Alan Blinder

Updated: Mon, May 13, 2013

After months of publicly flirting with a citywide run for public office, D.C. Councilman Tommy Wells will on Saturday enter the 2014 mayoral race. Wells, who launched an exploratory committee in February after hinting last summer that he would run, said on Monday that will formally open his...

Jonetta Rose Barras

Updated: Fri, May 10, 2013

The D.C.Council, through David Catania's leadership, began this week to find its education reform voice. It sent an unequivocal message to Mayor Vincent Gray, DC Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson and others about the standard it expects. Further, it redirected taxpayers' money to programs...

Rachel Baye

Published: Thu, May 9, 2013

A panel of D.C. lawmakers on Thursday voted to cut nearly $16 million from a proposed renovation of Malcolm X Elementary School, a move that schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson warned would be "detrimental" to the school's planned partnership with Achievement Preparatory Academy Public Charter...

Alan Blinder

Published: Tue, May 7, 2013

The D.C. Council backed a $241 million supplemental budget on Tuesday, opening up thousands of additional seats in summer school and funneling millions of dollars into housing initiatives. Lawmakers gave swift approval to the proposal from Mayor Vincent Gray, who submitted the supplemental...

Jonetta Rose Barras

Updated: Mon, May 6, 2013

That rumbling sound coming from the John A. Wilson Building is D.C. Council members tussling over recommended changes to Mayor Vincent Gray's $12 billion 2014 budget. Committees have begun reducing expenditures or searching for additional funds to address select programs or satisfy demands of...

Rachel Baye

Updated: Wed, Apr 17, 2013

The District's funding of schools based on the number of students they enroll is flawed, D.C. Council Education Committee Chairman David Catania said Wednesday. All of the city's public schools, both in DC Public Schools and the charter schools, receive money through a formula that is based on...

Jonetta Rose Barras

Updated: Tue, Apr 16, 2013

It would be perfectly understandable if families enrolled in DC Public Schools left en masse. Within the past year, they have been locked out of important decisions regarding the future of the system, made to jump through a series of unnecessary hoops and deliberately lied to. When Mayor...

Eric P. Newcomer

Published: Sun, Apr 14, 2013

One way to build a lasting legacy is with bricks and mortar. Facing flush budget times, Mayor Vincent Gray plans to pour city money into construction projects across the District. Altogether, Gray's budget proposal calls for $1.38 billion in construction projects, including new schools and...

Rachel Baye

Published: Wed, Apr 10, 2013

D.C. Council Education Committee Chairman David Catania questioned Mayor Vincent Gray's proposal to add 132 jobs to the city's public libraries while cutting full-time librarians from more than a dozen public schools. Gray proposed adding $10 million to the D.C. Public Library's budget,...

Alan Blinder

Published: Tue, Apr 9, 2013

Confronted with unflinching and potent opposition, a D.C. councilman on Tuesday abandoned his "emergency" effort to require the city's third-grade students to prove their reading skills before they could move on to the fourth grade. "We have a crisis in the city," at-large Councilman Vincent...