Council Moving To Gain More Say Over D.C. Schools

By Peter Schmidt

District of Columbia officials have launched an attack on employee job protections and school board powers in the city's public school system.

The city council was moving last week to strip school employees' unions of their influence over the evaluations of teachers and administrators. As part of the city's budget package sent annually to Congress, the council declared that evaluation procedures will no longer be negotiable in school contract talks.

Meanwhile, outside experts studying the school district's facility needs at the request of Superintendent Franklin L. Smith have concluded that the district has been overreporting its enrollment...