All the buzz is about education reform in the District of Columbia in a post-Adrian Fenty (and, probably, post-Michelle Rhee) world. Here's a thought: the massive attention on the D.C. Public Schools is misplaced?and not just because it's a small fish on the national scene, but because it's also relatively insignificant in the Washington region.
Consider this: DCPS currently serves about 30,000 low-income students. Meanwhile, neighboring Prince George's County (Maryland) serves about 60,000, or twice as many. Even Montgomery County, Maryland, known mostly for its affluence and excellent schools,? serves more poor students (about 37,000) than DCPS does.
If your concern is lifting the life chances of poor (and black and Hispanic) students, the place to have a bigger impact is in the Maryland suburbs. That should come as no surprise: one of the big issues in the D.C. election is the feeling that poor blacks are getting pushed out of the city. There's widespread fear about ?The Plan? to turn Washington into an American version of Paris, where the rich people live in the cosmopolitan center and the poor live in suburban slums. And to a large degree, that's the way demographics are trending.
So Michelle Rhee: I hear Montgomery County is looking for a new superintendent. And depressed reformers: I'm sure Prince George's County could benefit from your energy and passion, too.
-Mike Petrilli
