By Liane Scott, on September 17th, 2012 
Empower DC member lobbies City Council.
The District of Columbia City Council returns from its summer recess this Tuesday, September 20, 2012. It’s time for them to set their legislative priorities for the upcoming year.
The question is, will those priorities include issues that are important to long-time DC residents? Will the laws and policies they ultimately implement positively impact low- and moderate-income communities or will they continue to force folks out of the city in search of a friendlier, more affordable environment? Will families be able to raise their children in the District knowing that they will have access to quality and affordable housing, health care, child care and schools that are responsive to the needs and wishes of the community?
Members of Empower DC’s Education Campaign are working to make sure that Mayor Gray, Schools Chancellor Henderson and the city council are accountable to all the residents of DC and not just those that fund their campaigns. Education campaign members are concerned about the threat of public school closures in our city. School closing have not improved educational outcomes and have not yielded the savings that we were promised. Mayor Gray and Chancellor Henderson continue to publicly express that closures will save money which will be reinvested in schools that stay open, but as we have seen from the recent DC Auditor report, the last round of closures in 2008 actually cost us $30 million more than expected. Time and time again, community members are shut out of the process leading up to the closing of a school. (See Bruce Monroe Elementary School & River Terrace Elementary School)
Education organizer Daniel del Pielago says, “what we need now is better planning to ensue that Public schools are strengthened and are a viable choice for DC residents now and for the future.” To that end, Empower DC will visit the city council this Tuesday demanding that they do the following:
1. Place a Moratorium on school closings, turnarounds and transfer to charters for 5 years.
Why this demand? Because the only data which the city has made public to inform “right-sizing” the school system is the IFF report. a report prepared by a pro-charter, real-estate organization who’s single indicator analysis test scores) on school performance lacks any real information on why students score poorly. Their recommendations to close/turn over public schools to charters needs to be refuted. we need this moratorium to plan and execute an accurate building needs assessment and to develop a process which is more inclusive of parents, students, teachers and the community at large.
2. The council needs to have the evaluation of PERA (Public Education Reform Act) as soon as possible.
The DC Public School System has been under mayoral control since 2007 without a valid evaluation of its actual effect on the schools. Many decisions have been made (namely, school closures/turnovers to charters) that have not resulted in any considerable improvements of DCPS. We cannot wait until September 2014 (changed from September 2012 by the 2009 Budge Support Act) for this evaluation.
3. The council needs to hold hearings and vote on any school closing proposed this year.
Currently there is no process to involve those who will be directly impacted by closures and for the community at large to weigh in on these decisions. We need council leadership to ensure that DC residents aren’t left out of this process.
Join Us… Tuesday, September 18 10 am ’til noon John A. Wilson Building (City Hall) 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW (meet in the lobby)
In addition, SHARC (Shelter, Housing and Respectful Change) will be joining Empower DC members as we visit the council. They will be focusing on the displacement of the poor, highlight the impending threat of losing 1,200 or more shelter beds in 2013 and demand affordable housing for ALL low-income residents of DC. The District of Columbia Government and business community (including landlords) are creating and instituting policies that displace tens of thousands of low- and no-income residents, many of whom have called DC “home” for a long time. At least 39,000 Afro-Americans have been gentrified out of DC over the past 10 years by high rents. Schools, libraries and clinics have been closed or relocated away from the communities that need them most. High-priced amenities such as street cars have been brought to poor neighborhoods, forcing the rent up and many residents out. Social services are being eliminated and 1,200 to 2,000 of DC’s 7,000+ homeless people may . . . → Read More: Welcome Back City Council. Here Are Our Demands!
By Guest Contributor, on September 11th, 2012 
We haven’t had a post about Bruce Monroe for a while, but that doesn’t mean nothing’s been going on there. Here are two reports and a video about recent developments.
Bruce Monroe’s Phase One Modernization Becomes More Robust by Daniel del Pielago, Empower DC Education Organizer
In 2008, the Bruce Monroe Elementary community was tricked by the city into leaving their school on Georgia Avenue and moving to the Parkview school building. The Bruce Monroe community fought hard to get their school rebuilt as promised, but unfortunately the city did not keep its word. At the same time, the community realized that the Parkview building was not in safe condition and definitely not conducive to academic success.
