DC Statehood Greens call decision canceling the school takeover referendum a blow to DC
democracy, law, and public education
DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
June 11, 2007
Released June 7, 2007
Contact:
Scott McLarty, DC Statehood Green Party Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624,
mclarty@greens.org
Debby Hanrahan, 202-462-2054, debbyhanrahan@yahoo.com
WASHINGTON, DC -- DC Statehood Green Party leaders called a decision by the DC Board of
Elections and Ethics (DCBOEE) not to approve a voters' referendum on Mayor Fenty's public school
takeover a blow against democracy, DC home rule, and local law.
On June 5, the DCBOEE reversed an earlier decision allowing the referendum, which would
have overturned a Council vote that endorsed the Fenty plan and referred it to Congress for
approval and enactment. On June 7, referendum supporters sought an appeal, which was turned
down by a DC Superior Court.
"Mayor Fenty has sought to bypass the DC Charter and the spirit of democracy by going over the
heads of DC citizens and asking Congress to force the takeover down our throats," said Gail Dixon,
Statehood Green and former elected member of the DC Board of Education. "That's why we were
seeking our own referendum on the Mayor's power grab, and it's why we appealed the DCBOEE's
decision. This is something that DC voters should decide, with a public debate on the merits
of the takeover and how it will affect our children. The Mayor and Council have turned it
into an attack on local law and home rule. To add insult to injury, having a Mayor of DC -- a
colony with no voice -- seek the approval of one of the worst presidents in US history is a
travesty."
The DCBOEE, announcing its reversal, asserted that President Bush's signing of a law
authorizing the takeover invalidates the referendum, because Congress and the White House
wield power over District laws. Referendum supporters argue that the referendum is valid
because it only addresses a Council vote approving the takeover. The court today also
ruled that the DCBOEE is not required to issue its decisions at a public meeting, after giving
public notice, as specifically required by law. Referendum supporters called this ruling a major
blow to the principle of transparency in government.
TALKING POINTS
Mayor Fenty's public school takeover plan
The DC Statehood Green Party joined parents, school advocates, and other citizens' groups (DC
Congress of PTAS, Save Our Schools DC, DC Coalition for Democracy in Education, DC
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, DC Independents for Citizen Control, and the
DC Congress of PTAs) in an effort to place a referendum on the ballot that would
restore the right of DC residents to vote on Mayor Fenty's plan to transfer authority over DC Public Schools
from the Board of Education to the Mayor. The DC Board of Elections and Ethics (DCBOEE) initially
approved the referendum, but reversed its decision on June 5. Basic information on
referendum can be read at <http://LetMeVOTE.org>. The Statehood Green Party
opposes the takeover plan, for reasons outlined below.
The DC Charter, the District's equivalent of a state constitution, requires that all amendments
to the Charter (such as Mayor Fenty's takeover plan) be placed before DC voters in a referendum:
Section 303 declares that the Charter may be "amended by an act passed by the Council and
ratified by a majority of the registered qualified electors of the District voting in the
referendum held for such ratification." However, Congress may override Home Rule and enact
amendments to the Charter without a referendum -- a major complaint of advocates for DC democracy
and statehood.
Referendum supporters have noted that in 49 of the 50 states, an amendment to their respective
constitutions requires a voters' referendum, and if DC public officials wish for statehood for the
District, they have an obligation to "act like a state" by allowing DC citizens to have the vote
to which their own charter entitles them.
In reversing its decision, the DCBOEE said that President Bush's signing of a law giving Mayor
Fenty power over public schools invalidates the referendum. But referendum supporters claim that
the referendum doesn't address federal power over DC (over which DC voters have no control), but
would overturn a Council vote endorsing the takeover.
Mayor Fenty and Council invited Congress to impose the takeover because they wanted to avoid
a referendum, which would have placed the takeover under public scrutiny. Mayor Fenty and
Council are exploiting Congress's rule over DC to enact their own agenda, in disregard for local
law, the DC Home Rule Act, and the desire of DC citizens for democractic
self-governance. In doing so, they are teaching DC schoolchildren a civics lesson that's contrary to principles of
democracy and accountability.
