The editorial board of the Washington Post looks back on Mayor Fenty's first year after taking control of the D.C. public schools and is pleased so far. Unlike me , they're not too concerned by the fact that Chancellor Michelle Rhee is abandoning weighted student funding --rather, they look forward to "the promise of music, art and physical education teachers in schools this fall."
And ironically, they caution that:
There have been problems, including with the amount and quality of information provided to the public as changes are made.... We also worry about the amount of money being spent. In seeking control of the schools, Mr. Fenty vowed that money was not the issue, but an extra $200 million later, it's clear that the administration was either kidding itself or the public. The system needs to show it is fixing, not just throwing money at, the problems.
Transparency is one of the great virtues of weighted student funding. Rhee's step backwards is only going to make it harder to tell how money is spent in D.C.
