Joseph Kelley knew something was wrong when his son Rashawn flunked first grade. “I knew he knew his alphabet forward and backward, he knew how to count to 100 forward and backward,” Kelley said. He had taught Rashawn these things himself. Rashawn’s teachers were surprised to find out that he knew how to read; they hadn’t noticed. At the time, Rashawn was attending a public school in Washington, D.C. Kelley decided to sit in on his son’s classes to learn the teachers’ vocabulary and techniques so he could tutor Rashawn …
A District of Columbia city council member is calling on the city’s taxicab commission to allow competition to its “mediocre and unreliable” taxi services in the wake of a sting operation aimed at shutting down an innovative car service that officials say violates a number of city laws. If current law prohibits such competition, stated Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), the law should be amended to allow for “improve[d] transportation options for residents and visitors alike.” Cheh’s statement comes days after city officials conducted a sting operation on Uber, an …
Technically, the District of Columbia offers school choice. However, as a Washington Post article pointed out this weekend, there is a difference between school choice and real school choice, the latter available to too few students in the nation’s capital. D.C. children who attend an underperforming school are allowed to transfer to other public schools—including charter schools—of their choice. Yet while D.C. may be seen as “a showcase for school choice”—as its “14-year-old charter school law is considered to be one of the strongest in the nation”—most D.C. public schools …
Last week the District of Columbia’s Board of Elections and Ethics (BOEE) rejected, for the third time, a request by five D.C. citizens to put the issue of same-sex marriage to a popular vote. If the Board’s decision is upheld by the D.C. Superior Court and appeals fail, only the U.S. Congress will be able to ensure that a vote occurs before the same-sex marriage law approved by the D.C. Council takes effect early next month. Advocates of the traditional definition of marriage, represented by the public interest law firm …
Advocates of traditional marriage filed an appeal in the District of Columbia today, as expected, seeking review of yesterday’s D.C. Superior Court ruling that a public referendum on the issue would violate the city’s Human Rights Act. The appeal will place the issue before the D.C. Court of Appeals, which will be asked next week to make an expedited decision on the issue. The Superior Court decision represented a victory for advocates of marriage redefinition in the District. The D.C. City Council’s decision to allow same-sex couples to marry is …
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) just unveiled his much discussed amendment (called a manager’s amendment), which many believe is the President’s last chance to secure significant health care reform before next year’s mid-term elections. Fittingly, since no one has seen the bill, the Senate clerk is now reading the bill, which could take upwards of eight hours. During that time, everyone will be trying to understand what is included in the bill. That includes understanding the key provisions that may have been inserted to win the support of Senator …
Each morning, District of Columbia special police officer Dick Heller reports to his job protecting the Federal Judicial Center, where he takes possession of a handgun that he carriers throughout the day. Despite the fact that the city trusts Heller to carry a handgun all day in order to protect the courthouse, the city denied him a permit to keep a gun at home in order to protect his family. The District of Columbia has one of then nation’s most draconian handgun bans, and yesterday the Supreme Court struck down …
In a landmark opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the right to keep and bear arms, recognized in the Second Amendment, is an individual right of all Americans unconnected with service in a militia. (Read the decision.) Americans may use arms like handguns for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home. Six District of Columbia residents originally brought suit challenging the gun ban that virtually forbids the ownership of any handgun and outlaws the functional storage or use of any long gun within …
Yesterday the Appropriations Committee approved funding for the 1,900 District of Columbia low income school children who receive scholarships to attend the school of their choice. Heritage Director of Domestic Policy Studies Jennifer Marshall highlights some of the voices of the families benefiting from this program: Ayesha McKinney is just thankful for simple things — like clean bathrooms for her daughters. “There’s no reason that children should have to be in an unclean, unsafe environment, because it’s very difficult for them to learn.” Not surprisingly, a recent evaluation of the …
Yesterday a House Appropriations subcommittee voted to save 1,900 scholarships for low-income D.C. children from teachers unions intent on killing school choice. The chairman of the subcommittee, Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY), warned that this was the last year he would allow low income DC students and their families to choose which schools they wanted to go to. Hopefully, given another year, more promising results will come from the program like this week’s Department of Education study showing scholarship students out performed those in public school on reading scores. The District’s …
