August 23, 2010 --- Today was the first day back to school for kids in Washington D.C.

These
kids may not know it, but their educational future may be on the line in a few short weeks.

On September 14, Washington, D.C. will hold its Democratic primary election – tantamount to a
general election in this overwhelmingly Democratic city. The latest polling indicates it may be
too close to call between current Mayor Adrian Fenty and his challenger, DC City Council
member, Vincent Gray.

So what’s the dramatic connection to kids? Mayor Fenty has promoted an aggressive public
school reform agenda for the notoriously underperforming DC school system. He appointed a
take-no-prisoners school chief, Michelle Rhee, who has fired poor teachers and administrators
and is working to make schools and teachers accountable for student performance.

While these actions have made Fenty and Rhee popular among white voters (a 36% minority),
they are downright unpopular among African Americans who make up the majority of D.C.
residents and whose kids make up 80% of DC public school students. In fact, a recent poll of
Democratic primary voters found Rhee had an 80% approval rating among white women and a
25% approval rating among African American women.

So considering I am not a D.C. resident, or a Democrat for that matter, why do I care who wins?
Because I am a parent and a citizen who thinks the achievement gap between Whites, Blacks,
and Hispanics is untenable. I believe this election represents either a step forward as Fenty and
Rhee take dramatic, even unpopular, steps to remedy this gap or a step back toward the status
quo.

A recent study ranks D.C. schools one of the worst for African American males who have a 41%
graduation rate compared to 57% for white males, so why do African American voters oppose
the reforms being introduced by Fenty and Rhee? Is it style? Both Fenty and Rhee have been
described as arrogant, blunt, and insistent. White voters tend not to like arrogance either, so it
must be more.

Reviewing blogs and commentary, it becomes clear that there are those who think Michelle
Rhee is racist, despite the fact that she is about to marry former NBA star, Kevin Johnson, an
African American. They think she has unfairly fired predominantly African American teachers
and administrators and run roughshod over parents. But, considering the fact that 80% of
D.C.’s public school students are African American, wouldn’t it be racist to do nothing while
these kids failed to thrive?

By all indications, Fenty’s challenger appears to prefer a slower course toward school reform in
favor of more meetings and consensus. There is no doubt that Fenty and Rhee have been in a
hurry…and have ruffled feathers…but with every minute wasted, another child fails to live up to
his or her potential. On September 14th, the future of D.C. children is on the line.