Political Quotes

“Mr. Chairman, the reason for doing this is we want to strike sections 128 and 129. The reason is that the District of Columbia is already on the leading edge of the charter school movement throughout the country. It is reforming its schools. In fact, it had an enrollment increase of over 100 percent in the last year. Mayor Williams has seen to it that the funding has increased by 300 percent to $77 million for charter schools. That is good. That is what we want. The Center for Washington Area Studies reported that D.C. charter schools funding is among the most generous in the entire Nation in terms of per-pupil expenditures. Unfortunately, these two provisions could potentially jeopardize both that funding and the positive impact which charter schools are having because it substantially reduces the authority of local elected officials to determine the best use of surplus school properties. It was done without consultation with the Mayor or the school board or local elected officials. So passage of these provisions is going to have a very serious effect potentially upon homeless shelters, alternative education programs, the Metropolitan Police Department, because these organizations, these services are using surplus school properties. These amendments say any charter school can go in and buy these surplus school properties at 25 percent less than market even if they are occupied.”