Reward and Retain High-Performing DC Teachers

School Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Mayor Adrian Fenty are on the right track in improving school maintenance and construction, reducing bureaucratic bloat, and helping students raise their academic achievement. But our schools remain in crisis, in part because longtime opponents of reform continue to block innovative ideas and bold thinking.

Republican Councilmember Carol Schwartz is one such stubborn obstacle to change. I commend Mrs. Schwartz for her 34 years on the school board and DC Council, but her record shows she has contributed little beyond an unwavering opposition to innovation and new ideas. She is either too conservative or too complacent to fight for the changes we need to improve our schools.

Great schools are impossible without great teachers, and one of DC's challenges is retaining high-performing educators in our classrooms. The District has the highest teacher turnover rate in the region, losing talented teachers to Maryland and Virginia every year. Our Teacher Brain Drain deprives DC's kids of the best and brightest, the mentors they need to thrive.

That is why I will work with Chancellor Rhee to create a $2 million High Performing Teacher Fund to reward our best educators with annual bonuses for extraordinary accomplishments and dedication. We can keep these great teachers working for DC children by rewarding excellence and providing incentives for professional growth -- just as the most successful companies do in the private sector. We demand that educators be professionals, and we should reward them as such.

It's time to end the Teacher Brain Drain. With innovative ideas and strong leadership, we can overcome the challenges that face us and make Washington the world class city it can be.

Schwartz’s Do-Nothing Conservatism No Longer Works for DC

This election year offers voters a chance to choose between the same stale options and constructive, innovative change. Just as the historic candidacies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are showing a new direction for our nation, the District also needs new leadership with new ideas and a commitment to change.

Mayor Adrian Fenty, Councilmembers Tommy Wells and Mary Cheh, and School Chancellor Michelle Rhee have started that process. But many of their most inventive ideas face a wall of resistance from entrenched forces that oppose all change. Republican Councilmember Carol Schwartz has made her career out of stubbornly defending failed policies for more than 34 years.

I commend Ms. Schwartz for her long service in DC government, but over three decades in public office she has become too either complacent or too stuck in the politics of the past to fight for the changes we need. Her do-nothing ideology led her to oppose our smoke-free restaurant law, oppose Mayor Fenty's education reforms, and oppose equal marriage rights for same sex couples. The only thing she seems to be for is more of the same.

DC deserves better. We can end the Teacher Brain Drain by setting aside $2 million to reward and retain top-performing educators in DC schools, and by creating a fund to support teachers who want to live and work in our city. We can fight crime by implementing my 10,000 Hour Plan, a simple bureaucratic fix that will free up 10,000 additional police hours each year at little or no cost. We need an elected attorney general to aggressively prosecute crimes that occur, and be answerable to the public. A $1 million fund will keep police officers living and working in the city they serve and protect. And we can defend our middle class by creating a public-private partnership to help any resident at risk of losing his or her home because of a job loss or other life-changing event.

Our environment demands aggressive protection. We should emulate world capitals like London and create a downtown congestion zone. This innovation would reduce the number of cars and SUVs from the suburbs that foul our air, relieve gridlock, and provide more funding for mass transit, bike lines, and trails. We should offer financial incentives to encourage residents and taxi fleets to switch to hybrid vehicles, and to convert the city's entire non-emergency fleet to low-emission vehicles within five years.

Instead of sitting idly by while millions of dollars are stolen by corrupt city employees, we need a council member who will ask the tough questions and hold bureaucrats responsible for honest, competent, and courteous service to the public. With proper oversight, we can ensure that every office of the DC government works for the people.

Simply put, DC residents deserve better.

For the next three weeks, I will be away from Washington, DC fulfilling my annual commitment as an officer in the US Naval Reserves. As my responsibilities allow, I will stay connected by elaborating through entries to this blog on my proposals for change.

I'll be back on the campaign trail later this month, and I look forward to a spirited debate about how we can work together to build on our successes and overcome our daunting challenges. Together, we will make Washington the world class city it can be.

A Day to Remember

On a day honoring one of our great leaders in the history of this nation, I submitted an op-ed to the Washington Afro-American, the leading paper serving the black community in DC. Here it is:

A Dream Half Completed
By Adam Clampitt, Candidate for DC Council – At Large

As unpopular and lamentable as it is to admit today, skin color still determines the quality of life enjoyed by too many District residents today. Washington, DC remains a city with dual identities. There is the public Washington visited by millions of tourists each year, seen on television throughout the world and taught as the seat of democracy to school children in this country and abroad. Washington, DC, is a city of leaders, talent, wealth, prestige, and monuments. But there is also the Washington that you and I encounter every day -- one of de facto segregation, neglected communities, and underappreciated constituencies with unequal opportunities. There are many reasons for the current condition, but one unfortunate truth is that decades of failed policies, missed opportunities, and management inadequacies have short-changed our neediest citizens.