Supporters of the takeover plan have spread misinformation. On May 8, Del. Norton told
members of the US House that their approval was necessary for the DC Charter amendment effecting
the takeover. Jonetta Rose Barras (DC Examiner, May 31 <http://www.examiner.com/a-755990~_Sour_Grapes_Gang__fighting_takeover_ignores_the_children.html>)
smeared opponents of the takeover, accusing parents and organizations of ignoring the needs
of DC children. Columnist Harry Jaffe (DC Examiner, May 29 <http://www.examiner.com/a-752242~Arrows_at_Fenty_wound_schoolchildren.html>)
called takeover critics "dogmatic and obstructionist," and asked them to "Tell me how
[enactment of the takeover] is not democratic and by the rules." Both Ms. Barras and Mr. Jaffe
ignored the DC Charter's requirement of a voters' referendum for passage and the hostility towards
democracy inherent in asking Congress to impose the plan.
Proponents of the takeover claim that the plan will benefit schoolchildren, and that opponents
have little concern for the interests of schoolchildren. But Mayor Fenty's plan provides
nothing of substance to fix public education per se, and merely transfers authority over schools
and adds a new level of bureacracy. Mayor Fenty himself and the education officials in his
administration have minimal expertise or experience in public education. Victor Reinoso's
reform plan was revealed to be a plagiarized patchwork, without attribution, of other cities'
reform plans.
Independent school boards were established to place a wall between public education and the
influence of business lobbies and other political considerations that affect the decisions of city
councils and mayors. The takeover plan will tear down this wall. Whether or not this should
happen should be a question left up to the voters.
Many parents and public education advocates fear that the chief beneficiaries of the takeover
plan will be real estate and development interests and charter school advocates, and that
the takeover will fulfill the agenda of major business lobbies, especially the Federal City
Council: expansion of DC's failing charter schools program; closing of public schools that
occupy real estate coveted by powerful developers. Mayor Fenty named a Federal City
Council employee, Victor Reinoso, as Deputy Mayor for Education and chose Neil Albert as his new
Deputy Mayor for Economic Development. Mr. Albert was CEO for Ed Build, a private education
services and construction firm created by the Federal City Council and the New
Schools Venture Fund, an investment group tied to the national charter school movement.
The takeover plan and other actions of Mayor
Fenty, Del. Norton, and some Council members suggest that, despite their
rhetoric about DC statehood and self-government, they're working together to reduce the democratic rights of DC
residents:
August 2004: Del. Norton urges the Democratic Party to delete the goal of DC statehood from the
party's national platform.
2006-2007: Working with Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Rep. Tom Davis (D-Va.), Del. Norton
promotes a 'DC Voting Rights Bill' to give DC a single voting seat in the US House, without
expanding home rule for the District.
January 2007: A few days after Mayor Fenty endorses DC statehood in his inaugural speech, he
announces he will urge Congress to approve his takeover plan, in order to bypass a DC voters'
referendum on the DC Charter amendment necessary to enact the plan.
April 2007: At an April 16 rally for the DC Voting Rights Bill, supporters of the bill abuse
members of Save Our Schools and other education advocates who show up to protest the takeover
plan as inconsistent with the rally's stated principles of DC democracy. On April 19, a
Council majority approves the takeover plan, ignoring pleas from residents of Wards 4 and 7 to
wait until a May 1 special election so that they can have a voice in the Council vote.
May 2007: Del. Norton, in a May 8 speech before members of the US House, incorrectly claims that
"current Home Rule Act... requires that certain changes to the District's charter be made by
Federal legislation." In fact, any amendment, according to the DC Charter ('Charter amending
procedure,' enacted under the 1973 Home Rule Act), requires a voters' referendum for passage.
Del. Norton urges Representatives to go over the heads of DC voters and approve the takeover
plan.
MORE INFORMATION
The DC Statehood Green Party
http://www.dcstatehoodgreen.org
Save Our Schools DC
http://www.saveourschoolsdc.org
DC Coalition for Democracy in Education
http://democracyineducation.net