District Links
The comprehensive DC politics roundup, by Cuneyt Dil.
Send tips, links, events, things to cuneyt.dil@gmail.com.
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Happy Monday. The Post editorial board has come out against Charles Allen’s measure to require more transparency of charter schools.
The editorial: “Many charters, funded at just 70 percent of the level of traditional public schools, have small staffs, and the proposed bill would burden them with reporting requirements that don’t apply to other nonprofits that receive government funding. And, while backers of the legislation say they simply want the same rules for charters and traditional schools, they neglect to mention that many management decisions by the public school system are discussed and taken at the agency level and thus not really bound by strict open-meeting rules.
“… It is telling that one bit of information sought in the legislation proposed by Mr. Allen — who seems not to have consulted with charter officials and declined to discuss the bill with us — is a listing of the names of all charter school employees and their salaries. It’s hard to see how that’s critical to student learning but easy to see how it might help unions in their bid to organize at charter schools.” [WaPo]
Allen emails DL in a statement: "I am hard-pressed to think of a situation when adding more sunshine to government spending didn’t improve the outcomes for the public. I want to re-iterate that we aren’t even close to trailblazing here – 39 other states already have some version of this law in place.”
Critical reactions ranged from groans about a newspaper editorial board opposing more transparency to the editorial’s negative take on union organizing …
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On the other hand, the editorial did please Vince Gray aide and WaPo critic Eric Goulet:
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Then there's this, though editorial writers often don't share the same perspective as newsroom journalists:
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TODAY: Rashad Young defends spending plan in letter to WaPo; Karl Racine and David Grosso push for authority to regulate marijuana sales; former education board rep grapples with choosing neighborhood school ...
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INBOX - '20 attorneys general declare support for D.C. statehood for the first time,' says a press release from Karl Racine's office: "In a first-of-its-kind statement issued ahead of D.C.’s April 16th celebration of Emancipation Day, the Attorneys General affirm that District residents deserve voting rights and autonomy and urge Congress to pass H.R. 51, the Washington, D.C. Admission Act, a bill introduced by Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton that would make D.C. statehood a reality." The press release is posted on The DC Line.
REMINDER - ‘D.C.’s public housing stock requires $2.2 billion in repairs, housing authority says.’ WAMU’s Jenny Gathright: “Years of neglect have led to a maintenance crisis in D.C.’s public housing. And as Congress and the Trump administration battle over large proposed cuts to the federal budget for affordable housing, the D.C. Housing Authority has asked local government to step in and help the agency pay for repairs.
“The agency’s director, Tyrone Garrett, testified at the agency’s budget oversight hearing Thursday that his most modest request would be for an additional $25 million over the next two years and then up to $15 million for 10 more years. But his most aggressive request would be for up to $50 million per year for 17 years.
“… On Thursday, Garrett said the Housing Authority would need $2.2 billion over the next 17 years to get all of D.C.’s public housing back in good shape — and $343 million is required in the next fiscal year just to address lead and environmental hazards in the city’s most unsafe units.”
— What are pols saying? Brianne Nadeau tells WAMU she supports “as much funding as possible” for capital repairs. Elissa Silverman also tells WAMU she favors the authority’s request for $25 million over the next two years and an additional $10 to $15 million in funding over the following decade. Housing committee chair Anita Bonds will make a position public after oversight hearings end, she told WAMU. [WAMU]
OPINION - ‘Congress, stop blocking D.C. from regulating its marijuana market’ was in the Post Metro section on Sunday, by Karl Racine and David Grosso: “If granted the power to tax and regulate a legal marijuana market, the District could address these issues sensibly and comprehensively.
“We could regulate growth and distribution, ensuring that products are safe and transactions secure. We could tax sales, using revenue to address the potential negative side effects of legalization with interventions to prevent teen smoking and to prevent and treat addiction. We could also use revenue to address some of the District’s other pressing priorities — violence reduction and trauma care foremost among them.
“… If not for congressional meddling in local D.C. affairs, we could join the many other states, from Alaska to Maine, in implementing marijuana reform. Congress is the only obstacle to the District establishing effective marijuana regulations that protect D.C. residents, promote D.C. interests and meaningfully address decades of racially inequitable marijuana policy and policing. Congress should allow us to do our job and let the District promote safety and justice for its residents.” [WaPo]
FREE RIDE - Council members throw cold water on Bowser’s plan for free Circulator bus. WTOP’s Max Smith: “The District Department of Transportation hopes free fares will lead to more riders and fewer drivers clogging downtown traffic, but has not released data from the first two months of free fares to support that, Councilwoman Mary Cheh said.
“… Council member Vince Gray was upset the previous Skyland Town Center service was even canceled in the first place. ‘What’s the rationale for having terminated the Circulator and now we’re going to start it again?’ Gray said.
“Cheh suggested the $3.1 million earmarked for free fares could instead be used to expand service sooner. … Council member David Grosso wants free bus trips eventually, including for Metrobuses.
