U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu is the second Democrat in two weeks to delay passage of Mayor Adrian Fenty’s school takeover bill, D.C. officials learned Monday.
Landrieu, D-La., has a “hold” on the legislation, which would provide Fenty with control of the public schools and have a less potent Board of Education report directly to the executive branch.
The senator “does fully support the mayor’s effort to reform the school system,” Landrieu spokesman Scott Schneider said, but the bill as presented might not mesh with federal law.
Under the No Child Left Behind Act, all local school boards must report to an autonomous state school board, Schneider said, and the mayor’s office doesn’t count. The issue, he said, was brought to the senator’s attention by school board President Robert Bobb — who opposed the mayor’s takeover — and should be settled before the matter moves forward.
“The senator wanted to give the mayor’s office and the school board an opportunity to come up with a way of resolving this issue,” Schneider said.
Carrie Brooks, Fenty’s communications director, said there is no conflict in the bill because the District’s state education officer, which she equated to a “state superintendent,” is independent of the mayor and can be removed only for cause.
“Anyone further delay to the implementation of our school reform act not only subverts the will of the elected government of the District of Columbia, it further delays the government’s ability to prepare for the first day of school and other critical management decisions,” Fenty said in a statement.
Bobb did not return calls for comment. It was unknown Monday whether talks to hammer out the supposed conflict had started.
The takeover bill, which requires an amendment to the District’s Home Rule Charter, is on track for unanimous consent approval once Landrieu’s hold is removed. The measure was held up briefly by Maryland Sen. Ben n Cardin, D, over his objections to the continued placement of the city’s Oak Hill Youth Detention Center in Anne Arundel County.
