Daryl Young has one wordfor her D.C. public school: “hellhole.”
“The problem in D.C. schools today is that the schools are falling down and it is falling on our students. The walls are coming down, rain is coming in from outside and bugs are running around,” said the Cardozo High School freshman. “It’s just a mess. It’s like a hellhole.”
Young painted this picture of D.C. schools for four of the city’s mayoral candidates Thursday at a debate sponsored by the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington. But she also presented an idea for fixing the schools, saying students could be charged with improving the schools themselves — and learn leadership and construction skills in the process.
Young’s was one of several winning entries in the “Fixing DC Problems” contest — a citywide call for ideas that public officials can use to improve the District.
Four of the six winners presented their ideas at Thursday’s debate to candidates Vincent Orange, Linda Cropp, Michael Brown and Marie Johns.
While the Nonprofit Roundtable will not endorse a candidate, the debate was called to educate the nonprofit community about how the potential mayors would work with the nonprofit community, said Chuck Bean, executive director of the organization.
There are 3,400 active nonprofits in the District that employ about 102,000 people. “Some would say that’s a lot of voters,” Bean said.
Other winning ideas included “The Capital Clean-Up Project,” submitted by Ward 8 resident Joy Doyle, which would have neighborhood residents adopt blocks and keep them clean.
“The issue of litter is a detriment to everyone,” said Doyle, who moved to Ward 8 from Bristow, Va., last year. “I watch my neighbors clean up the street religiously.”
All 900 ideas will be compiled in a briefing book and the city administrator will work with DC Appleseed on the most feasible ideas.
Economic impact of the nonprofit community
» More than 7,000 active nonprofits in the Washington region that generated more than $33 million in revenue in 2000.
» In the Washington region, 11.2 percent of all are employees work for nonprofits.
