Posts by Ken Archer — Contributor
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Bus sideswipes disabled woman’s van, jury awards $8,500
In August 2010, a Metrobus sideswiped a van with a disabled woman inside. Last week a jury heard the woman’s lawsuit against WMATA, and awarded the woman a small sum — $8,500. I was one of the 8 jurors. The woman’s attorney, clearly disappointed, asked for every juror to stand up one by one and affirm their agreement with the award amount. … Keep reading…
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DCPS schools absorb 561 charter transfers per year
561 students in public charter schools, or 1 in 56 charter students, transferred to traditional public schools during the 2011-2012 school year. That means that, in addition to the 277 students charters expelled during that year, another 284 transferred to DCPS schools. The Washington Post profiled involuntary transfers, students who were offered the chance to withdraw… Keep reading…
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Should we just let DC public schools expel anyone?
If DC Public Schools are to compete with charter schools, let them expel any students who keep other students from learning. Special safety-net schools, perhaps run by the Department of Youth and Rehabilitative Services, could fulfill our duty to provide mandatory education. Does this sound crazy? Charter schools get to do something similar. If that’s fair… Keep reading…
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Don’t favor local kids in charter admissions, says task force
Charter schools don’t give priority to kids who live nearby, instead choosing all students from a citywide lottery. Some other big cities, like New York, allow or require a neighborhood preference in charter admissions. In a report released Friday, a DC task force set up to consider this idea recommended against DC following the lead of these cities. The task force did… Keep reading…
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Should school choice work like bank choice?
A majority of public school students east of Rock Creek Park now attend charter or magnet schools, a fact that some consider a victory for school choice. If this trend continues, we’ll have a system with no neighborhood schools at all, where everyone chooses a school from a menu, like you choose a bank. Is this an acceptable outcome? The Brookings Institution ranked urban… Keep reading…
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Howard Town Center doesn’t need an $11 million tax break
The DC Council today will vote on an $11 million property tax break for the Howard Town Center that the DC CFO insists is unnecessary. At a time of crumbling schools and budget cuts, we can’t afford to hand out optional property tax abatements like Santa Claus. What else could we do with $11 million? It costs $11 million to modernize Stuart-Hobson Middle School… Keep reading…
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DC drifting towards separate school systems. Are they equal?
DC Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced yesterday that DCPS plans to close 20 schools. All of the closed schools are east of Rock Creek Park, and 9 are east of the Anacostia River. In these areas, charter schools continue to grow and DCPS neighborhood schools shrink, while families are clamoring to attend neighborhood schools in the wealthiest parts of the District. The… Keep reading…
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Gray sets out solid vision for economic development
Yesterday, Mayor Gray released an economic development strategy for DC, to create 100,000 jobs over the next 5 years and beyond. The mayor deserves kudos for a strong and thoughtful report. The administration partnered with DC’s strong academic sector on the plan. Instead of paying millions of dollars to consultants, they reached out to the business schools of Georgetown,… Keep reading…
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DCPS closing 20 schools, including Spingarn
Chancellor Kaya Henderson announced today that DC Public Schools will close 20 of its schools in a long-anticipated move based, she said, primarily on right-sizing DCPS’s capacity with its enrollment and educating more kids in modernized campuses. The only high school slated to close is also the high school most in the transportation news: Spingarn High School, on Benning… Keep reading…
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Wilson High drawbridge to students east of park is going up
An increasingly popular Wilson High School accepted no middle school students from outside of its boundary this year, according to parents. As the drawbridge to the rest of the city goes up on the only public high school serving most of northwest DC, the Wilson boundary could become the new line between educational haves and have nots. Some advocates are floating a potential… Keep reading…