School reform hearings: Is anyone being heard?

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Judging from the D.C. Council hearing -- excuse me, witch hunt -- on seizing control of the school system, the deal is done. It is all over but more shouting to celebrate Mayor Greenhorn's victory.

I asked D.C. Board of Education President Robert C. Bobb yesterday whether he thought the council had made up its mind.

Still licking his wounds in the aftermath of Tuesday's merciless council blood bath, he answered, "Are you kidding? Did you watch those hearings?"

Indeed I did, and it wasn't a pretty sight.

There was no Southern hospitality coming from that Wilson Building dais. To be sure, witnesses, especially Superintendent Clifford B. Janey, were berated, badgered, interrupted and not allowed to answer questions during a kangaroo-court-style inquest.

"It's too little, too late," shouted one council member after another of the newly elected board's plan. Focusing on academic achievement, it was presented as an alternative to the power-grabbing takeover that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty sought.

Meanwhile, most of the council members can't wait to get their hands on the school system's budget through the convoluted Fenty plan. They pontificate ad nauseam about the ills of D.C. schools, which have been abused and neglected by many long before either Mr. Bobb or Mr. Janey arrived on the sullied scene.

Marion Barry, the former mayor and Ward 8 Democrat, was the worst offender. It is clear he takes no culpability for the abysmal failures of the school system as he ticks off his long list of city service, including years as the school board president and four terms as mayor.

Sounding like the lone voice of reason, Carol Schwartz, at-large Republican, asked the most pertinent question of the day: Is any information available that suggests that elected boards versus appointed boards or mayoral control make one iota of difference in improving academic achievement? The answer is no.

In fact, Mr. Bobb presented test scores from cities where student achievement has risen under the authority of elected school bodies. The new, untested school board under Mr. Bobb's direction presented a plan, with oversight and accountability standards that could be implemented without amending the city's Home Rule Act.