DC mayoral candidates clash over education

WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington’s mayoral candidates clashed over proposals to improve the city’s public schools in their first general-election debate, with the Democratic nominee characterizing her independent challenger as a loose cannon whose approach would lead to “ping-pongs in leadership.”

Democratic nominee Muriel Bowser has pledged to speed up school reform in the District of Columbia, where hundreds of teachers have been fired for poor performance under an evaluation system installed by the previous chancellor, Michelle Rhee. Bowser has pledged to retain Chancellor Kaya Henderson, who is less politically polarizing than Rhee but has maintained and fine-tuned her policies. The chancellor reports solely to the mayor.