the failing schools that were under Barbara Adderley. The ones that are still open that is....
Comrade Al Gonzales November 1st, 2009
7:29 pm

#53

Yes, please let the Feds take over the school system. & I wish they'd take over the entire DC government.

I've waited decades for this city to get its shit together. It never has, & it never will. Please, give us back to the Feds & let them run things.
Marciela November 1st, 2009
8:44 pm

#54

@2thru: What's up with Barbara Adderley? Is that the old looking lady with the little bit of grey hair?
Marciela November 1st, 2009
8:54 pm

#55

@Downtown Rez:

Home environment is not an excuse, it's a reality. Although I never grew up in abject poverty, as a sociologist I know that it's real. Until we have the same concern for children as have zeal for firing people the problem will only escalate. Poverty is a huge deterrent on so many levels: social, physical, psychological and emotional.

Downtown Rez, I don't always agree with you but I respect the fact that you are willing to look at things on more than one level. That's what solving these issues is going to take.
Comrade Al Gonzales November 1st, 2009
9:08 pm

#56

Abject poverty is the problem. Capitalism is the problem. We need Communism. From each according to his ability; to each according to his need.

No racism. No sexism. No discrimination of any kind.
Comrade Al Gonzales November 1st, 2009
9:09 pm

#57

Communism is Paradise - Paradise without superstitions or religions.

Imagine - no war - peace - no religion, too. John Lennon & Leon Trotsky, the best duo ever.
Comrade Al Gonzales November 1st, 2009
9:17 pm

#58

Everyone earns $60-100,000 per year. The head of Goldman Sachs makes $90,000. The dishwasher makes %65,000. CC Sabathia makes $95,000. The janitor makes $85,000.

People are rewarded with honours & medals. Winners of honours are showered with sexual favours.

Everyone is happy. Everyone works hard. Society advances. Society evolves.

Aux armes, citoyens! To the future!

Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé !
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L'étendard sanglant est levé, (bis)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats ?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras
Egorger vos fils, vos compagnes !

Refrain :

Aux armes, citoyens,
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons !
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons !

2

Que veut cette horde d'esclaves,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés ?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves,
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (bis)
Français, pour nous, ah ! quel outrage
Quels transports il doit exciter !
C'est nous qu'on ose méditer
De rendre à l'antique esclavage !

3

Quoi ! des cohortes étrangères
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers !
Quoi ! ces phalanges mercenaires
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers ! (bis)
Grand Dieu ! par des mains enchaînées
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient
De vils despotes deviendraient
Les maîtres de nos destinées !
4

Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides
L'opprobre de tous les partis,
Tremblez ! vos projets parricides
Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix ! (bis)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre,
S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros,
La terre en produit de nouveaux,
Contre vous tout prets à se battre !

5

Français, en guerriers magnanimes,
Portez ou retenez vos coups !
Epargnez ces tristes victimes,
A regret s'armant contre nous. (bis)
Mais ces despotes sanguinaires,
Mais ces complices de Bouillé,
Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié,
Déchirent le sein de leur mère !

6

Amour sacré de la Patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs
Liberté, Liberté chérie,
Combats avec tes défenseurs ! (bis)
Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents,
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire !

7

Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus,
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus (bis)
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre

NB: le septième couplet, dont l'auteur reste à ce jour inconnu, a été ajouté en 1792.

Aux armes, citoyens... To arms, citizens...
Marciela November 1st, 2009
9:22 pm

#59

Well, well, well ... Rhee's supporters, the richer capitalists, apparently paid people to wear those lime-green, skittle-colored t-shirts. Look at this comment from the Examiner:

put kids first

Oct 30, 2009

I am a parent with children in DCPS. I was offered money to attend the DC City Council hearing in support of Ms.Rhee. I attended for this reason only. I do not support Ms.Rhee but I did wear a lime green shirt saying put kids first.

Here is the link to the article:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Council-members-accuse-Rhee-of-breaking-law-in-teacher-showdown-8458568-67380292.html

SNEAKY, SNEAKY, SNEAKY!! You know you're wrong when you have to pay people to be on your side. Is that lunch money extortion in reverse?
2thru November 1st, 2009
9:34 pm

#60

Barbara Adderley is an Assistant Superintendent who used to head all the failing schools. She is from Philly and used to be married to a Herb Adderley, a Dallas Cowboy. He is now living in France and is broke. All of the schools she used to head are either closed, consolidated or in otherwise worse condition. Is this a pattern?
I digress. The point is that the schools who didn't need help may be doing well under Ms. Rhee but those who did need help are still struggling. If Michelle Rhee is saying that the cheating info is "inconclusive" why not rely upon the NAEP scores or test the children independently of DCPS? Why not compare the SAT scores with the DCCAS? If there is a huge disparity between the two wouldn't that be an interesting indicator?
Marciela November 1st, 2009
9:46 pm

#61

@2thru: Thanks for the clarification. I've heard about her and that's who I thought you were talking about but wasn't sure.

To attempt to answer your questions, perhaps the struggling schools under Adderley are part of the group who allegedly cheated, likely out of fear for losing their jobs. Rhee can't rely on the NAEP scores because Councilman Brown caught her half-truths about the scores. It seems she didn't think he was smart enough to have gotten a report of the scores. Here's a link to the real NAEP scores from their website:

Fourth Grade:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/stt2009/2010454DC4.pdf

Eighth Grade:
http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/stt2009/2010454DC8.pdf

No one can seem to get the DC CAS scores the way they are traditionally put out because Rhee won't show a comparison. Most of the time test scores are put out where they compare multiple years and people can't even get a single year's report now.

