School & District Management

D.C. Authority Appears Set To Oust Smith and Take Control of District

By Ann Bradley — November 13, 1996 2 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Washington

The federally appointed board that oversees the finances of the District of Columbia government appeared ready last week to take control of the city’s beleaguered school system and replace its superintendent.

The Washington Post reported that the financial-control board, created last year by Congress to try to solve the city’s chronic fiscal troubles, would hire a retired three-star Army general to run the 80,000-student system. The control board reportedly planned to buy out the remainder of Superintendent Franklin L. Smith’s contract, which is scheduled to end in June.

The newspaper said retired Lt. Gen. Julius W. Becton Jr., a former president of Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, and a former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, would be named chief executive of the school system.

Mr. Becton would report to an education panel appointed by the financial-control board, the Post reported, and the authority of the 11-member elected school board would be diminished.

Mark Goldstein, the control board’s deputy director, said last week that he could neither confirm nor deny the report. He said the board was scheduled to release a report on the school system late this week.

School leaders in Washington have been on notice for months that they could be the target of radical changes. Andrew F. Brimmer, the control board’s chairman, has been sharply critical of both Mr. Smith and the school board.

The school system has been plagued by poor student achievement, repeated fire-code violations that delayed the opening of some schools, flagging employee morale, and problems with contracts with outside vendors. Administrators also have faced continuing questions about exactly how many employees the system has and how many students it serves.

School Board Opposition

At a press conference here last week, Mr. Smith said he had not discussed the reported changes with officials from the control board. “I have no concrete evidence that any of this will come to fruition,” he said. “I feel I’ve been slapped in the face for the last four or five months.”

Mr. Smith complained that the control board had ordered deep budget cuts, refused to approve key contracts, and had not made an effort to “work as a team.”

The news of impending changes came the morning after Election Day, dismaying some school board members.

“We just completed an election yesterday where the citizens of the District of Columbia indicated by their vote that they wanted an elected school board,” said Wilma R. Harvey, a 10-year board member who retained her seat. “I think based on that premise the board is germane and key to getting the system back on track.”

Ms. Harvey and Karen Shook, the school board president, questioned whether the control board has the authority to usurp the power of the elected school board.

The federal law that created the control board gave it broad oversight over the District of Columbia government, which includes its school system.

Mr. Smith said at the press conference that Joyce A. Ladner, a member of the control board who has been overseeing education reform, told him: “‘You can’t win this. Roll with the punches.’”

But Mr. Smith gave no indication that he would step down. “I’m acting as superintendent,” he said. “And I will do that until they say, ‘Mr. Superintendent, turn in your keys.’”

A version of this article appeared in the November 13, 1996 edition of Education Week as D.C. Authority Appears Set To Oust Smith and Take Control of District

Events

Jobs Virtual Career Fair for Teachers and K-12 Staff
Find teaching jobs and other jobs in K-12 education at the EdWeek Top School Jobs virtual career fair.
Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Opinion A Good Principal Knows When It's Time to Leave
I didn’t leave my job because of burnout; I stepped away from being a school leader because it was in everybody’s best interest.
Matthew Ebert
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of someone handing off a baton to someone else over a completed puzzle.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week via Canva
School & District Management Principals Tell Politicians on Capitol Hill: We’re Burning Out
Students' mental health top principals' growing list of concerns.
6 min read
People walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington, June 9, 2022.
Visitors walk outside the U.S Capitol building in Washington on June 9, 2022.
Patrick Semansky/AP
School & District Management Women Superintendents Experience Bias on the Climb to Leadership
Interpersonal slights and inequities make it hard for women to land the job and stay in it.
3 min read
Woman stands in front of a staircase in different colors. She is about to walk up the stairs. Concept of standing in front of a challenge and finding the right solution and courage to move on.
mikkelwilliam/E+
School & District Management Fewer of Today's Superintendents Are at Retirement Age
A new survey of superintendents adds to what we know about the people who lead the nation's school districts.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of money, salaries and data.
iStock/Getty