Fenty Gets A Black Eye With DC Parents

Washington DC's young new mayor has yet to impress the residents of DC with children that attend the city's public schools! On January 6, 2007, Fenty brought DC some excitement with his Inaugural Ball that seemed to take in all of Washington.

I attended along with my friend Josette.

We met lots of politicians.

I thought the best part was the art! (Those are tennis rackets!!)

Now the honeymoon is over! As a DC parent I am outraged to hear that my children's school (one of the few functional elementary schools in DC despite major budget cuts) has had its budget slashed yet again. The budget cuts are no surprise to DC parents as we know that the schools and the children of this city take a backseat to everything else in DC including the potholes.

FYI - a few years ago every DC child was allocated $10,000 to the school, but only $6,000 made it to the child's school. The remaining $4,000 evaporated somewhere in "administrative costs" before it touched the school. That was in the better years?!

With Fenty new in office, DC parents were hoping for a change! We got one alright. We were just told that our budget will be cut so drastically that our school that has been "downsizing annually" will have to let 2 teachers go!!

Without children, DC does not have a future. I certainly hope that Fenty will turn around his administration before his reputation is ruined in letting down the hopes of the parents behind him to revitalize DC Public Schools. Perhaps again the best part of this administration will be the art without substance.