Barry vs. Fenty: DC kids caught in the crossfire
Jacques_Arsenault | | 
1
This week, D.C. Councilmember (and "Mayor for Life") Marion Barry has put a hold on funding for school renovations in D.C., apparently simply because of a running dispute with Mayor Adrian Fenty, related to a different summer program.
It is stories like this one, today in the Washington Examiner, that remind me of how important it is to more leaders who put the needs of kids first into office, rather than using education and children as pawns in a political battle.
Barry stalls school renovations, decries `lack of accountability'
WASHINGTON - D.C. Councilman Marion Barry is holding up nearly $200 million in contracts sought by Mayor Adrian Fenty, threatening school renovations and a major Southwest development.
Barry, D-Ward 8, filed a package of disapproval resolutions last Friday, halting at least eight contracts submitted by Fenty for 45 days, or until the holds are lifted. Among them: $9 million for school facility upgrades, $10 million for athletic field modernization and $310,000 for mechanical work at Brightwood Elementary School in Fenty's Ward 4.
"I'm going to keep these on as long as I can," Barry told The Examiner Thursday...
Mayor Fenty, Chancellor Michelle Rhee (Baltimore '92) Speak at Summit
Angie_Kuefler | | 0
Over 400 area alumni and corps members descended on Washington, DC to hear from elected officials, policy leaders, and education trailblazers who all echoed a similar sentiment: the Teach For America movement is at a significant point, where alumni leaders in politics, advocacy, and teaching have reached a critical mass--and can therefore directly and significantly influence education reform, especially in DC--where the achievement gap has reached a critical level of urgency.
Find out what they said, and how you can learn from the summit even if you weren't able to make the trip.