Marc Fisher

• Potomac Confidential • Potomac Confidential Live archive • About Marc Fisher • E-mail Marc • Talk: Metro message boards • Live Online Transcripts • NEW! Subscribe to the weekly Live Online E-Mail Newsletter and receive the weekly schedule, highlights and breaking news event alerts in your mailbox.

Potomac Confidential
With Marc Fisher
Post Metro Columnist
Thursday, April 17, 2003; Noon ET

Potomac Confidential fills the midday lull with discussion of the latest news and a rigorous slicing and dicing of the issues that define who we are and where we live.

In his weekly show, Washington Post Metro columnist Marc Fisher veers wildly from serious probing to silly prattle, and is open to topics local, national, personal and more.

The transcript follows.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Marc Fisher: Welcome, fellow taxpayers. Lots to mull over today. We are this morning a city without Michael Jordan to boast about, not that the Wizards are any better for his having played here. Anybody seen any anti-SARS masks around town? I saw one on the Metro, but just the one. Chief Moose seems to be spiralling out of control--he's suing Montgomery County to try to reverse its ban on his tell-all sniper book, and now he's comparing himself to Martin Luther King. Breathtaking.
Today's column examined the perplexing case of Peggy Cooper Cafritz, the D.C. school board president who has done a 180 on vouchers. And Sunday's column visited an Army notification officer, the young man whose job it is to visit the parents of a soldier and let them know their child has been killed.
Plus, whatever's on your mind. Let's go...

Burke, Va.: I would like to thank you for your moving report on the soldier responsible for telling the family of another lost soldier about the death of their son. It looks to me that alone out of the war supporters, you have been willing to look at part of the price paid for this war.

Marc Fisher: Thanks--it's one thing to believe, as I do, that the political goals of this war are justified. But it's even more important to keep at the front of our minds the realities of war and its severe shortcomings as a policy tool.

Burke, Va.: Marc,

Any idea why military jets were flying over the Burke area of Fairfax County low enough and fast enough to wake people from a sound sleep at 12:30 a.m. Monday night? Have seen nada about it in the Post!

Marc Fisher: News to me, though there have been more combat air patrol flights over the D.C. area in recent weeks. Anyone?

Derwood, Md.: I predict that Chief Moose will leave his job in order to write his book, which will be re-titled "The Montgomery County Sniper Shootings."

Here is what I don’t get: Despite having a job where he is on call 24/7, Chief Moose is also able (1) to command a Reserve Unit, (2) teach a college course, (3) run a consulting business, (4) write a book and (5) stay happily married. Why isn’t he writing a self-help book about time-management and happy marriages? I would pay a ton of money for that.

Marc Fisher: I think you're exactly right--he's clearly committed to writing the book and seems to care far more about his big chance to go Hollywood than he does about his job as police chief. The perfect solution is for him to leave the county and do his thing.

Silver Spring, Md.: I read about the press conference at the National Press Club where Chief Moose's wife compared her husband with Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela, called the chief "a doctor" (he has a Ph.D.) and mentioned as her only concern the right of free speech (no mention of money). One would have thought that Moose had found and wrestled to the ground both of the suspects and now just wanted to speak his mind. It was a hoot.

Marc Fisher: Some people adapt well to fame. Some go (temporarily, we hope) a bit nuts. Chief Moose has developed a grandiose streak. Making this ethics discussion into a free speech argument is just silly. No one has ever sought to limit his free speech. If he wants to go out and blow the cases against the sniper suspects and tell all he knows about the investigation, he's free to do that--if he quits his job. But as long as he's in the county's employ, his bosses have a right to restrict his use of privileged information that he received solely because of his work for Montgomery County.

Annandale, Va.: Bravo Marc! I oppose vouchers but do not oppose a serious debate about education policy that includes a discussion of vouchers. You have exposed the cynicism and opportunism of the pro-voucher movement, which does not want any debate -- they simply want to achieve their goal (privatization and secularization of American elementary and secondary education) and cannot be bothered to make a reasoned case to support their position.

Marc Fisher: Thanks--and here's another view of today's column...

Somewhere, USA: Wow, today's column is a real sleep aid...

I guess one or two people that aren't politicians might be interested in it.

