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Subject: New School Board Members . . .=
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 08:40:52 EST
Message-ID: <32.1992Nov7.084053@AmeriCast.com>

New School Board Members . . .=

 TWO YEARS ago, a school parent named Valencia Mohammed ran an
uneventful race for an at-large seat on the D.C.  Board of Educa-
tion and finished a distant third. Her name was again on the bal-
lot for one of two at-large posts on Election Day this week, but
she had run a very different campaign. Mrs. Mohammed won a seat
by emphasizing that she was running to change a school system
marred by "political favors, bogus contracts and administrative
bloat," more than tripling her vote total from 1990. That pro-
vides a fitting message for the school board as a whole. One of
its primary responsibilities in the coming months will be to re-
store a sense of fiscal credibility with the public, the mayor
and the D.C. Council.

 The fact that the school system has not got what it wanted in
recent years in its budget request is attributable in large part
to the city's continuing financial straits. But it is also true
that school system officials have presented a fat target, manag-
ing to balance their budget every year only by robbing academic
programs and other non-personnel monies to pay for a much too big
work force. This must come to an end. The board needs to help Su-
perintendent Franklin Smith fashion a lean and honest budget (for
what would be the first time in many years).

 Attorney Bernard A. Gray Sr. will be the other new face on the
school board, having won the Ward 6 school board seat.  Part of
his campaign emphasized the goal of achieving equal resources in
schools in his ward. This is an issue citywide, and the board has
a role to play in examining what to do about it. At some elemen-
tary schools, for example, the average class size is 29 students,
more than twice as high as in other parts of town. At some high
schools, there is one computer for every 19 students. At Eastern
High School, there is just one computer for every 206 students.
At Janney Elementary in Northwest, there are 28 library books per
student, and just four per student at Winston Elementary in
Southeast. When funding is tight, it is even more important that
the board exercise oversight to make certain that resources are
distributed as fairly as possible.

 The board can best accomplish these and other tasks, such as
creating a better teacher evaluation and rewards system, by work-
ing together as closely as possible and giving its schools chief,
Mr. Smith, the backing and support he needs to make necessary
changes.<02:24 11-07C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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