by John Young On November 17th, ANC 3F will have an opportunity to support a resolution to restore public access to the five tennis courts located at UDC. Over 15 years ago, UDC unilaterally and abruptly terminated public access to these five courts. The resolution is a positive and necessary step in returning a public […]
School updates: Reopening concerns; Teacher attrition, Submit ideas for Wilson High’s new name
Ruth Wattenberg represents Ward 3 on the DC State Board of Education. This is adapted from her October 16th newsletter. Subscribe by contacting her at ruth4schools@yahoo.com. Contents Calendar events SBOE monthly meeting Council hearing on school staff attrition Renaming Wilson News Reopening plans and problems Pressure on principals Getting data on teacher attrition Calendar Events […]
Opinion: Other states provide income tax relief for retired civil servants and other retirees. Why doesn’t the District?
by Barbara B. Cline My husband Robert and I are both financial professionals. I am a licensed certified public accountant and former nonprofit executive. Robert is a former banking and insurance regulator with 40 years of federal service. In 2015, while preparing our DC tax return, Robert noticed a change. The DC Council had revised […]
Opinion: DC can do better for renters than current rent control bills would allow
by Carren Kaston The Housing and Neighborhood Revitalization Committee of the DC Council is holding a series of roundtables and hearings on various aspects of rent control through the rest of September and October. However, it seems to be taking up the subject of rent control and rent control reform piecemeal, rather than from a […]
UDC President Mason responds to Aug. 12 op-ed “UDC is focused on the wrong students”
On August 12th, Forest Hill Connection published the op-ed, “UDC is focused on the wrong students.” UDC President Ronald Mason, Jr. wrote this response: UDC is the state higher education system for the District of Columbia. It serves the same role for the District as the Maryland system does for Maryland. We are responsible for […]
Opinion: UDC is focused on the wrong students
by Marlene Berlin (UDC President Ronald Mason responds here.) In 2010, when the University of the District of Columbia was mapping out its Campus Master Plan for the coming decade, increasing student enrollment was one of its four goals. At the time, around 5,800 students were enrolled in its degree programs. UDC initially set 10,000 […]
A Black Lives Matter protest story: My journalism training didn’t prepare me for what I experienced
by Will Fowler Journalists are trained to be objective. From my first day in journalism school, the idea of unbiased, uninvolved reporting was drilled into my head. However, sometimes we become too close to a story to cover it objectively – we become participants rather than observers. This was, in a way, my experience with […]
Wanted: A housing policy that centers racial equity (Opinion)
by Kesh Ladduwahetty Ward 3 has come under particular scrutiny recently for its egregious lack of affordable housing, as well it should. But the Mayor’s proposal to address the issue, which the DC Council has very slightly modified, has carefully avoided the 800-pound gorilla: racism. In failing to define the actual problem, they have failed […]
Opinion: The racist roots of DC’s limited voting rights
We published this op-ed in May 2017. by David Jonas Bardin Outright bigotry and minority voter suppression have undermined efforts to restore precious political rights of Americans in Washington, DC. At a recent symposium hosted by the University of the District of Columbia Law Review, Wade Henderson, the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference […]
Opinion: Yes to DC’s “slow streets,” but we’ll need more, and the laws need to catch up
by the Forest Hills Connection editors On May 29th, Mayor Muriel Bowser and DDOT announced a new 20 mile-per-hour speed limit on residential streets. They also announced that 20 miles of DC streets would be designated “slow streets,” restricted to local traffic, with a 15 MPH speed limit. Slow streets allow people on foot and […]