Marc Fisher: Maybe you have to be a parent to find the voucher issue compelling, but my sense is that many people, parents or not, have a deep interest in how their tax dollars are used and how we educate children.

Long Beach, Calif.: Ah, religion and education. What a great combo. I have read that religion is primarily concerned with gaining converts. Could that really be true? But then again, it's also true that Congress will attempt to make some shining examples for our new Christian outreach programs, and what better test tube than D.C.?

See you at the public trough!

Marc Fisher: The curious thing about the vouchers campaign is that the potential size of the program is so small that a voucher program in Washington is predestined to frustrate most of the families that would want to take advantage of it. As the head of the Catholic schools said in the column, they have capacity only for about 1200 new students and they have no intention of building new facilities for students with vouchers.

Southern Maryland: Good column today, Marc. I believe charter schools work because they don't have the administrative overhead that weighs down regular public schools.

I've observed public and private schools for several years, and the largest systematic difference is the size of the central office staff. This is especially true of public school systems in the larger cities. Dozens of degreed educators are sitting on their butts instead of teaching. Is this the best use of taxpayers' money?

I'd like to see those administrators placed back in the schools as mentor teachers. There, they could still teach while sharing their knowledge and experience with their younger colleagues.

Marc Fisher: The bloat in the central offices of a big school system is something to behold--true. But it's also true that as a society, we keep weighing down our school systems with new and demanding requirements that they take on every social ill known to mankind--health screening, drug counseling and on and on. That's a big part of what causes the bloat.

Northern Virginia: Wow, what caused the vitriol about vouchers in this morning's column?: "Charters aren't enough for the most zealous reformers, whose real goal is state support of religious schooling."

Why can't you just accept that some parents would like a choice beyond public schools? Why does that make us "zealots"? Why is my election to send my child to a school with superior standards penalized in several of ways: I get no tax break for sparing the public schools another headcount, I get no tax benefit for the cost of his schooling, and my property taxes continue to rise to benefit the schools I'll never use. (As an aside, if the several thousand children who attend the various private and parochial schools were at once enrolled in the public system, the publics would be overwhelmed. The state relies on them being out of the system!) Why should that not translate to some benefit (vouchers, gasp) to the parents?

Marc Fisher: I think school choice is an excellent way to push the public schools to innovate and break down barriers to better education. That's why charter schools make a lot of sense. But charters allow the taxpayer to be sure that a public authority is assuring that schools maintain standards and do not abuse the public money they receive. Vouchers, on the other hand, do not allow the public to watch its money closely, and more important, vouchers allow public money to be spent promoting specific denominations of faith--and that's contrary to the foundations of this country.

Petworth, Washington, D.C.: Nah, I'm not a parent, and I find education issues important. It affects our taxes, and the general education level of our citizens. Which, frankly, is pretty poor right now!

I don't and won't ever support vouchers, but I do support serious education reform. And they are my tax dollars, I want some say in how they're spent!

Marc Fisher: Like I said.

Springfield, Va.: I have always been in favor of school vouchers, although you could say my support is weak. I agree with the concept of universal education and the need to keep public schools strong. But what about schools where the education is anything but universal, such as the one in your recent magazine article? Any student that comes out of that school with any education at all is without doubt an exceptional person.

In today's column you argued that school vouchers are a way around the constitution to fund religious schools. This argument always puzzles me. I went to college on government grants and subsidized loans that went from the government to me to a Lutheran College. No one thinks that was government funding of religious schools, it was funding of my education. Why get all worked up when the same type of thing is used for primary or secondary schools?

If this is one of the main arguements against vouchers it makes me think that position is very week.

Marc Fisher: Excellent question, and you've shown that this is not a black-white issue. There are gradations of public support for religion, and I think the distinction you make is an important one: College students are old enough to make their own choices about their education; if they want to use government loans at a faith-based institution, fine (though I'm still uncomfortable with government money going to religious institutions.) But primary and secondary students do not have the maturity to make that decision, and so it's an easier call to say that government money shouldn't go to support their religious education. Also, society has a greater interest in all children getting a similar, basic education in the early years than it does at the college level, which is far more specialized.

Alexandria, Va.: Submitting early today because I am really mad, and may not be mad later.

