Gandhi to approve D.C. teachers contract
Fenty and Rhee find millions to replace money from foundations
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D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee (Benjamin J. Myers)Posted at 6:30 AM ET, 05/11/2010
John Lennon and Arne Duncan
The John Lennon Educational Tour Bus is visiting the Department of Education today, and we imagine what it would be like if Education Secretary Arne Duncan fully supported arts education.
Posted by Valerie Strauss | Permalink | Comments (0)RECENT POSTS
Breaking: Gandhi blesses teachers contract
District Chief Financial Officer Natwar M. Gandhi is ready to certify the $140 million teachers contract as fiscally sound, ending nearly five weeks of interagency fingerpointing and confusion.
Sources say a financing package that closes a $10.7 million funding gap in the accord is awaiting only sign off from Mayor Adrian M.Fenty. A press conference or formal announcement is expected in the next couple of hours. More to come.
UPDATE 8:20 PM: At an early evening presser on the steps of the Wilson Building, over the din of rush hour traffic, Fenty, Gandhi and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee offered a somewhat rambling explanation of the financial fix that allowed for certification.
In essence, it gives Gandhi exactly what he has insisted upon for weeks as a necessary condition for fiscal certification: a contract with unconditional public money. The $21 million in private foundation money Rhee wanted to use came with conditions --including no changes in DCPS leadership--that Gandhi found unacceptable.
The package boils down to a series of cuts and reshuffling of funds to close what is now described as a $38.8 million gap (the numbers have shifted a bit in the last couple of weeks). This includes a $10.7 million
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