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Deborah Simmons

dsimmons@washingtontimes.com

Deborah Simmons was a senior correspondent who reported on City Hall and wrote about education, culture, sports and family-related topics.

Articles by Deborah Simmons

House GOP to push for school vouchers

Despite the opposition of the incoming D.C. mayor and the Democratic president, key House Republican lawmakers say they will push a popular school-voucher program that was canceled by the Obama administration.

November 9, 2010

SIMMONS: Loud, clear call for fiscal sense

The midterm elections are over, and both winners and losers are saying they are taking the messages of the voters to heart. But now what? Where are we going, and how will we get there?

November 4, 2010

D.C. mulls anti-bullying law

Missouri lawmakers recently adopted a gender-neutral anti-bullying law, while the D.C. Council is considering legislation that adopts recommendations proposed by a gay rights group.

October 28, 2010

Education delivers warning on bullying

Echoing recent comments by President Obama, federal education officials warned Tuesday that federal funds could be withdrawn from schools, colleges and universities that don't prevent bullying, harassment and intimidation, which the department says will fall under civil-rights enforcement.

October 26, 2010
**FILE** In this photo from Jan. 15, 2010, a candlelight vigil is held at South Hadley High School in Massachusetts for freshman Phoebe Prince, 15, who had killed herself the previous day. Nine teens were charged in the "unrelenting" bullying of Prince, originally from Ireland, who killed herself after being raped and enduring months of torment by classmates in person and online. (Associated Press)

SIMMONS: Anti-bullying success begins with parents

OK, Dear Readers, the topic of the day is bullying, and for those of you who prefer to remain deficient in personal responsibility, feel free to flip the page or click the mouse right now.

October 21, 2010
LONG SHOT: Republican Missy Reilly Smith has not received any D.C. party aid in her bid to unseat Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. (Provided by Missy Reilly Smith)

GOP candidate for D.C. delegate is on her own

You won't find her mentioned on the D.C. Republican website, but activist Missy Reilly Smith constitutes a kind of one-woman "tea party" movement in the liberal bastion that is the nation's capital.

October 20, 2010

Special education atop D.C. to-do list

Michelle A. Rhee may be on her way out as chancellor of D.C. Public Schools, but the fights she waged over the city's education policies are likely to linger long after she is gone.

October 18, 2010
**FILE** Michelle A. Rhee (The Washington Times)

SIMMONS: School reform a ‘team’ effort

How is it that college and high school coaches are able to turn student-athletes into top drawer professionals, but many of our superintendents and chancellors can't manage to churn out top-flight students?

October 14, 2010

Hiring, promotion freezes set for D.C.

Facing a projected $175 million deficit in the fiscal year that began Friday, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty plans to issue an executive order that will freeze hiring and promotions to help curb spending.

October 4, 2010

D.C. charter school used to tout student-aid program

Two days after President Obama disparaged D.C. Public Schools on national television, Education Secretary Arne Duncan used a highly successful public charter school as a backdrop to publicize a federal college-access program.

September 29, 2010
Education Secretary Arne Duncan has spoken positively of the D.C. schools chancellor's reforms. (Associated Press)

Obama: D.C. schools don’t suit daughters

In a rare and blunt criticism of education in the nation's capital, President Obama on Monday called D.C. Public Schools a "struggling" system that doesn't measure up to the needs of first daughters Sasha and Malia.

September 27, 2010

Gray, Rhee tightlipped on her future with city

D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, widely expected to be the city's next mayor, and schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee emerged Thursday from their first private meeting since the Sept. 14 mayoral primary with her employment status likely still up in the air.

September 23, 2010