I am a Catholic and Catholic school parent, and I DO NOT support vouchers.

First, the entitlement is to a free PUBLIC education. The non-Catholic kids at our school study, and get graded on, religion, and attend Mass -- all they do not do is receive the sacraments. Get a C in religion and you don't make the honor roll, Catholic or not. We welcome you if you want that for your kids, but if you take your own faith seriously, you may not want it.

Second, the entitlement is to an education paid for by the state. Tuition at Catholic schools typically pays for operating costs -- if that. The parish, which owns the school building, pays for capital costs, and may even subsidize operating costs, as it does in our school. The Washington Archdiocese superintendent may not understand that, or may not care, but as financially strapped parishes come to realize they do not need schools for their own parishioners, they WILL care.

Finally, vouchers do nothing for accountability. They do not make the public schools more accountable. They also do not, because they cannot, hold the voucher-receiving schools accountable, either. I happen to believe our school is more accountable to us than the public schools available to us, but that is my judgment. There are no standardized measures of accountability that private schools have to meet to receive voucher funds, and there will not be. The private schools will pass up the funds rather than accept unfunded mandates.

Vouchers may bring more students and some more money into some Catholic schools, but those students don't necessarily have a commitment to Catholic education, they won't necessarily stay in Catholic schools, and money and bodies shouldn't be ends in themselves, anyway.

Thanks for letting me rant.

Marc Fisher: Very good points--thanks.

Bethesda, Md.: Marc Fisher:

Try to handle these questions come noon. They represent a test to your gutsiness.

Why are you so mathematically challenged? If teaching two students in D.C. cost $24,000 annually, paying a voucher of $6,000 to educate one in a private school, leaves $18,000 for the kid in public school. That’s a 50 percent increase in per student funding and not a reduction. If students migrate to private schools, classroom size in public schools would decrease. What won’t change is the bureaucratic overhead and administrative costs that have ballooned by virtue of the education monopoly in public schools, and the political dependency of D.C. elected officials on the organizational and financial support they obtain from the Teachers Union and their peers.

Secondly, have you unwittingly (perhaps halfwittingly) bought into the continued and depressingly habitual anti-Catholic bias of some voters? I thought we had rid ourselves of that bad seed with the election of President Kennedy.

Third, your profession as a reporter and commentator gives you license to amplify your views through The Post. You are partly right by praising Ms. Cafrits, but do you realize that it does not, however, compensate for the damage you do to the children in D.C. by stomaching the non-performance of public schools and being supine to the education establishment and the Teachers Union?

Marc Fisher: Hmmm--you're right about the system's apparent inability to run a leaner and more targeted operation, but the rest of your math doesn't quite work. There's no evidence that declining enrollment leads to smaller classes; far more likely, it leads to reduced teaching force, which often means larger classes. And subtracting students from the public schools does not free up money for new spending; rather, it increases the proportion of money that goes to the central operations of the system and diminishes the support to classrooms and individual schools.
As far as the Catholic schools go, I consider them among the best in the city. Their test scores, parent involvement, student achievement and staff retention are all signs of a system that works.
Finally, I am a lot of things, many of them worth criticizing, but supine to the education establishment is not one of them. I think any review of my writing will back that up.

Bethesda, Md.: Poor Josh! The school should NEVER have switched him out of his class; to do so indicated to the children and parents that causing enough disruption could get a teacher removed. And to put him in a class with children with special needs is inexcusable! Handling those kids requires special training and a unique type of person, not a recent college grad with no teaching experience, little training, and NO experience with kids with special needs. And don't even get me started on that civil case -- since 911 was called when the boy was allegedly pushed to the ground, there should have been testimony from the medics who responded as to any evidence of a fall, or resulting necessary follow up care. Since that wasn't there in the criminal case, the civil case wasn't going anywhere either. Settling just invited every kid and parent who wants 90K to try the same scam.

Marc Fisher: This is a post about my piece in the Post magazine two Sundays ago, about two young D.C. public school teachers who had wildly different experiences in their first years on the job.
Yes, Josh was handled very badly by the system. Probably, a good principal could have helped him become a strong and worthy teacher. But I think the story also showed that he made some mistakes of his own, and his personality was not well suited to a system that too often leaves teachers to find their own way.

