Deborah Simmons

SIMMONS: A few caveats as calls grow to throw out Gray, Brown

If disgruntled D.C. voters want to recall the city's mayor, Vincent C. Gray, and its chief lawmaker, D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown, they face an uphill but, for two main reasons, surmountable climb.

February 1, 2012

SIMMONS: Going after ‘malfeasance’ at housing agency

D.C. Council member Michael A. Brown is fighting mad, and he appears to be fighting a very good fight.

January 29, 2012

SIMMONS: Cosby story on schooling a real lesson

Bill Cosby, one of America's original kings of comedy, is saying precisely what President Obama should have said Tuesday night in his State of the Union address.

January 25, 2012

SIMMONS: Mayor’s plan discriminates against charter students

The academic success of D.C. youths will be on the line Tuesday morning, when the D.C. Council is scheduled to take up the mayor's request for a supplemental budget that would add $25 million to traditional public school coffers.

January 23, 2012

SIMMONS: Mayors must accept some responsibility for cities’ ills

Two East Coast mayors were in sync Sunday when "Meet the Press" moderator David Gregory prefaced his interview by asking, "Has [President Obama] done enough for his urban base?"

January 22, 2012

SIMMONS: For Marion Barry, this election’s different

Dub this the Year of the Marion Barry Watch.

January 18, 2012

SIMMONS: U.S. mayors hold the key to key issues

With the U.S. Conference of Mayors scheduled to hold its annual confab in the nation's capital this week, domestic issues finally will begin to get the attention they deserve.

January 15, 2012

SIMMONS: Residents’ voices being heard on medical pot sites

Long before Harry Thomas Jr. tendered his resignation as Ward 5 D.C. Council member, his constituents began expressing serious opposition to the possibility that medical marijuana cultivators and dispensaries would be dumped in their ward. And now that Thomas is officially off the dais, their concerns are bearing down on other lawmakers who support reefer madness.

January 11, 2012

SIMMONS: Times are tough in a city without any kingmakers

Still reeling from the downfall of native son Harry Thomas Jr., D.C. stakeholders are pondering their next moves by envisioning short- and long-term snapshots of a city with no kingmakers.

January 8, 2012

D.C. Council member Thomas resigns, will plead guilty

Embattled D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. on Thursday evening resigned from office and said he will plead guilty in the morning to two federal charges of stealing more than $350,000 in taxpayer funds and failing to report income on his tax returns.

January 5, 2012

SIMMONS: Mandates on schools just keep piling on

D.C. officials are turning the education reform of the 1990s on its head by wrongheadedly inserting themselves deeper and deeper into the classroom.

January 4, 2012

SIMMONS: Under Gray, cash spigot keeps flowing

One year ago today, Vincent C. Gray strode onto a stage at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, put hand to Bible and promised to deliver D.C. residents to a land of fiscal responsibility. Residents cheered him on.

January 1, 2012

SIMMONS: Harry Thomas at a crossroads as Ward 5’s rep

D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. is sitting on an incredibly hot seat.

December 28, 2011

SIMMONS: Keep a watchful eye on high cost of school reform

There's a nasty little trend coursing throughout America, and while I hardly want to toss a bucket of cold water on your warm holiday spirits, a warning is in order as federal, state and local governments broach the inevitable passionate debates about education funding in 2012.

December 25, 2011

SIMMONS: A naughty-or-nice tally for Santa

You know that naughty-or-nice list that jolly old St. Nicholas keeps all year long? Well, this year he doesn't have to wait until Dec. 24 before he pulls out his Sharpie for the last time.

December 21, 2011

SIMMONS: Pre-New Year’s resolutions show Brown priorities

D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown promised to get a comprehensive ethics-reform bill passed before the new year rolls in, and if things go as scheduled, he and his colleagues will place their imprimatur on a measure Tuesday.

December 18, 2011

SIMMONS: More merry mischief from D.C.’s little elves

Here we go again.

December 14, 2011

SIMMONS: The high cost of special-ed bus service

This morning, the D.C. Council opens wide the door to the spiraling costs of providing transportation for 3,500 special-education students, whose busing system currently costs taxpayers about $26,285 per student, per year.

December 11, 2011

SIMMONS: Ethics bill needs time to get it right

The D.C. Council needs to slow down. Lawmakers are simply moving too fast on ethics-reform legislation.

December 7, 2011

SIMMONS: Enrollments show D.C. parents want more school choices

OK school-choice advocates. It's time to go old-school this week as the Gray administration begins drawing up a school-closure list and as the new panel charged with examining the education-affordability factor holds its first session.

November 27, 2011