Deborah Simmons

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Maryland free-range parents deserve a break

Here's what happens when nebby noses poke where they don't belong. A mom and dad in one of America's wealthiest counties are being overscrutinized and threatened with legal action for allowing their children to do what parents have been allowing, indeed encouraging, children to do for generations.

April 13, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Hillary indulged in mocha mousse cake after giving Bill just desserts

Not every woman gets to have her cake and eat it, too. Hillary Rodham Clinton is a new breed. She roared.

April 6, 2015

Beatrice Stevenson Patillo, former D.C. employee, 71

Beatrice Stevenson Patillo, a former employee of the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, died peacefully March 30, 2015, at her home in North Carolina. She was 71.

April 6, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Easter, Passover, Martin Luther King — Jews and gentiles together

You know I can't resist saying something about D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser's inaugural spending plan that she released Thursday, but first I want to wax on about the fact that Passover, Easter and the anniversary of the King assassination converge this weekend.

April 2, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Religious liberty: 5 things you should know

The Indiana law, which was fashioned on the federal version, is being called anti-gay and discriminatory against gays, and it has drawn heckles from the likes of NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley, ESPN mouth-man Keith Olbermann and former "Star Trek" actor George Takei. The mayor of Seattle wants to prohibit city workers from traveling to Indiana. In light of that and more, here are five things about religion and gay rights that you need to know:

March 30, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Harry Reid’s war against women

Hi, guys. Today's column speaks directly to the gals about the 2016 races for U.S. Senate seats.

March 26, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: D.C. needs Title IX accountability from leaders, schools

D.C. has had to comply with the federal Title IX law, just like the states have. Unfortunately, parents were hoodwinked, and city leaders have not been forthcoming, partly because they shone the spotlight solely on academics.

March 23, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Urban League delivers good, unsettling news

The National Urban League released on Thursday its annual report, "The State of Black America," and it contains a bit of really good news for black and Hispanic families around the Beltway.

March 19, 2015

D.C. charter school to receive Britain’s Prince Charles

Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School in Northwest is preparing for a royal visit on Thursday.

March 18, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Maryland, D.C., other states should be kinder, gentler to charter students

Gov. Larry Hogan is stirring up the public education troth in the state of Maryland, and well he should.

March 16, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: D.C. streetcars take tax dollars nowhere

After already spending more than $160 million (and millions more for the study and yakkety-yak) to design and construct a street line that runs a mere 2.4 miles, city leaders could scrap the project. And that might not be a bad idea.

March 12, 2015

Marriage and family: ‘I do,’ she is and they are (mostly)

Whether you're conservative or liberal, if you want to know what the state of the American family is these days, look no further.

March 11, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS What was Hillary Clinton thinking?

There is a possibility that Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton orchestrated her own derailment. Not that I've seen or heard anyone make such a suggestion.

March 9, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: ‘Bloody Sunday,’ Ferguson and ‘we’ the people

Nothing like the events in Selma, Alabama, on Sunday, March 7, 1965, had ever been witnessed before nationwide.

March 5, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Take supper, family time off school menus

Let's make supper a more common word for the right reasons.

February 26, 2015

Phyllis Schlafly: A conservative whose cornerstones are faith, family and freedom

If there's a list of American women whose cornerstones are faith, family and freedom, the name Phyllis McAlpin Stewart Schlafly is on it.

February 24, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Boys-only school, ERA fight — it’s deja vu all over again

Separating boys from girls in public schools is not the problem. The problem is distractors who want you to think otherwise.

February 23, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Oscar, ‘Selma’ and ‘Scandal’

Hollywood turned its spotlight on America's "birth defect" with 2014's Best Film winner "12 Years a Slave." At the Oscars this Sunday, I'm inclined to suspect it will not do the same with "Selma."

February 19, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Teachers, au pairs, others need measles shots, too

Parents of babies and young children already know: Germs that float in the classroom don't stay in the classroom. And that's especially the case with viral infections such as the flu, measles, mumps, chicken pox and the like.

February 16, 2015

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Why and how to save the Dorothy Height charter school

The D.C. Public Charter School Board was scheduled Thursday morning to vote on whether to revoke the charter of the Dorothy I. Height Community Academy Public Charter School. The board met but decided to delay its vote until a Feb. 19 meeting.

February 12, 2015