Author Archives: Valencia Mohammed

Exactly how secure is testing in D.C. public schools from tampering? The continuing controversy over this all-important process – determining not just the future academic paths of students but also of federal education funding – is an ongoing, muddled affair. On May 18, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) released the results […]

Dissatisfied with the produce in her local supermarket, Mia Hayes-Hawkins decided to do something about it. She wanted organic produce at reasonable costs, so, for a couple of years, she grew a few herbs and spices in her apartment such as basil, rosemary, chives, tri-color sage, and lemon thyme. Plants were neatly arranged in places […]

The Community College of the District of Columbia will keep its doors open after gaining a reprieve from its financial woes. The news has prompted sighs of relief from parents and students, who have benefitted from the two-year institution, which is a subsidiary of the University of the District of Columbia. “All I know is […]

At first, the May 5 meeting seemed like the same old gang summit where law enforcement rattle off the numbers of teens prosecuted for gang-related crimes and groups beg for funding. But a mother of four brought home the problem when she painted a vivid picture of gang activity at her children’s school and discussed […]

Mayor Vincent C. Gray and DC Council Chairman Kwame Brown have hit a snag on increased taxes as one way to close the budget deficit. Gray proposes an increase in income and property taxes to add $35 million to the revenue stream. Brown opposes it without any apparent plans on the table as a substitute. […]

Dozens of public schools in the District were roped off with yellow tape on May 5, as FBI agents and fire officials investigated suspicious letters that contained white, powdery substances. The FBI’s National Capital Response Squad, along with the D.C. Fire Department, the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service responded to repeated […]

Racial threats were hurled at one of the District’s most prestigious Black churches after a visit from President Barack Obama on Easter Sunday. Shiloh Baptist Church, in northwest Washington, became the target of criticism after a member of the FOX Nation, a national organization of White conservatives, linked statements made by the church’s pastor on […]

Bachir Diop looked down the District’s H Street corridor at the clusters of large wooden barricades, orange mesh tape and warning signs that dominate the streetscape, evidence of the 12 blocks of construction that have closed or crippled more than a hundred businesses and properties in four years and made way for new investors to […]

High rates of unemployment among minorities, foreclosures, the rising cost of rent, utilities and fuel and extreme budget cuts are behind a rise in the area’s homeless population, local homeless advocates say. An upcoming report by the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments indicates the Washington region’s homeless has increased to 11,988 persons, mostly among families […]

Two community-based public charter schools are challenging their proposed closures by the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) on the basis of process and fairness. Nia Community Public Charter School (Nia CPCS) and Ideal Academy Public Charter School (Ideal APCS) were cited by PCSB on March 30 for failure to meet the goals and student […]