The Bruce Monroe community then decided to focus on getting much needed repairs at their new school (Bruce Monore at Parkview). The school was slated for a “Phase 1 Modernization” which repairs corridors and classrooms but not electrical, heating, or plumbing systems. For this reason, the community knew that a Phase 1 modernization would not be enough. First, the community documented the problems with the school and how it impacted students, teachers, parents, and others. Once these issues were documented, community members were present at any opportunity to advocate for their school with key government decision makers. They continuously kept their community updated on what was going on and on ways that individuals could support their effort for a more robust modernization of their school. All of this hard work and organizing paid off when the city agreed to do more than a Phase 1 modernization, focusing on the issues that the community had documented and said needed to be addressed. This brief summary does not capture all that went into this victory, but being organized and visible was key.
Renovation Preparations by Beverly West, Bruce Monroe at Parkview Elementary Parent Leader
The preparations for “Phase I Modernization” at Bruce Monroe at Parkview Elementary School started out in chaotic fashion. It was a stressful matter for everyone involved. It seems that everything was pushed back until the last moment as the teachers and many staff members struggled to finish packing and salvaging valuable resources from their offices and classrooms. Many of the teachers were also unable to complete the students’ year-end reports because the DCPS IT Department had collected their computers and printers days earlier. This was a very uneasy transition for the start of the summer vacation. At least an end-of-year student progress report would have given parents and students a foundation to work towards for next year. Please pray that the reopening of the school will go more smoothly than the closing. The building must be organized people-wise, building-wise, and Lord knows it needs to have a soothing atmosphere to have a successful beginning. In other words, total organization is needed across the school to properly educate the children.
By Liane Scott, on September 1st, 2012 
The Issue as told by the Washington Post in their article Developer Seeks to Give Adams Morgan a Taste of Luxury with Hotel Project:
First Church of Christ at Euclid & Champlain Streets in Adams Morgan.
For the past six years, developer Brian Friedman has been pushing a complex project that he says would reinvent Adams Morgan as a bustling attraction at all times of day, not just in the evenings. He has proposed transforming a historic church, formerly the First Church of Christ, Scientist, into a 174-room luxury hotel. His plan calls for preserving the church building and constructing a 10-story connecting building behind it, where there is now parking.
And he is asking for the city’s help, suggesting that the new hotel not be required to pay property taxes for 15 years after opening. The problem as defined by the Champlain Street Neighbors: We are largely immigrant families who have invested blood, sweat, and tears to make Adams Morgan the hip spot it is considered today.
We have lived through the rough times of this neighborhood and persevered despite crime and poverty so to forge a foundation of diversity and vitality that very few, if any other DC neighborhood possesses. Yet, despite our rich history and investments here, we have been left almost entirely out of the process and discussion of one of the biggest projects in recent Adams Morgan history. Whether purposely or not, our voices have not mattered to local decision makers at all.
The treasured diversity of Ward One and Adams Morgan has already been under attack, but now this luxury hotel project will be take displacement issues to new heights, literally, with a proposal which seems to defy logic for a residential community and threatens our very existence in the neighborhood we helped to build.
There are countless problems with a project of this size and of this proposed use for our families, some of whom have lived here for thirty years.
A luxury hotel will increase our rents or put pressure on our landlords to evict us and sell their buildings. It will bring traffic of major proportions to a street full of kids who attend the two local schools within two blocks. Taxis will be streaming up and down our narrow residential street effectively reducing pedestrian safety while giving rise to more exhaust pollution as vehicles idle at the hotel entrance on Champlain Street. Hotel waste will pour into our collective sewers and other hotel uses will seriously tax our residential water, gas, and electric utilities. The small businesses we patronize will face increasing rents and taxes, forcing them to close and be replaced with chain stores. The noise of the 18th Street Party Zone will come further up into our residential community and hotel rooftop shenanigans will keep our families up at night. The multi-year construction will literally shut down our street and disrupt our lives in a major way — essentially harassing us out of our homes with nasty construction noise and dust.
We do not want this luxury hotel which has been discussed without any heed of the concerns for our families which will be directly impacted.
We need help! We want to protect what affordable housing and diversity we have left. Can you help us?
