Deborah Simmons

SIMMONS: Give thanks for blessings and thought for needy

The politicians who just left for Thanksgiving will continue to talk turkey after they return to Washington. But before they do, it's incumbent upon us on this day and in the months ahead to remember that cutting federal spending can benefit each and every American if we do our part to fill a breach.

November 23, 2011

SIMMONS: Raise teacher pay without raising bar?

Earlier this school year, D.C. officials released some discomfiting news: Only 52 of 187 city schools met federal Adequate Yearly Progress benchmarks in reading or math.

November 20, 2011

SIMMONS: D.C. needs Wal-Mart sans strings

Wal-Mart and top D.C. officials shared the mayor's podium Wednesday to announce that instead of building four stores in the city, the retail giant now is hoping to plant a sustainable economic development footprint with six stores.

November 16, 2011

SIMMONS: Head Start just another failed notion

Something very intriguing occurred this week when President Obama made his high-profile pronouncement about education policy. If you read or listened closely, you noticed how adept the president was at channeling predecessors Lyndon Baines Johnson and George W. Bush - and simultaneously, at that.

November 9, 2011

SIMMONS: Brown should be red-faced over Web link’s lapse

If you want to see what the chairman of the D.C. Council is up to, your best bet is to tweet, email or reach his office the old-fashioned way because his Web domain name expired on Saturday.

November 6, 2011

Lanier needs to chill out on legal guns

Metropolitan Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier anticipates gun violence to escalate as colder weather settles in. That seems to be the first and most logical conclusion to statements she made Tuesday, after a night of violence in every quadrant of the District.

November 2, 2011

SIMMONS: Anti-bully legislation misguided

Nearly every state in the union has — and the District of Columbia is considering — anti-bullying laws that allow school employees to determine whether a student is a bully.

October 30, 2011

SIMMONS: ‘Failure’ of DYRS is a true fright

The mission of the District's juvenile justice agency is patently incongruous with preventing crime and maintaining law and order.

October 26, 2011

SIMMONS: Gray breaks mayor’s oath with stance on illegals

There are so many loopholes in U.S. immigration laws that it is impossible to cover them all in a single newspaper column, but one immigration issue is not up for debate.

October 23, 2011

SIMMONS: HIV/AIDS bill addresses need but has downside, too

The Senior HIV/AIDS Education and Outreach Program Establishment Act of 2011, introduced by D.C. Council member David Catania, isn't as helpful as you might be led to believe.

October 19, 2011

SIMMONS: Gray imposes shackles of a different sort

D.C. Lottery chief Buddy Roogow and other city officials are researching two scenarios I presented to them last week at an airing of the city's online gambling law.

October 16, 2011

SIMMONS: 1940s Mississippi and the MLK memorial

Why is a memorial on the Mall being dedicated Sunday in the name of Martin Luther King? Are you even aware of the event?

October 12, 2011

SIMMONS: Democracy worthy of an ID to prevent voter fraud

As states jockey for influential positions in the 2012 presidential primaries, civil-rights advocates are shifting into high gear to fight new laws that require voters to show a government-issued photo ID at the polls.

October 9, 2011

SIMMONS: D.C. schools need ‘residents only’ signs

D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown begins a round of school-oversight hearings Thursday, and this one focuses on the longstanding issue of residency.

October 5, 2011

SIMMONS: Gray voters experience a bit of buyer’s remorse

What a difference a year makes as resident complaints about the D.C. mayor begin to reflect a sense of buyer's remorse.

October 2, 2011

SIMMONS: Re-creating the Tuskegee experiment?

Is the District preparing to conduct its own Tuskegee experiment? The synopsis: D.C. Council member David A. Catania is pushing legislation that would mandate mental and behavioral analyses of youths as young as 3, and city schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson testified Tuesday that she has bought into his misguided proposal.

September 28, 2011

SIMMONS: Stating their case for open enrollment

Michigan lawmakers are taking a truly innovative public policy approach by following a simple four-word rule: by any means necessary.

September 25, 2011

SIMMONS: What’d they say? Revisit term limits

Say you want a revolution? Tune out potty-mouthed lawmakers and tune in term limits.

September 21, 2011

SIMMONS: D.C. faces $89 million question

According to just-released census figures, one in five D.C. residents lives below the poverty line - $22,314 per year.

September 18, 2011

SIMMONS: 1-party rule unhealthy for ethics debate

The District's attorney general, Irvin B. Nathan, is slated for a tete-a-tete on government ethics this evening with the Ward 3 Democratic Committee, and because fireworks are unlikely from this biased tribe of wealthy and educated stakeholders, Republicans, independents and conservatives should crash the incestuous party.

September 14, 2011