Deborah Simmons

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Charter school kids draw short funding straw

The D.C. parents of an estimated 39,000 children exercised their right to choose which schools their children would attend this school year, and they chose public charter schools. In fact, there is only a 9,000-student difference.

May 18, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser: Handmaiden of the week

Muriel Bowser is no Donald Trump, whose opinion pass his lips sometimes with nary a filtered thought. Neither is she Hillary Clinton, although like a loyal Democrat, she announced her endorsement of her party sister, as did the majority of D.C. lawmakers. We have a ways to go before we learn whether Miss Bowser's words will hit and stick, but she isn't having a great time as we head into midweek.

May 17, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Questions about bathroom laws, Freddie Gray case

Dressing for success. Who's behind Door No. 1? The case of the death of Freddie Gray.

May 16, 2016

Montgomery school kids ill after drinking booze-cold medicine brew

More than a dozen students at the Francis Scott Key Middle School in Montgomery County grew ill Friday and were treated and/or hospitalized around noontime on Friday.

May 13, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Metro workers slam union, WMATA

"Yeah." That was Metro worker Sidney Davis' response when I asked if the transit agency is being sabotaged from within.

May 12, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Metro has spending problems

The taking of Metro one, two, three — minus the guns and thrill seekers. In today's real-life situation, we all are hostages.

May 11, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Smithsonian African American museum opening in D.C. nears

Sept. 24. Mark the date on your calendar. Tell Siri to remind you. Make travel and hotel accommodations plans. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is set to open its doors on Saturday, Sept. 24.

May 10, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Metro plan: What we know, what we need to know

Seems we can move to the penultimate questions regarding the D.C. region's mass transit system: What did they know and when did they know it?

May 9, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Metro has a culture problem

Sooooo! Metro and other regional leaders are slated to spill the beans Friday and explain to taxpayers how they plan to tackle the many problems derailing our major transit system.

May 5, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Tiny house innovation, tiny house blunders

The homeless. Veterans. Millennials and their parents. Seniors. People in need of assisted living. Boomers. Downsizers. Folks who simply can no longer afford McMansions. Folks who merely want small homes. Folks who have made up their minds not to be house-poor.

May 4, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Standardized testing, testing … 1, 2, 3

NAEP tested seniors in 740 high schools, including private ones. In short: Fourth-graders aren't ready for middle school, middle schoolers aren't ready for high school, and high school seniors aren't ready for college or the workforce.

May 2, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Prom season 2016 is a costly proposal

Diane stood out like Cinderella. Her dress had a modest strapless bodice bathed in silver sequins and an off-white, floor-length rayon skirt kissed by crinoline of the same color.

April 28, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Moving Baltimore forward as mayor

Remember this name: Catherine Pugh.

April 27, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: D.C. school vouchers hit wall with Obama

President Obama does not like programs that allow public funds to be used for vouchers for school-age kids. He supports public funds for college-age students. He supports public funds for prison schooling and for returning citizens. He supports public funds for military basic training, where young men and women learn academic and managerial-type skills -- and partake in a physical education program -- that they never learned in K-12.

April 26, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Summer jobs: A Marion Barry legacy

Every year about this time, my mind wanders to Marion Barry, the Democratic whiz kid who calculatingly took our national capital by storm during the height of the inner-city movement and molded it into an urban mecca.

April 25, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Washington D.C. goes to pot

As you well know, the District stands among the many states and territories that have legalized pot, approved of its use as a medical drug and/or decriminalized it altogether. California stands as the first state to make one of those moves, and not to be outdone, D.C. is scheduled to stake its claim as host to the inaugural pot festival.

April 21, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Another D.C. statehood ‘push’

Here we go again. It seems as though every time there's a change of the guardians at the gates of D.C. governance, elected leaders make a renewed "push" for statehood.

April 20, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Kaya Henderson, D.C. schools chancellor, does dirty business

Someone please hand D.C. schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson a rag to wipe off her heels. She's stepped in a pile of poop and needs to come clean ASAP.

April 19, 2016

DEBORAH SIMMONS: Sprawl, crawl and real life in the DMV

If the local officials of Virginia, Maryland and the District want to know what issue is at the very top of their constituents' transportation wish list, they need look no further or guess any longer. A new survey says residents in the D.C. region want Metro to focus on maintenance and reliability -- not expansion. They also said that transportation is the area's greatest challenge, and that reducing traffic congestion and delays is numero uno. Improving roads, bridges and transit facilities came in second place.

April 18, 2016

LIFE AS IT HAPPENS: Sprawl, crawl and real life

A new survey of residents in the D.C. region want Metro to focus on maintenance and reliability instead of expansion, think transportation is the area's greatest challenge, and say that of those challenges reducing traffic congestion and delays in numero uno. Improving roads, bridges and transit facilities came in second place.

April 18, 2016