Adams Morgan Residents for Reasonable Development Protest the Proposed Luxury Hotel at Unity Park Chanting, “Comunidad Si, Hotel No!”
The local organizing group Adams Morgan for Responsible Redevelopment asks, “why has Jim Graham pushed through a $46 million tax gift for a luxury hotel, while small businesses get no help and social services are cut?!” Their list of concerns is even more extensive than Champlain Street Neighbors’. According to Adams Morgan for Responsible Development the proposed hotel:
Won’t create jobs that pay a living wage and won’t afford workers enough money to actually live in Adams Morgan, let alone raise a family. Won’t bring the day-time foot traffic being touted by developers–wealthy tourists won’t likely patronize mos neighborhood-serving ‘mom and pop’ retail and commercial stores. Won’t provide enough revenue from hotel guests to outpace increases in commercial rents and increasing costs of goods. Will increase residential rents and property taxes–eliminating what is left of affordable housing in Adams Morgan. Will displace families and residents living in affordable rental units in proximity to the proposed hotel location. Will significantly increase traffic and noise and pollution on residential streets_impacting pedestrian safety, especially the safety of our kids. Will bring the weekend . . . → Read More: Neighborhood Groups Oppose Luxury Hotel In Adams Morgan
By Guest Contributor, on August 29th, 2012 
Brian Anders in 2011. Photo by Daniel del Pielago.
HEALTH CARE AND HOUSING FOR ALL! By Kirby, longtime friend of Brian Anders
Longtime DC activist, Brian Anders, passed away in the early morning hours of Tuesday August 28, 2012. (Look for announcements for a speak-out/ memorial for this Thursday, prior to his memorial at Joseph’s House at 4pm). Brian was a devoted advocate on behalf of people experiencing homelessness in Washington, DC. He was one of the core members of Community for Creative Non Violence, including when it was at its most active in the 80s. CCNV was a vibrant community of anti-war and social justice activists, who succeeded, through direct action, in forcing the federal government to hand over the massive building at 2nd and D st. NW, so that CCNV could turn it into a shelter and community center for people without housing. The group also held dramatic actions at churches in the city, to get them to share space and resources with those who needed them most. Their organizing gained national momentum, and spurred passage of the McKinney–Vento Homeless Assistance Act, an important Federal bill that provides funding to programs to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness. CCNV coupled their work to end homelessness with anti-war actions, always making the connection between the need to end imperialist war and suffering abroad, and to redirect those resources to helping those economically marginalized at home. While lacking its former community and activist spirit, the CCNV shelter still stands today. Brian went on to advocate for justice for low-income and marginalized communities in DC for the next decades.
Prior to his work with CCNV, Brian suffered PTSD as a result of serving in the military during the Vietnam war. He worked on healing throughout his life, channeling his energy into compassionate service and fiery advocacy. He was part of veterans’ peace organizations, and told me once that he spent months in prison in Texas for taking part in an action to block a weapons shipment. Over the decades, he worked at various organizations, helping get people into housing and helping people access needed services. He believed strongly in serving others in any way he could, in living in community, and in treating all people with dignity and respect. He had a healthy dose of disgust for politicians who rest in the pockets of the wealthy, and for the nonprofit industrial complex, which he understood to be wearing away at the true spirit of community and resistance in which many service providing organizations began.
Brain closely mentored young advocates, including members of a series of local groups who conducted direct actions to end homelessness, such as housing occupations, since the early 2000s. He was a down-to-earth human being, and he touched many lives. Brian apparently wanted people to memorialize him by taking action, speaking out on, standing up for justice and compassion. I hope we can honor his memory in this way.
Two excerpts from the Journal of Brian Anders, which he started writing in July 2012.
Page 1
Living in joy. What exactly does that mean? When do we ask the question what prevents us from living in joy? Is it the need to blame others for our mistakes? Is it the inability to learn from our mistakes or forgive ourselves for any pain we caused to them or others? Could it be something as simple as being afraid to love ourselves?
Page. 5
Now is the time to be grateful and accepting of gifts I’m receiving from the divine. What is self love? What is the key to seeing oneself as worthy of being loved and giving love? How- when can we learn self acceptance? With all of our weaknesses? How do we move past self hatred and learn to live in love? Unconditional love? Begins within not from outside of us. Not looking for some religious answer, or even a scientific explanation or believe that it takes a form of trust. Giving in to your higher self. Ending the way within.
