For all his talk of “accountability” and “transparency,” Adrian Fenty is starting off his reign as mayor on the wrong foot.
Last week, Fenty unveiled a scheme to take over the dreadful D.C. Public Schools, and he’ll need the approval of the D.C. Council and Congress to do it. Desperate times call for centrally controlled measures, some may say, but Fenty’s plan to seize control includes enriching his cronies from a $2.3 billion, taxpayer-funded school construction and renovation pot.
The day after Christmas, The Washington Post published a story about an “unusual deal” brewing between a nonprofit called EdBuild and the D.C. government. (“D.C. Schools Considering Unusual Deal With Nonprofit,” Dec. 26). According to the article, the government intends to enter into a no-bid contract with EdBuild to “upgrade academics and facilities in some low-performing schools.” But EdBuild, which has been in operation only 15 months, has a scant track record of upgrading either academics or facilities.
There’s more.
The Post characterizes Neil O. Albert, one of EdBuild’s founders, as an “associate” of mayors Anthony Williams and Fenty, but he’s much more than that. Albert served as a deputy mayor and director of the Department of Parks and Recreation under Williams. Last week, Fenty appointed him deputy mayor of economic development. Albert said he’ll resign as EdBuild’s president and CEO.
EdBuild was created by the Federal City Council, an organization comprised of powerful D.C. businesses with deep pockets, and the council’s chief executive officer is John Hill, former chairman of Mayor Williams’s library commission and one of EdBuild’s board members.
Perhaps worse than cronyism were “behind closed doors” meetings between EdBuild and D.C. elected officials. The Common Denominator, a now-defunct local newspaper, reported in October 2005 that closed discussions between elected officials and the nonprofit had been taking place for more than a year.
Albert told the newspaper that it was possible his organization would become part of Superintendent Clifford Janey’s Master Education Plan to improve schools. If Fenty’s takeover bid is successful, EdBuild, created by high-level D.C. government officials and business leaders, would carry out Fenty’s own Master Education Plan, benefiting those same officials and leaders.
Was the nonprofit created with this end in mind? The EdBuild momentum has been building for at least two years, but the Washington Post has done minimal investigative reporting about the lack of transparency in the government’s dealings with EdBuild.
The school board preliminarily approved the contract last month, and board member William Lockridge was the only one who opposed it. Although the Post quotes him as supporting “EdBuild’s efforts to improve academic performance” and opposing only the construction management portion of the proposal, he told me he has reservations about the academic portion as well.
“There was no researched information or data to show how effective they were in preparing teachers for the standards and some of the other things that they’re doing academically in the schools,” he said, adding that at this point, the board still doesn’t know how much EdBuild’s services will cost taxpayers.
Lockridge believes what should be obvious to anyone: the inexperienced and connected EdBuild’s anointing to manage Fenty’s grand takeover plan is politically motivated. His “associates” stand to profit from a fat government contract.
Why isn’t The Washington Post, an award-winning investigative national newspaper, asking questions about EdBuild’s connections to the D.C. government generally or its founders’ and creators’ connections to Adrian Fenty specifically? Donald Graham, chairman of the Washington Post Co., just happens to be the vice president of Membership and Finance at the Federal City Council, which created EdBuild.
Follow the money, and you’ll find the source of the stench.
La Shawn Barber is a member of The Examiner’s Blog Board of Contributors and blogs at www.lashawnbarber.com.
