The Northwest Current
October 25, 2005
We Cannot Falter in Fixing Our Schools
by Adrian Fenty

This fall the D.C. Council has an historic opportunity to address the most critical issue facing this city: fixing our schools. Nothing must stand in the way of meeting this important challenge.

Parents again outlined the dilapidated state of our schools this week. During a hearing held by the Council's Education Committee, we heard of leaky roofs, faulty bathrooms, and electrical systems that can't support both air-conditioners and computers at the same time. DCPS itself reports
that a shocking 48 percent of our public schools are in "poor" condition, and that an additional 41 percent of our schools are only in "fair" condition. Only 11 percent of our schools rest in the category of "good" condition. Furthermore, DCPS projects that, without help, the school
system's Facilities Master Plan -- designed to fix the schools -- will be under funded by over $1 billion between Fiscal Years 2006 and 2011.

This is why earlier this year I introduced the School Modernization Financing Act to authorize the issuance of $1 billion in bonds to modernize our schools. Without a steady and secure stream of funding, the problem will only continue to get worse, and the current state is simply unacceptable.

Poor schools limit our tax base, and reduce our economic productivity and competitiveness. Even our city's bond rating is effected by the condition of our schools. A 2003 Moody's report stated that the District's bond rating is directly related to the need to improve the quality and efficiency of
K-12 education in the city.

Eight of my colleagues on the Council have signed on in support of the school modernization bill, which has passed the Council's Finance Committee and is pending before the Education Committee. Although we must still agree on a revenue funding mechanism, the stakes are too high for us to continue to ignore this glaring deficiency. We simply cannot relegate another
generation of students to crumbling classrooms. Our children desperately need and deserve fully modernized schools.

Adrian Fenty represents Ward 4 on the Council of the District of Columbia.