Michelle Rhee's central administration has thus far seemed to operate like a fortress atop a hill. It's visible to all, but secured. Only certain people can come in and know what's going on. Time and time again, activists have lined up to protest Rhee's actions. Still, the inner sanctum is protected. But yesterday came news [...]

Now's your chance: Tune in to Channel 13 and play along.

P.S. Not included on that chart is one of the chancellor's more annoying habits: Starting every response to a question with "So..." She already did that. On the very first question.

I caught up with Maria P. Jones, one of the chief anti-school closure activists, this morning. Jones is currently visiting family in New Orleans. But she still had some thoughts–and a lot of anger and perhaps wishful thinking–on Fenty's revised school closure plan.
“He’s still playing games," Jones said meaning Fenty. "That’s not doing anything [...]

Still waiting for Hizzoner to show up here at Ron Brown Middle School in Northeast, but school honchos have passed out a press release detailing their school closure plans.
The skinny: Six schools will remain open. They are Bruce Monroe ES, Burroughs ES, Smothers ES, Brown JHS, Shaw JHS, and today's host, Ron Brown Middle.
But! Four [...]

A week ago this evening, the D.C. Public Schools held 23 simultaneous meetings to discuss school closings. Afterward, DCPS put out a press release announcing that "more than" 411 people had attended. Here's a breakout of those numbers, according to data provided by DCPS.
Of note: No one chose to testify at three of the meetings. [...]

On the morning of Jan. 17, teachers and staff at Garnet-Patterson Middle School in Shaw thought their school remained safe from the dreaded D.C. public schools closure list. Hours later, their outlook changed.
Around 3 p.m., Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham placed a call to Garnet’s principal, Veda Usilton, letting her now that the plan to [...]

Fisher assesses the low turnout at last night's school meetings. He seems to think that this means there is little opposition to the school closings. You can read our own coverage of the school meetings here.
The Examiner reports that a bomb threat has closed the World Bank.
Prince of Petworth hates on some new development.

D.C. Public Schools honchos just put out a press release touting that "Hundreds Gather to Testify at DCPS Community Meetings." Just how many? Well, "more than 411" is what they say, which means that an average of ("more than") 17.9 people showed up at each meeting.
At the meeting I went to, at LaSalle Elementary in [...]

Prince of Petworth posts a picture of a sweet porch sofa.
The Post reports that Fenty and Co. plan to hold 23 public hearings at the same time on January 17. Each meeting will address a school slated for closure.
Hitchens writes the most honest assessment of Bhutto (at least that I've seen). You can [...]

Shadow Sen. Paul Strauss has made no bones about the fact that he'd like spots for him and his daughter in the city's Verizon Center skybox for the Jan. 7 Hannah Montana concert.
Well, he asked. And he's been denied.
"Neil Albert told me there's no room," Strauss says, referring to the deputy mayor for planning and [...]

The D.C. Council earlier this afternoon approved the legislation reclassifying most DCPS central office employees as "at will," meaning schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee can start firing them soon.
Voting against: Marion Barry, Phil Mendelson, Harry Thomas Jr.

The Post reports that Rhee's proposals to give her authority to fire non-union employees at the DCPS central office and shutter nearly two dozen schools will pass through the council.
Prince of Petworth reports Marvin is set to expand. Do we have to now write something about the New U?
And, Now Anacostia offers a rundown [...]

The Washington Business Journal has an interesting piece in this week's issue about the development potential of school properties on the closure list. "At the top of the list might be Hine Junior High School, a 131,300 square-foot Capital Hill building at the corner of Eighth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue SE that is set snuggly [...]

Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee just took the mike at today's D.C. Council school-system oversight hearing. Council Chairman Vincent Gray's preamble, of course, took Rhee & Co. to task for the school-closings plan but started a line of questioning on the DCPS budget.
What came out early: The schools are facing an approximately $100 million shortfall on [...]

Right now, a whole bunch of union leaders are lined up in front of the council dais to smack down on the plan from Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee to make hundreds of employees at D.C. Public Schools headquarters "at will"—i.e., that they can be fired at any time for any [...]