As we celebrate the birth of an American hero, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we can say only that we have fulfilled half of King’s dream. The racial issues that have plagued the District since its inception persist to this day. King would remind us, free and equal do not go hand-in-hand, and though one was achieved, we must work to assure the fulfillment of the other. New action and leadership are required to overcome these inequalities, lift up the middle class and transform Washington into the world class city it should be. I believe this starts with improvements in public education.

The words of Earl Warren still ring true today, “In these days, it is doubtful that any child may reasonably be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education.” With Blacks 30 percent more likely to drop out of school than their White peers, and more than one third of all DC Public School children expected to drop out, we are in a serious crisis.

I support strongly the reform efforts being led by Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee, but I also believe we must go further than the suggestions of the Master Education Plan. Undoubtedly, we should always encourage the pursuit of a college education, but we must realize this path works for some, not all. We will never combat this exodus effectively until we create an educational environment that works to the benefit of every student and honors each for their potential to succeed. This requires us to acknowledge that not all students need attend college to live fulfilling and productive lives.

Walt Gardner of the Los Angeles Unified School District has made an apt case for the need to reintegrate vocational training into the high school curriculum. As non-college-bound students progress thru the system, college-centric programs of study unnecessarily isolate them and cast their talents aside. As a result, scores of smart, talented students whose career pursuits lie outside of college become frustrated and exit the system. A reintegration of vocational programs of study would result in significantly lower drop-out rates. Moreover, trade unions and businesses should be encouraged to partner with such programs at local schools to provide mentoring roles for these students, better training them to join the workforce. As a former member of Mayor Marion Barry’s Summer Youth Employment program, I know first hand the positive effects that private partnerships with education can bring.

Additionally, we must encourage all parents to be involved in their children’s education. Schooling is only one component in educating our children. A supportive home environment is just as vital to a student’s success. The Andre Agassi College Preparatory Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada, has become quite well known for its model of required and observed parental involvement through its “Commitment to Excellence.” Such involvement creates a model for a more involved, more sustainable community. Indeed, as a result of this program one of the country’s worst-performing school districts in Las Vegas’s poorest neighborhood has become one of America’s most vibrant schools and communities.

Creating such engagement in our local communities to provide true equality and opportunity can reverse the effects of neglect and rebuild Washington’s human capital. Our neighborhoods can equal our monuments as Washington’s greatest attractions. New leadership must address the circumstances of economic injustice that make Dr. King’s dream only half fulfilled.

The Young Victims of HIV/AIDS

The AIDS epidemic in the District of Columbia continues to gain much attention, and much of the effort to curb its spread is focused on sexually active adults. In many cases, children are victims, as well. Not only can they contract the virus at birth, through transfusions or other means, but many of those who have been spared infection carry the burden of childhood with mothers who are HIV positive. Caring for our youngest victims and educating them in self-protection and prevention is vital to reduce HIV/AIDS cases for the long term.



Last week, I met with Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care, Inc. They are an organization dedicated to mentoring and caring for children under the age of 18 who have been affected by HIV/AIDS. Run by a dedicated and passionate group of professionals, the organization provides day care, after school programs, including art classes and computer training, as well as psychological counseling. They recently purchased a house in Shaw called which is the central location for all of their services.



Caring for children affected by this epidemic helps prevent retransmission, improves self-confidence and reduces the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. As part of our comprehensive efforts to tame this epidemic, we must focus on the young people who need our help. It is imperative that we support greater funding for HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs for children.

Early Retirement A Good First Step

Today, Mayor Fenty announced plans to offer early retirement incentives to more than 5,000 District employees. This action is an important step to ensure that we make room for a new generation of leaders in our city while continuing to take care of those who have served for years.



I have been knocking on doors in all eight wards of DC over the past few months, and one of the most frequent questions I get from residents is "What will you do to make our government actually work for the people?" It's a question that is extremely important to our future. We have a bloated workforce in the District government. Many employees proudly serve and do their jobs well every single day. But there are many who have lost the passion that they once had for serving residents.



The only way we will truly be efficient and effective is if we increase the number of performers in our government and trim those who are no longer working for the taxpayers. Early retirement is one step, but we need to look at other options, as well. Better methods of evaluation, rewards for good work, and penalties for under performance are all options that I believe should be on the table. Residents of DC deserve the best. The more effective and passionate our government workforce is, the stronger our city will be and fewer instances of corruption will occur.