‘I blame the post office’
courtesy of ‘Dvortygirl’

The other day when Michelle Rhee was quoted by Fast Company suggesting that teachers laid off as part of the DCPS RIF were poor performing teachers including those who had sex with students, displayed excessive absenteeism and hit students, it made News. The Teachers Union threatened to sue Rhee for Libel. The Council chair threw a fit and demanded an explanation. Today we got it.

As it turns out, all of those things were true. Some of the RIF’d teachers were on suspension for sexual conduct with students, had served suspensions for striking students, and were absent for lengthy periods without explanation.

The letter to the Council Chair, released to the media today, also had the following damning line: “The progressive discipline procedures contained in the applicable collective bargaining agreements prescribed suspension, rather than terminations, for these situations.”

All of that outrage over teachers in the schools having been disciplined for serious offenses and returning to the classroom, and it’s all right there in the progressive discipline procedure that the contract with the Teachers Union demanded. Who’s supportive of the Union again?

‘Nacho #20’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

This is not a repeat.

Overnight, two Metro employees were struck and killed by a Prime Mover, a diesel-powered equipment mover, on the Red line between Shady Grove and Rockville. Metro has stopped all service between Shady Grove and Rockville at this time, stopping the Red Line at Twinbrook for the time being. There is shuttle service between Twinbrook and the affected stations, and it’s unlikely the affected stations will re-open much before noon. The NTSB is on-site between Shady Grove and Rockville, investigating the incident.

It’s not clear what the two train operators were doing on the tracks, or why the Prime Mover did not see them, or stop in time. If you were hurt or a loved one died because of the same kind of accident, you will need a transit vehicle accident lawyer behind you to obtain the compensation you and your family needs to care for the injured.

Metro has released some transit options if you’re transiting near those two stations today. Take MARC, the Bus, anything except rail, it seems.

UPDATE: WaPo reports that the workers were installing new train control equipment in the tracks.

‘Saluting the Hardest Working Men in DC’
courtesy of ‘Wayan Vota’

The Examiner got their hands on a draft report from the city this weekend that shows serious overtime fraud at the DPW in the garbage collection division. 2009 showed $3.45M in overtime paid out to city garbage collectors, several hundred thousand dollars over the proper cost. The Examiner reports that four employees are at the center of the report, in charge of managing some of the distribution of overtime to other employees.

The final report is due out in days, and AG Nickles has promised an investigation. This could undermine Mayor Fenty’s re-election efforts, but seeing as no one serious has the stones to challenge him, it’s hard to tell what effect it might have.

via the Kojo Nnamdi Show

Kojo Nnamdi had mayoral candidate Leo Alexander on the Politics Hour where he railed against poverty and unemployment, and, wait for it, illegal immigrants? He claims that 30,000 undocumented workers in the DC area are taking jobs that poor people in DC should be taking, and wants firmer job controls forced on DC employers of all kinds, specifically using the E-Verify system as a standard for all employers.

I don’t think that Alexander is all that viable a candidate as it stands, and this certainly won’t help his cause.

‘Sidwell Friends School’
courtesy of ‘NCinDC’

WTOP is reporting that a Middle School teacher at Sidwell Friends School has been fired for inappropriate conduct with a student. The teacher, Robert A. “Pete” Peterson, was fired when charges were filed by Montgomery County authorities. Peterson is alleged to have watched pornography with one of his students, and then touched the student inappropriately. Peterson is also facing charges on the Eastern Shore related to the school’s day camp.

”
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

The Mega Millions lottery draw is coming to DC starting the end of next week, giving DC two options for the big lottery jackpots. While the Lotto tends to be a tax on people who are bad at math, funding does return to the state lottery boards which then fund education budgets, so I tend not to feel too awful when I grab a $5 ticket once in a while when the jackpot hits $100M or so. Don’t worry, though, Powerball will be sticking around, so it’s likely you’ll get two shots at big jackpots here.

‘the first amendment lives!’
courtesy of ‘philliefan99’

Tomorrow marks the 37th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court Decision of Roe v. Wade which determined the legality of abortions in the United States. Every year, pro-life protestors gather in Washington and march on the Supreme Court in opposition to the decision. In past years, uninterested bystanders, pedestrians and drivers have been subject to large billboards and signs of grisly images of aborted fetuses on the drive to work, so if you’re sensitive to that kind of imagery, you might want to arrange not to come up 14th Street tomorrow, or be on the Metro first thing in the morning.

Expect heavy delays on Constitution and Independence near the protest, which will run from 7th Street NW to 1st Street NE at the Supreme Court, and also in the Penn Quarter area.

‘No Shelter for Fenty’
courtesy of ‘spiggycat’

We’ve talked before about how it’s looking like no one will step up and challenge Mayor Adrian Fenty in his bid for re-election this year, and how unfortunate that is. Mike DeBonis of the City Paper has a list of draftable candidates that could make the District a far more interesting place to live. He suggests, amongst others, Kojo Nnamdi and Peggy Cooper Cafritz. It’s a good read, time to go dream.

‘Dunbar High Schoolâ��’
courtesy of ‘Daquella manera’

DC and VA have applied for $450M in Race to the Top funding, hoping to garner a share of the funds available through a new federal program to add significant federal dollars to local schools as part of new programs. Maryland has decided to wait until the second round of grants in mid-2010.

The District’s proposal (PDF) went unsigned by the WTU, which may detract from its strength. WTU is currently in a protracted conflict with Chancellor Michelle Rhee over their labor agreement, current policies, current staffing, current control structures and what color the sky is (Rhee says Columbia blue, WTU says more of a Dodger blue) which lead to this situation. The proposal weighs in at 187 pages, and features sections on low-achieving schools, better programs for teachers, and using data to better inform instruction.

Winners for Phase I will be announced in April. Unselected bids will get feedback so they can reapply in June of 2010.

‘DSCF1771’
courtesy of ‘Kingfox’

Arlington Police are currently investigating a pervert who is exposing himself to women on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail in the county. He has exposed himself to five different women in the past week. ACPD said today: “A white male subject exposed himself to woman at various sections of the bike trail. Detectives are looking for more information from the public regarding these exposures.”

If you know anything about this pervert and his tiny winky, please contact Detective Comer at (703) 228-4243 or Detective Austin at (703) 228-4241.