By Guest Contributor, on August 23rd, 2012 
The Ward 5 Quality Schools Community Engagement Meeting and the IFF Report: Why Community Meetings Must Challenge the IFF Report’s Legitimacy and Reject Its Recommendations Written by Erich Martel, cross-posted from DCPS Watch. Erich Martel is a Retired DCPS High School Teacher (Cardozo, Wilson, Phelps)
Quality Schools Community Engagement meeting held in Ward 5. Participants were divided into small groups and not allowed to include a statement voicing their concerns about the Illinois Facilities Fund Report.
On July 31, 2012, I attended the Ward 5 Quality Schools Community Engagement Meeting, one of five ward meetings. It was initiated by the DME (Deputy Mayor of Education) to address the recommendations of the IFF (Illinois Facilities Fund) report, which recommends the closure, “turnaround” or “transfer to charter operators” of 37 DCPS schools, including five in Ward 5.
Before and during the Ward 5 meeting, the DME, DME staff and Public Agenda facilitator insisted that the meetings were not about the IFF report, but only to solicit the public’s ideas about school quality. In discussion group #3, efforts to include a statement opposing the IFF report were opposed by the DME staffer and the Public Agenda facilitator. Their response was to minimize the importance of the IFF report and to assure us that our concerns would be best addressed by describing the elements of “quality” that we want to see in our schools. The other part of their strategy was to split the participants into multiple groups, have them spend the entire time discussing, making long lists, then putting colored stickies on our preferences, and, finally, reports from each group to the whole group. No time was allotted for the whole group to vote on the recommendations.
This two-part strategy (divide participants into small groups; focus discussion on broad generalities, instead of the real issue) is designed to isolate concerned parents and community members in small groups and limit discussion to an agenda that avoids the most important issues.
The resulting lists of “qualities” will be attached to the DME’s recommendations, in his report. He will write that every quality criterion can be met by closure, turnaround, or transfer to charter operators, the IFF report’s recommendations. In the meantime, while the DME is diverting parents and residents’ concerns into make-believe discussions about school quality, the Public Charter School Board has initiated a speeded-up process for “experienced charter operators” to open new charters in DC by August 2013 and the DCPS Chancellor is seeking charter authority to cover up her and Rhee’s failed reform policies. Both charter initiatives have the full support of Mayor Gray and DME Wright.
The evidence (with links) supporting this analysis is below, followed by suggestions for moving forward. Statements or documents by the Mayor, the DME, the DCPS Chancellor and the Public Charter School Board all show that each one is seeking to increase “the number of high quality public charter school seats.” In fact, OSSE’s plan to water down graduation requirements may be part of their effort to attract charter high schools.
Evidence: The five “quality school community engagement meetings” are really about the IFF report
In written responses to the Council’ oversight questions, this past February, the DME wrote: “DME is beginning a process of community engagement based on the IFF report data. This engagement will begin in April 2012 and last through the fall. DME is working with DCPS, PCSB, and community members to hold facilitated conversations in each of the ‘Top 10’ neighborhood clusters as identified in the IFF report.”
The DME’s statement clearly means “public engagement” on the subject of the “IFF report data.” His next and final sentence attempts to shift focus away from the IFF report to something vague and undefined, “quality schools”:
“An integral part of these community conversations will be soliciting feedback from communities about their vision for quality schools.” (Office of the DME Performance Oversight Questions, 2/9/2012, p.12: http://www.dccouncil.us/files/user_uploads/budget_responses/fy11_12_agencyperformance_depmayorforeducation_responses.pdf )
Making “quality schools” an “integral part of these community conversations” does not negate the previous sentences’ focus on IFF data. More importantly, “feedback” can only be solicited for information already reported to those expected to give feedback. The community had information on the IFF report’s recommendations and its newly invented category, “performing seats,” after the report was posted in January. That is the only information which ward residents could study and then give knowledgeable “feedback.” The DME provided no information on the subject of a “vision for quality schools,” on which the community could give knowledgeable “feedback.”
. . . → Read More: Challenging the IFF Report’s Legitimacy and Rejecting Its Recommendations
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