Lorton, Va.: From the article on the new mansion for the prime minister of Lebanon: "In general, community reaction is usually that we would like to preserve as much green space as possible," said Scott Polk, a member of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3D. "If someone wants to build a mansion there, it's much, much preferable to building 100 homes."

So maybe 100 houses on Foxhall road wouldn't help with affordable housing in the area, and yes, green space is always nice. But isn't this just the type of attitude that encourages more sprawl? And this is in the city!

Marc Fisher: This is about a story in today's Metro section that tells of the proposal to build Washington's largest mansion--a $25 million project--on 16 acres on Foxhall Road in Northwest. The house is for the billionaire prime minister of Lebanon. Guess he's not too happy living in his own country.
Sadly, the attitude of that commissioner is all too common in this city, where way too many residents seem to believe they are living on some agricultural preserve way out in the sticks. Cities are for density; that's what makes them exciting and rewarding to live in. Foxhall Road, because it is so narrow, is ill-suited for 15-story apartment buildings, but it could certainly stand a lot more houses.

Maryland: Marc, what do you think of the threats made by suburban U.S. Congressmen last week to take control of the District's traffic management? I don't live in D.C., but I was dumbfounded at their arrogance. These folks have done more to produce the traffic problem then anything else: they bloated the federal government to massive proportions, then subsidized huge amounts of suburban and exurban residential development, so it's much more enticing for those employees to live in the city. They build massive highways and underfund public transit. They even discourage people from moving back by refusing to enfranchise D.C. residents. Then they have the unmitigated gall to blame D.C. officials for the fact that every human being for 100 miles is idling in a car during rush hour. How pathetic.

Marc Fisher: Classic case of the pot calling the kettle black. It is Congress that has caused many of the District's worst traffic bottlenecks by panicking and closing Pennsylvania Avenue, restricting traffic around various federal buildings and generally treating the District like a government theme park rather than a living city.

Washington, D.C.: Marc --

This week Mayor Williams lashed out at the suggestion that he was detached and bored at being mayor. I have to wonder, though. For example, four years ago, with much ballyhoo, he brought us the idea of performance scorecards for his administration. However, if you go to the dc.gov website, you can see that: 1. They haven't been updated since July 2002; 2. Most of the goals are softballs; 3. There are a lot of dubious claims about what has been completed. I have to say it seems pretty rudderless. What's your take?

Marc Fisher: I don't think the mayor has quite yet retired in place, as some of the recent comments would have us believe. But there is reason for serious concern--the hope that he would begin his second term with a burst of energy and with that new commitment to neighborhoods and quality of life that he talked about during the campaign seems to be dashed already.
Where is the initiative to respond to popular concern about insufficient police presence and responsiveness? Isn't it time this mayor pushed harder for congressional action on tax reform? These next few months are really Williams' last chance to seek basic structural change in the city's ability to raise funds and fend for itself. And when will he buy a house and settle into this city, or is he too busy planning the next move?

Arlington, Va.: A propos of the eco-argument to defend the mansion for the Grand Poobah of Lebanon, one look at the pollen count from yesterday should tell us that the area does not lack for trees.

Marc Fisher: Right, and remember, we're about to find ourselves under the thumb of a truly scary law that turns any homeowner who wants to get rid of a nuisance tree into a criminal.

Silver Spring, Md.: I read that the California Angels are about to be sold for "only" $180 million, and that AOL/TW is having a hard time getting the price it wants for the Braves. How does that affect the D.C. baseball bids? Does it make it more likely the owners will try to hold on to the Expos and think of more ways to extort better deals from the competing groups?

Marc Fisher: There was a small story in Sports this week quoting major league baseball executives saying that there's only a 50-50 chance that the Expos will be moved next year. That's unfortunate, since baseball must know that Washington/Virginia is the best deal the sport will get anytime for many years to come. But you're right--prices for baseball franchises--or any pro sports these days--are at best stagnant and may be due for a significant correction.
In a way, that may strengthen Washington's chances, since it's unlikely that any potential owner with hugely deep pockets will come along and grab a team for some lesser market.