“‘However, I want to note that I am concerned that this proposal to make Circulator buses free does not appear to have been done in a deliberative and thoughtful manner,’ Grosso said.” [WTOP]
YOUR CHOICE - ‘A D.C. family grapples with the politics of choosing a school’ was below the fold A1 Sunday in the Post. Perry Stein on Joe Weedon’s family choosing a high school for daughter Malia: “Will she go to the selective public high school she was accepted to along with hundreds of other high-achieving children? Or will she attend Eastern Senior High, the traditional public high school blocks from her home, a school with an International Baccalaureate (IB) program and robust extracurricular activities — but low scores on standardized tests?
“The angst is compounded for Weedon, who is one of the city’s most passionate boosters of neighborhood schools. Eastern would seem like the natural choice. But when it comes to his daughter — when it comes to anyone making a decision about their own child — everything is more complicated.
“… Weedon, a nonprofit leader and former representative on the D.C. State Board of Education, believes that if more students in the District attended the schools around the block from their homes, education would be better — for everyone.
“… But now his daughter is old enough to have a say in where she will go to school.” [WaPo]
Kelly Harper makes final four for National Teacher of the Year competition. WaPo’s Perry Stein: “Harper, a third-grade teacher at Amidon-Bowen Elementary School in Southwest Washington, was named the city’s teacher of the year and is one of four finalists in the national competition. No D.C. teacher has won the national honor since 2005. This month, she also won The Washington Post’s annual education competition, claiming the title of Teacher of the Year in the Washington region.
“‘When I got the call about being a national finalist, I was like, ‘Wow, are you joking?’’ said Harper, whose D.C. school serves a body of students who are mostly black and from low-income households. ‘But it’s exciting, being able to share so many of my students’ amazing stories and to have a voice in the national landscape.’” [WaPo]
Sunday letters to the editor …
— Rashad Young defended the mayor’s spending plan, responding to an editorial that listed concerns about the budget’s growth: “While I agree that the D.C. Council must be prudent in its approach to spending, I also want to make clear: In creating this budget, the mayor and I did ask those hard questions about growth.
“This budget reflects the fact we have to be focused on absorbing our growth while promoting future growth. This means increasing investments in city services where needed (teachers and ambulance units, for example) and creating and funding tools such as the Housing Production Trust Fund and the ‘workforce housing’ fund that promote sustained, inclusive growth.” [WaPo]
— ‘D.C.’s problems go way beyond go-go music controversies,’ by Greg Boyd: “The D.C. Council’s call to arms on the quieting of our homegrown go-go music was nothing but a bureaucratic false flag in the culture wars surrounding gentrification. From 1987 to 2000, 60,000 people left the city. From 2000 to 2013, 20,000 black residents were supplanted from the District. Gentrification, aided in many instances by tax abatements and developmental inducements, stabilized and increased our population.” [WaPo]
‘Senators to Metro: No rail cars from China — Stipulation in federal bill reflects concerns about competition, cyberspying’ led the WaPo Metro front on Sunday. Robert McCartney: “The move reflects a growing backlash in Washington against China’s state-owned rail company, whose growing domination of the U.S. market has raised concerns that it could ravage American manufacturers and provide platforms for cyberespionage.
“The China Railway Rolling Stock Corp. is pushing back against its critics and has hired lobbyists in Washington. A CRRC spokesman said the United States should encourage rather than stifle free competition and dismissed concerns about subway car spying as ‘ludicrous.’
“… Metro appeared to be relieved at the prospect that Congress might provide it with a legal basis to turn down a bid from CRRC and thus avoid being drawn into a political controversy.” [WaPo]
‘Shaw store has been a D.C. staple for decades’ was below the fold on the WaPo Metro front Saturday. Marissa J. Lang: “Central Communications has struggled to keep up [with the changing neighborhood], owner Donald Campbell said.
“The Metro PCS vendor known for blasting go-go’s distinct percussive funk from a speaker is more than a cellphone store. Some call it a sanctuary. Others joke the store should rename itself the ‘Shaw community rec center.’
“Rent has skyrocketed as the CD business has slowed. Many of the new arrivals are millennials who prefer shopping online to making small talk at the corner store.” [WaPo; also Huff Post]
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LINK DUMP
Check out what we’re reading on TheDCLine.org for new links throughout the day.
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'D.C.’s top judges say vacancies on court are ‘slowing down the wheels of justice’ [WAMU]
Bikeshare pulls electric bikes from service after brake issues [Curbed, WTOP, WaPo]
Originally scheduled to welcome visitors again this spring, Washington Monument won't reopen until August [WaPo, WAMU, WTOP]
‘The Palisades Safeway closing is bad news for food access and walkability’ [GGW]
‘The Yards within The Yard (and why DC companies are moving to the waterfronts)’ [WTOP]
The Advisory Board's New York Avenue NE office project ranks as 16th largest in the U.S. this year, helping push DC region to sixth in nation for office construction [WTOP]
How to make streetcar tracks safer for cyclists [GGW]
Mark Ein's Washington Kastles will play tennis this summer in a new stadium atop Union Market [City Paper, Bisnow, WBJ, Washingtonian, Urbanturf, DCist, WaPo, WTOP]
'This charter school principal dresses for Wall Street, so his students know where to aim' [WaPo]
Armstrong Technical High School reunion: 'Alumni of D.C.’s historically black vocational school gather' [WaPo]
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Amin Muslim remembered on Twitter:
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Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg mentions DC statehood in campaign launch:
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Scenes from Saturday's Emancipation Day concert:
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