A Parent Responds to Colbert King

Kathryn Pearson-West, an active Ward 5 parent wrote a follow up email to yesterday's WaPo article by Colbert I. King titled "Beyond Publicity, What is Rhee Producing ?" which highlighted Chairman Vincent Gray's proposal to appoint an 'independent evaluator' to examine the impact of education reform under Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Kathy sent copies of her response to WaPo reporter Colbert I. King, Chairman Vincent Gray and DC city council members as well as Iris Toyer from Parent's United, Mary Levy and myself. This recommendation by Chairman Gray mirrors what happened when NY Public school parents sought an 'independent evaluation' of Chancellor Joel Klein's reform efforts in many of New York's small schools. The independent evaluation was titled the "Small Schools Study" and it provided a more accurate assessment of public education reform in NY.

What are your thoughts on Gray's plan to appoint an independent evaluator ? Feel free to weigh in. Here's Kathy's follow-up email:

January 3, 2009

Chairman Vincent Gray and Mr. Colbert King:

"I read with great interest the article, "Beyond Publicity, What Is Rhee Producing?" Many citizens are asking just that. What are the actual improvements in the school system ? The school bureaucracy has been greatly expanded resulting in a deputy mayor for education, a state education agency, a local education agency, and an agency for school renovations. The chancellor gets paid more than other superintendents that had all these roles, however, I have yet to see where the nation's capital is headed in terms of education and what the real vision is. I applaud the council for deciding to spearhead an evaluation process in the spring. Now is the time to see what substantive improvements are being made that were not set in place by the previous school administration.

Citizens might want to see a lot more than union and school bashing and school leadership that appears to relish the limelight and closing schools and firing people. I was glad to read that the Council is going to move forward with an evaluation project to see what progress is really being made with the schools and to see what the DCPS leadership is up to. It seems like the chancellor has absolute power and having that much power with not much accountability to or respect for the citizenry/taxpayers may not be the best thing for the District of Columbia. Spending seems to be uncontrolled--spend then present the bill without any regard to a budget. Hopefully the evaluation process will somehow involve ordinary citizens and parents to get their input. Involving groups like Parents United would also be a plus. Since Ward 5 was greatly impacted with the closing of so many schools, it would be especially worthwhile to focus additional attention on our schools to see what or if there is any impact on educating our young people.

It might also be worthwhile to check with various communities to see if there are any performance measures/criteria that they might want to see included in any evaluation of the school system. I have copied Iris Toyer, Parents United; Mary Levy; and Candi Peterson, Washington Teachers Union, who I have seen quite active on many of the education issues and are active on list serves getting information out to citizens. I have also copied the Ward 5 Council member and the At Large council members. Keep up the good work on promoting positive education reform and academic excellence for all our young people. I agree with the old African proverb quoted in the article: "When elephants fight, the grass gets trampled." Yes, as the article states, "If a Rhee-union war paralyzes the school system, children may be the ones who suffer."Happy New Year and have a super fantastic day." (Posted by The Washington Teacher).

Kathryn Pearson-West
Ward 5 citizen