Vienna, Va.: We live near WolfTrap and, like Burke, we got buzzed by very low-flying military planes around 11:30 p.m. on Monday -- much lower than any post-9/11 military patrols.

Marc Fisher: Hmmm--one more on this....

Military Jets Over Burke: Just a thought, but Fort Belvoir is not far off at all, and there are a number of landing strips there. I live in the Fairfax County portion of Alexandria, just north of the Fort, and have seen an increase in aircraft activity there (especially at night). I'll bet the jets you heard were either coming from or going to Ft. Belvoir for some reason.

Marc Fisher: Sounds plausible.

SARS masks?: How do you know they are SARS masks? For years, people have worn masks this time of year due to pollen allergies. The pollen is really bad now, you know.

Marc Fisher: Could be, but this is the first time I've seen them.

Washington, D.C.: Moose really gives me a headache.

Now, for my catty comments of the day:

Didn't he read the contract he signed? Not like these ethics rules are a surprise, I'd think.

Who would read a book he wrote anyhow? Really, his press conferences demonstrated his breathtaking lack of command of English. How hard will his ghostwriter have to work to make it readable?

The first title was insulting, but the one I'm hearing bandied about now is worse. What does nurturing have to do with policing?

Marc Fisher: Sounds like Moose's publisher is trying to position his book as a combo tell-all, feel-good, role-model book blending news value and pop psychology. Oprah, here I come, he must be thinking. And not to worry about the chief's writing ability, people who sign this sort of book contract rarely write a word of "their" books. Witness David Wells' argument that he hadn't even read his "autobiography."

Alexandria, Va.: Too bad Chief and Mrs. Moose don't understand freedom of speech, or the fact that MLK was one of the greatest men of our time, not someone looking to profit on the death of others.

Marc Fisher: Anything for a buck.

Arlington, Va.: From what I can tell, the DC sniper case was broken DESPITE Chief Moose. In fact, it was essentially luck that led these individuals to be caught. How many of the deaths can be attributed to Chief Moose getting on TV and calling these guys out? The case sure was "personal" for the Chief -- it enhanced his "personal" bank account!

Marc Fisher: Luck, and lots of hard work on the part of the ATF and FBI leaders who, by all accounts except Chief Moose's, really ran the investigation.

Fed Center, Washington, D.C.: Our mayor's efforts to raise the city's profile as sporting center with its own marathon and auto race have come acropper with the embarrassing revelations about the partners chosen to manage these events. Did I miss something? Did Marion Barry come back to power to hand out city contracts to the incompetent, unexperienced, and formerly incarcerated?

I think both events could have added to the city's cultural life. I'm sorry to see that our mayor, the supposed technocrat, ruined them.

Marc Fisher: I don't know that you can blame the mayor for the demise of the Marathon's organizer, which seems to have collapsed under its own mismanagement. But the auto race was poorly handed from the get-go. And you're certainly right about the increasing evidence that the mayor has not done much of the housecleaning that he promised to do in the District government.

Long Beach, Calif.: I disagree with you in regards to Jordon's value to the team in the long run. Sports and nostalgia are intertwined, and retro Wizard jerseys with JORDON on the back will provide interest and respect for the Wizards for decades. I agree with you generally though, as Jordon is no Earl the Pearl.

Marc Fisher: Really? My bet is that Jordan's lasting legacy, both in the history books and the annals of marketing, will be firmly as a Chicago Bull, with the Wizards era being a curiosity, a pleasant footnote.

Apathy-R-US: "Somewhere, USA's" comments are a great example of what is wrong with this country. S/he can't see how s/he is directly affected and so can't invest any thought in the topic.

Obviously, by the other comments you've posted, today's column was far from being a "sleeper".

Keep up the good work.

Marc Fisher: Thanks, and with that, let's dive back into the vouchers topic, which seems to have animated many of you....

Washington, D.C.: I volunteer with a non-profit tutoring group in D.C. As you might expect, the volunteers are generally young, community-minded, and well-educated. The sad thing is that after seeing the education provided by the D.C. public schools, the chances of any of us sending our (potential) kids to school with the kids we tutor are slim to none. The ninth grader who can't do subtraction, the kid in the "advanced" class who's still a couple of grade levels behind typical suburban schools. Would I sends a child to a charter school? Maybe, maybe not. But the odds are better than with the current system.

