Soon after taking office in 2007, Washington, D.C., Mayor Adrian Fenty took over the D.C. Public School System. In short order, he appointed Michelle Rhee as Chancellor of the underperforming, unsafe, and neglected school district. Rhee was viewed from the beginning as a force capable of improving a school system which had for decades been among the worst academic performers in the country. As predicted, the new chancellor immediately got to work implementing her aggressive reform agenda, which included firing ineffectual teachers and administrators, closing poor-performing schools, and reworking contracts …
As the fight to save the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program heats up, Rep. Jose Serrano, Chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that regulates appropriations to the District of Columbia, is attempting to justify his opposition to the successful scholarships. In a Washington Post oped last week, Serrano writes: “When I assumed the chairmanship of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees federal payments to the District, I announced that I was not interested in being a second mayor. Toward that end, I have worked to minimize Congress’s interference in D.C. affairs …