There is a HUGE disparity between SAT scores and DC CAS high school test scores. DC Achievement Test Scores also have not risen.

Very interesting since Rhee and McGoldrick served and continue to serve on St. Hope Charter Board for Kevin Johnson, Rhee's boyfriend. Here's the link to that information:
http://www.sthope.org/press_releases/rhee1.pdf
downtown rez November 1st, 2009
10:18 pm

#62

"Where Oh Where are the parents of DCPS children?"
I am one.
And I regularly make that point when I comment here in support of Rhee and, yes, Fenty.
I don't recall ANY negative commenter coming out and saying they are a parent of a DCPS kid, let alone saying what their specific complaints about Rhee's management are.

In the last administration I with my own hands patched bullet holes in elementary schools. Not a few, either, more like 40 or 50. You don't see that kind of neglect (or violence) under Rhee/Fenty.
It's simply not there.
Because I'm a DCPR parent and have been involved, I'm confident of my perspective. And because of that, can not take some of the obviously ignorant and hateful comments on this thread for anything other than sour grapes.
By the way, Marciela, no one got paid to wear those T-shirts. I was not there but know the organizers and several who did attend, and those that came did so because they support reform for childrens' sake.
Unlike the union hacks who just feel entitled to a guaranteed job.
My kids love to go to school. They are eager to get there in the morning, and don't want to leave in the evening. They are learning, their class is bright, cheerful, and welcoming. I'm amazed every day.
What more could a parent ask for?
Rhee is a success in my book.
2thru November 1st, 2009
10:37 pm

#63

I am sincerely glad that you are happy withthe results but your attitude is not supported by other Dc residents. While we agree that we do not want incompetent people teaching our children, we are sophisticated enough to understand that once one group of people is robbed of due process, we will suffer their fate if we don't protest it.
Moreover, most of us are not convinced that Ms. Rhee et al have the necessary depth of understanding and experience to know incompetence when they see it. We are also disturbed by the fact that Ms. Rhee has no people skills. Given that, it is difficult for us to discern whether she is firing people for "cause" or "just because". What is clear is that when people do not agree with her they do not last long in her administration. Hence, the turn over issue. This situation is a lot more complicated than you might think. Her name is not Jesus, but children in failing schools - those who are still in DCPS- appear to be the lost tribe.
Anonymous November 2nd, 2009
1:29 am

#64

"What more could a parent ask for?"

The same kind of access that you, and others like you, have with Fenty/Rhee to get their kids into schools like Walls, successful for nearly two decades despite a crumbling physical plant. Fenty wasn't even on the radar screen when the rehab and new addition for SWW were planned and approved.
Marciela November 2nd, 2009
8:59 pm

#65

So no one was paid to wear the t-shirts and support Rhee?

This was printed in the Examiner. Talk about shady practices!!

Here's the link for the article.

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/local/Council-members-accuse-Rhee-of-breaking-law-in-teacher-showdown-8458568-67380292.html

Here is a comment posted from a parent:

put kids first
Oct 30, 2009
I am a parent with children in DCPS. I was offered money to attend the DC City Council hearing in support of Ms.Rhee. I attended for this reason only. I do not support Ms.Rhee but I did wear a lime green shirt saying put kids first.
downtown rez November 2nd, 2009
9:49 pm

#66

Ummm. You do realize there is a difference between what is being reported in a news outlet and what anonymous people write in the comment section, right?
If you want to talk about shady practices, your repeating an unattributed and unsubstantiated blog comment as truth is a decent place to start.
Marciela November 3rd, 2009
7:53 am

#67

@Downtown rez: Let's be clear. I did not "repeat" a blog comment -- I quoted and reposted it. I am able to differentiate between what is reported and comments because I learned to do that in high school and greatly improved my craft in law school.

However, given the tactics of the entire DC government, it is relevant. Your zeal to defend DCPS and Rhee is amazing. However, this post is likely to be as true as comments any other person makes, to include a great many of yours.

To everyone, let's put an intelligent twist on the possibility that people were paid to sit in the lime-green t-shirts at the RIF hearing.

1. Is it ethical to pay people to demonstrate?
2. If this is happening, who is paying?
3. Is it a DCPS fund of Rhee's?
4. Is it a business partner with 'special
interests?'
Think for a Second November 3rd, 2009
10:20 am

#68

Marciela,

As a lawyer, you know that you cannot use an unsubstantiated third party testimony. That is called Hearsay. It is bogus on its face.

Also, Downtown Rez isn't alone by a far cry. He/she is just fighting the following universal rule. If someone is happy they "might" tell one person. If someone is mad, they "will" tell 15.

I agree with Rhee, even if she did choose to fire the teachers. How could you have confidence in someone that would rather cut out summer school than lay off teachers? That is like a football team cutting their roster by six playes to pay the coaches. No one would do that. What kind of vindictive morons would put her it that position.

They are politicians and tried to catch her in a "damned if she does, damned if she doesn't position". If she had cut summer school, people like you would scream that she is a phoney that doesn't care about kids.

She choose the "damn" that was in the long-term interest of the kids. But either way, this still falls on the shoulders of the council.

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