Marc Fisher: This is indeed a sad side effect of extended contact with the D.C. system. Three of the last five Post reporters who covered the D.C. schools now have schoolage children and live in the District--all have decided to avoid the public system. That's not a good sign, yet, as you say, people tend to vote with their feet.

Rosslyn, Va.: As a single person with no children, I can use a voucher-type argument to demand some kind of government refund that will allow me to get some private service that I might value more than the schools in my district.

However, the point is that public education is a societal good --like roads that we pay for but perhaps don't personally drive on. We want an education system that serves all children well so that they can become productive adults and contribute to our society and our political and economic system. A voucher system diverts education funding to a select group of children.

Those who want vouchers are short-sighted and self-centered parents who think that the government owes their children more than it does to the country as a whole.

Marc Fisher: Agreed--Even though I choose to send my kids to private school, and even though that creates a huge personal hardship, that is my choice, and I have no right to ask the taxpayers to subsidize my choice. I do have an obligation to support the public schools, both with my tax money and with any other efforts I can make on their behalf.

Fairfax, Va.: Marc,
I think you tried to pull a bait-n-switch in your voucher column.

First, you make it sound as if vouchers are a plot by the religious right. Then you say that all these kids will go to Catholic schools.

Hate to break it to you, but the Catholic church here in the U.S. is hardly a bastion of conservatism.

So what are you really trying to say?

Marc Fisher: Sorry if the piece confused. I don't see a contradiction there. Vouchers grew out of various libertarian and conservative movements, and indeed have been supported from the start by the religious right. In some parts of the country, it is Christian academies that would benefit from vouchers. In most big cities, it is Catholic schools that are positioned to draw the most benefit from them. Of course, those two varieties of schools are very different, but what they have in common is that they are religious institutions that see a way to win public tax support.

Springfield, Va.: Marc,
I sort of agree with you, but must support anything that can break the power of the unions and the administration who combine to produce a record of failure in the D.C. schools. How long should we wait for the D.C. schools to turn around? My kids will (hopefully) only get one chance at each grade. Although vouchers may only help a few, those are a few lives that will not be wasted or who will not vote with their feet (as many of us have done) in order to find good schools for their kids.

Marc Fisher: You're right that there's no reason to believe the constant promises that the D.C. system will improve dramatically, and parents are moving by the thousands into the charter schools and, as they have for decades, out of the city. But I fail to see any advantage that vouchers offer over charter schools.

Washington, D.C.: Vouchers -- having attended private religious school for years, I can tell you that religion was most definitely part and parcel of the curriculum. It's a bit of a sham to say that public vouchers won't support very specific religious instruction (all religious schools have to do is take the government money for non-religious activity, then use the money they'd previously earmarked for non-religious activity and use it for religious items). I loved my religious schooling, but I didn't expect others to pay for it. I think we'd feel differently as a whole if some legitimate private schools run by Muslims or Wiccans or Satanists (yes, there are a few actually still running around) were benefitting from most of the publicly funded vouchers.

Marc Fisher: Right. If I were Catholic, I wouldn't hesitate to send my kids to one of the excellent Catholic schools in the city. But I wouldn't want that school to accept government money or government supervision, and I'd be quite concerned about losing some of what makes those schools distinctive and special.

Tysons Corner, Va.: I had the same low flying aricraft Monday, it set car alarms off. I thought I saw in yestarday's news that NORAD was doing something but now I can't find the quote.

Marc Fisher: Thanks--that's a bit more specific.

Washington, D.C.: Marc,

I am a white, single, childless, Jewish, Republican, homeoner in the District.

What can I do to help the schools? I don't want to contribute anything that I know will only go to wasteful anti-white racist, Barryite bueracrats. Would my time be appreciated? Would I instantly be looked upon as an interloper?

Marc Fisher: Depends on where you go, but yes, there are many good and effective volunteer programs in the District schools, and in most cases, you'd find your presence welcomed and well-used. You'll find a good starting place on organizations that work with the city schools here:

http://www.dcvoice.org/links/links-volunteerorgs.html

Bowie, Md.: How vouchers will play out in DC: