jonetta rose barras: A new beginning in DC government?

During their swearing-in ceremony on Wednesday, several elected officials attempted to muster an air of celebration — although pomp seemed to be sorely lacking at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. It is hard to get overly excited when the mayor and council incumbents are all re-elected, and their previous terms were marked by marginal performance, particularly around public education.

Still, Ward 3 DC Council member Mary Cheh, ever the constitutional law professor, declared it “a day of celebration, a day to celebrate our democracy.”

“Our democracy is incomplete; it is degraded. We stand in the shadow of a Congress that has plunged us under Republican rule into extraordinary debt and backward thinking,” added Cheh.

The two statements seemed to contradict the notion of a celebration. Maybe I misunderstood her meaning.

Council Chairman Phil Mendelson, at-large members Anita Bonds and Elissa Silverman, Ward 1’s Brianne Nadeau, Ward 5’s Kenyan McDuffie and Ward 6’s Charles Allen — as well as Mayor Muriel Bowser — also took the oath of office, administered by various judges from DC Superior Court or the DC Court of Appeals. Boxing promoter and television host Rock Newman fumbled his way through the program, serving as the master of ceremonies. At one point, he even mentioned an episode when former Mayor Marion Barry was awaiting sentencing on federal drug charges. Help us!

Bowser declared her last four years “memorable” and provided a compendium of what she considered major achievements of her first term. She attempted to infuse historic importance into her re-election, asserting with pride she is only the third DC mayor to win reelection. (Barry was elected four times and Anthony A. Williams twice.)

Despite the effort to put a positive spin on the moment, the officials acknowledged huge problems remain — not the least of which is a poorly performing public education system where, according to Cheh, a child could enter at 5 years old and graduate 12 years later as a “functional illiterate.”

“That’s a crime; we have to stop that,” she said.

“Sadly, I am not aware of any statistics that have declared we are on the verge of closing the staggering achievement gap,” said McDuffie, making the link between education, affordable housing, crime and income inequality. “Let’s begin by improving schools. Every child should have access to a quality education.”

The deplorable state of public education in DC has been discussed at every swearing-in since Barry was first elected. Yet, in 2018, two-thirds of all public school students scored below proficient on the English and math portions of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers standardized tests. The recent school ratings provided by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education underscore the abysmal state of public education, with most schools receiving only three out of five stars.

Some advocates and civic leaders believe it’s not all doom and gloom, however. “We are seeing some progress,” said Terry Lynch, a longtime activist. “I have a friend who lives in American University Park, who is sending her child to Powell Elementary [in Petworth] for the language program there.

“It is difficult to make progress when you have a revolving door of leaders at the top,” continued Lynch, noting that the recently nominated DCPS chancellor, Lewis Ferebee, will bring controversial baggage related to sexually inappropriate behavior that occurred under his watch as superintendent of schools in Indianapolis. He is expected to begin work later this month in an acting capacity until the council acts on his nomination.

“He needs to take a hard look in the mirror and do what’s in the best interest of DC public schools,” said Lynch.

Bernard Demczuk, who has been active in political affairs for more than 30 years and is a professor of African-American history and culture at the University of the District of Columbia, said that with “one of the most progressive councils in our history, [members] have a golden opportunity to begin to close the wealth disparity gap in the city.

“I would hope [council members] work with the mayor,” continued Demczuk. “It’s disgusting how rich the city is and to see how poor it is at the same time.”

Later in the day, Ward 5’s new State Board of Education member, Zachary Parker, evoked the same idea during his swearing-in. He likened it to Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, quoting the opening line: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”

Don’t count on any major changes, although the mayor threw around the word “bold” a couple of times in her speech. Bowser talked about raising the height for buildings in the city — a throwback debate from at least six years ago. She seemed to suggest that she would hold more tightly to the government purse string, noting the city’s resilience but adding that it is not “financial tsunami-proof.” Like some council members, Bowser talked about addressing the uptick in homicides.

All of that seemed to compose a rather puny agenda for a second term.

Equally meager were her solutions to school-related issues. “We should be proud of our commitment to transforming our schools,” she said, adding that she is “thrilled to replicate Banneker” and to be “incubating new learning models.” It’s hard to imagine that those solutions will aid the city’s lowest performing schools.

The only person to even suggest a solution was Mendelson, who called for improving the schools by developing and implementing a “Marshall Plan,” referring to the post-World War II strategy used by the United States to fight communism, which involved spending $12 billion.

“We need to look at this with urgency. We need to look at this differently and work harder,” Mendelson said.

Wait, wasn’t that what elected officials were supposed to be doing when they approved education reform in 2007?

jonetta rose barras is a DC-based freelance writer and host of The Barras Report television show. She can be reached at thebarrasreport@gmail.com.