Bobb Vs. Fenty - Opening Round
The swearing-in of Robert C. Bobb on Wednesday night, as president of the D.C. Board of Education, in some ways rivaled the importance of Adrian M. Fenty's inauguration as mayor.
It was standing room only, attracting a high-powered crowd--D.C. Council members, former mayoral press secretaries, and other authorities and figures in District politics.
They were there to witness the first round in what many consider a D.C. politics version of Clash of the Titans--the bold, visionary, new mayor who won a majority in every precinct of the city versus the strong willed, confident new school board president who left the No. 2 job in city government to win his race with a decisive, but less triumphant 44 percent of the vote.
For some, it was a moment of irony. Right when the school board is going to be led by a seasoned manager with significant experience in turning around unwieldy bureaucracies, a young mayor eager to stake his reputation on improving the city's schools makes a mayoral takeover his first action.
Bobb skewered Fenty's proposal--without, he admitted later, even seeing it--and presented himself as the reformer authorized by the people to enact change in the schools. He said that improving schools was one of two major civil rights issues facing the District.
"In the coming weeks a lot of time, effort, and intellectual capital will be expended on discussing a form of governance and the rearrangement of the structure of authority," Bobb told the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a structure. It has been approved by the voters of the District of Columbia. We don't need to reinvent it. We need to make it work."
To make his point, Bobb read a poem titled, Wasting Time.
Bobb knows a little about failed takeover attempts. As city administrator, he was involved with the second try Williams made to takeover the schools two years ago. In his remarks, Bobb honed in on what will be the likely political strategy of opponents to Fenty's plan: that in a city with limited voting rights and a small number of elected offices, it is important to keep an elected, empowered school board that is accountable to the people.
Fenty and others who support his takeover counter that the city cannot wait for another school board to fail another generation of students.
--Elissa Silverman
By Peter Eisner |
January 4, 2007; 7:23 PM ET
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Posted by: uh_huhh | January 5, 2007 08:36 AM
Having lived in Oakland CA while Mr. Bob was city manager there, I don't think he can be of help here. Oakland's schools were taken over by the state of California due to severe mismanagement.
Posted by: keith.mcmahon | January 5, 2007 11:29 AM
can we stop blaming every politician under the sun for the state of our schools. Even under these conditions people can learn if they value it. yes the schools ar messed up, but the students and there families deserve some of the blame. in this same system you have kids at Banneker going to any college in the country. wilson and school w/o Walls does well too. Banneker is a dump, just like many other buidings. maybe we should look at home environments and social issues?
Posted by: oknow101 | January 5, 2007 05:34 PM
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Wow, it didn't take Bobb long to drink the school board Kool Aid, did it? Then again, who can blame him for preferring not to have a a boss pushing him to do his job on threat of being fired.