Deborah Simmons

SIMMONS: Build a new D.C. soccer stadium, but they all can’t come?

Well, residents of the nation's capital are about to begin paying for a new soccer stadium for D.C. United, the pro team. Its proposed neighbors have put together a prenup to this public-private marriage that pretty, which predetermined how much residents will have to toss into the public coffers — $100 million, at least. And the city's denizens won't get that much in return.

September 29, 2014

SIMMONS: New Tech Prep charter raises the bar on STEM

Donald Hense had a vision — make that two visions. The first fortuitously led to the other. The first occurred several years back, when Mr. Hense discovered there were no D.C. license plates in a Northern Virginia parking lot filled with science and technology experts and other professionals. That sight led to vision No. 2: Build a high-tech school for D.C. kids, and they will come.

September 25, 2014

SIMMONS: Thanks, Iyanla, for a new reality on reality TV

Whether you're a fan of "Leave it to Beaver," "The Cosby Show" or "Modern Family," this is a story about a rolling stone and "family man" who gathered no moss.

September 22, 2014

SIMMONS: Corralling students by ZIP code is resegregation

Few in number are the original ideas that germinate and gain traction in Washington, and the issue of public schooling is no different.

September 18, 2014

SIMMONS: Spanking and abuse: Adrian Peterson underscores the difference

The evidence on premier running back Adrian Peterson is damning, and he should voluntarily begin looking to indulge in a profession outside the NFL. That was no mere spanking he gave a 4-year-old.

September 15, 2014

SIMMONS: Hitler, Bush and the not-with-my middle schooler

The Bush-Hitler school flap is one of the best eye-openers since the summer of 2007, when then-new Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee discovered dusty pallet upon dusty pallet of shrink-wrapped textbooks languishing in a warehouse.

September 11, 2014

SIMMONS: Hey, ‘parents’: Have a kid, raise that kid

Now that everyone is adjusting to normal school routines, it's time to talk about before-, during- and after-school programs.

September 8, 2014

SIMMONS: A teen embracing learning, faith and family — YES!

Pay attention, Dear Readers. Here's the story of a teenager whose life is moving, as the saying goes, in all the right directions.

August 28, 2014

SIMMONS: God bless you for mountains, molehills, majorities

The musings of our forefathers and other ancestors are upon us again as we bump up against the new school year.

August 25, 2014

SIMMONS: Building bridges over troubled waters in Ferguson, elsewhere

There's simply no way to know now what the end game will be in Ferguson, Missouri. But there's certainly plenty of issues worthy of considerable thought.

August 21, 2014

SIMMONS: It’s school time; do you know where the illegal immigrant children are?

School officials can't necessarily ask foreign-born children who they really are, and the young people's caretakers don't necessarily want you to know.

August 18, 2014

SIMMONS: From Ferguson, something wicked this way came

President Obama gained a few more gray hairs on his noggin the past few days because the closed-mouthed folks in Ferguson, Missouri, ain't saying nothin' about nothin.'

August 14, 2014

SIMMONS: Poor folks slip through tax credit loopholes, but banks dive in with dolphins

Tom Coburn is on a tear again. As the No. 1 waste watcher on Capitol Hill, he has let loose a scorcher.

August 11, 2014

SIMMONS: Race for attorney general shaping up

D.C. voters get to do something in November they have never before done — vote for an attorney general.

August 7, 2014

SIMMONS: Ahem! Is this what a post-racial America looks like?

Whoa. That was some pretty snotty stuff Democratic operative Kathy Groob tweeted this weekend about former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, and Ms. Groob knows.

August 4, 2014

SIMMONS: Students make strides, but D.C. withholds funds

Public education dollars are not supposed to follow tangled bureaucratic tape or political whim, and I'll explain what happens when it does.

July 31, 2014

SIMMONS: Re-education of humanity and the PC crowd

There appears to be a secret list: a list of PC unspeakables that determine whether the Thought Police will give you a nod and open the gates or whether the Thought Police will roll out the list and ask you to step out of line while pointing toward the pearlized gates.

July 28, 2014

SIMMONS: What happened in Vegas can’t stay in Vegas

Take out your fingers, D.C. residents, and wag them at D.C. Council member Yvette Alexander for lining the pockets of MGM Resorts International, which plans to open a hotel/casino on the same turf where the Redskins play — and it ain't named Washington.

July 24, 2014

SIMMONS: Tell Joe Biden and the NAACP that politics aren’t black and white

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile is a political animal, and I've always respected that, as a commentator, she's a strident guardian, and that as an analyst, she explains why.

July 21, 2014