11SU N DAY, NOV E M BER 15, 2009T H E E X A M I N ER
LOCAL NEWS
By Leah Fabel
Examiner Staff Writer
A District law passed more than a
year ago to provide prekindergarten
for all of the city's 3- and 4-year olds
hasfallenflat,accordingtotestimony
Friday before the D.C. Council.
"This [law] has little to nothing
to show for it," said council Chair-
man Vincent Gray, complaining of a
lack of communication and progress
from the Office of the State Superin-
tendent of Education.
A facility designed for about 60
infantsandtoddlershasstoodvacant
since its opening in 2006, said Fran-
ces Rollins, chief operating officer of
the Southeast Children's Fund Inc.,
which operates child care centers in
Ward 8.
The facility, housed in a city
office building at the former St.
Elizabeths Hospital Center, "would
be filled with 60 children if it were
open," Rollins said, explaining that
her organization has a waiting list
nearly 100 long.
Gray questioned the whereabouts
of the nearly $22 million directed at
the prekindergarten legislation since
summer 2008. The money was to
be used for the creation of learning
standards, space for about 2,000
more young students, and opportu-
nities for professional development
for existing facilities.
"It is our understanding that since
this legislation was passed, not a sin-
gle new pre-K slot has opened in the
community-based sector," Gray said,
distinguishing between community
centers, like Southeast Children's,
and public school-based centers.
Some charter schools have
opened prekindergarten classrooms,
but charter advocates testified that
there has been little communication
from the superintendent's office
about sharing best practices.
That leads to a lack of readily
available high-quality care through-
out the city, said Joey Weedon,
deputy national director of Amer-
ica's Edge, a nonprofit connecting
business leaders with efforts to
improve public education.
The superintendent's office
"does not provide any insight into
the numbers of families who leave
the city due to the undesirability of
the slots," Weedon said, adding that
their departure for the promise of
suburbia "adversely affects our eco-
nomic base."
Representatives from Northeast's
Trinity Washington University
and the University of the District
of Columbia testified in hopes of
partnering with the city to provide
early-education teachers, but said
they had received no outreach from
the superintendent's office.
D.C. State Superintendent Kerri
Briggslaidoutprogressmadeduring
her 8 months on the job, including
the establishment of early-learning
standards, the awarding of nearly
30 grants, and continued efforts to
bring together interested parties.
"There's no point in having peo-
ple feel excluded from this," Briggs
said.
lfabel@dcexaminer.com
State superintendent blasted over
missteps in D.C. pre-K initiative
By David Sherfinski
Examiner Staff Writer
Arlington County may eventually
see parking meter hours extended
to nights and weekends and vari-
able meter pricing, under a 20-year
parking plan passed Saturday.
The county board on Saturday
approved a long-term parking and
curb space management element to
its master transportation plan for
the first time.
One of the goals behind the
amendment is to accommodate an
anticipated 17 percent increase in
population and 31 percent increase
in employment over the next 20
years. Few of the implementation
actions would be adopted soon,
said Sarah Stott, the county park-
ing manager.
"This is a well-thought-out
parking plan that will help Arling-
ton manage growth in the coming
years, by helping us make the best
possible use of our limited parking
and curb space," said board chair-
man Barbara Favola.
Variable pricing has been used
in other areas to address parking
needs, Stott said. When parking
demand is high and prices are
low, spaces will be filled, but when
prices exceed demand, spaces are
likely to go unused, she said. The
plan seeks an optimal rate where
parking spaces in a given area are
occupied about 85 percent of the
time.
Both Stott and board members
cautioned that any such changes to
parking fees or hours would require
further board action. Extending
parking meter hours would be
done only if there is a perceived
need from local businesses or resi-
dents, Stott said.
"This has had a lot of discussion
with many people in the restau-
rant and business community,"
she said.
A few people who spoke at
Saturday's board meeting were
amenable to the parking plan, but
requested that it be deferred and/
or amended.
Board members responded by
saying that the plan would be a tool
for long-term policy guidance, not
an ordinance or regulation.
"I fully expect the strategies out-
lined in this document will evolve,"
Favola said. "This is not a locked-
in-stone document."
Board member Chris Zimmer-
man pointed out that the plan was
a policy statement or outline.
"This doesn't decide what park-
ing meters rates are going to be,"
he said. "You could tinker with it
forever...at some point, you've got
to do it."
The board approved the measure
by a unanimous 5-0 vote.
dsherfinski@washingtonexaminer.com
Arlington approves parking overhaul
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