The D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics on Tuesday reversed itself and asked a D.C. Superior Court judge to invalidate a referendum on Mayor Adrian Fenty’s school takeover plan.
In another twist to the ongoing saga of who controls the D.C. Public Schools, the elections board filed a motion with Judge Lynn Leibovitz that takes Fenty’s side, asking the judge to declare the ballot issue — one it approved last month — “an improper subject for referendum.” The decision likely ends any hope for critics of the mayor’s takeover to put the question to the people.
Fenty’s motion was scheduled as the subject of a hearing today, but D.C. Attorney General Linda Singer dismissed the mayor’s action in a separate filing late Tuesday.
“Each day we get closer to a new era of accountability and excellence in education for all of the District’s children,” Fenty said in a statement.
The mayor filed suit against the elections board last week, arguing its favorable ruling on behalf of District resident Mary Spencer’s referendum request was improper. The D.C. Council, Congress and President Bush all have approved transferring school control from the Board of Education to themayor, the executive argued; a referendum in August would create confusion and subvert federal action.
In his motion, Elections Board General Counsel Kenneth McGhie wrote, “… the Board now concludes that the Referendum, as it was formulated and published in District newspapers, has been rendered fatally flawed by the passage of [federal legislation] and may not go forward.”
Matthew Watson, Spencer’s attorney, was “sort of mystified.”
“They do appear to have reversed themselves,” Watson said. “We’re going to have to look at what our remedies are now.”
Fenty’s takeover will be official next week once the Education Reform Act emerges from a 30-day congressional review period.
