Colbert I. King - Colbert I. King on D.C. youth offenders - washingtonpost.com:
"The D.C. Council labored mightily this week to give Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee her comeuppance for firing teachers and staff whom legislators wanted kept on the payroll. The way Rhee went about the layoffs may have handed council members ammo that could be used against her. But if test scores are up and the school system has stopped bleeding students, as The Post has reported, it's not all bad. Face it, a good bedside manner is not one of Rhee's strong points."
That said, the council has every right, and a duty, to exercise oversight of the school system. If, however, lawmakers are sincere about bringing accountability to efforts in behalf of children, they must cast a wider net. Youth are being shortchanged by more than poor teaching. To be blunt, the council needs to investigate why the lives of our youth are being jeopardized daily by one of the very departments charged with helping them.
Consider teenager Tyrone Hopkins, who made the big time this week. He was charged with armed robbery, as an adult, under Title 16 of the D.C. Code. It's a section of the law not often invoked against youth offenders.
"The D.C. Council labored mightily this week to give Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee her comeuppance for firing teachers and staff whom legislators wanted kept on the payroll. The way Rhee went about the layoffs may have handed council members ammo that could be used against her. But if test scores are up and the school system has stopped bleeding students, as The Post has reported, it's not all bad. Face it, a good bedside manner is not one of Rhee's strong points."
That said, the council has every right, and a duty, to exercise oversight of the school system. If, however, lawmakers are sincere about bringing accountability to efforts in behalf of children, they must cast a wider net. Youth are being shortchanged by more than poor teaching. To be blunt, the council needs to investigate why the lives of our youth are being jeopardized daily by one of the very departments charged with helping them.
Consider teenager Tyrone Hopkins, who made the big time this week. He was charged with armed robbery, as an adult, under Title 16 of the D.C. Code. It's a section of the law not often invoked against youth offenders.