Category: Washington D.C. News

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 […]

It’s been a turbulent three months for Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D). The city’s executive was arrested April 11 along with the other “DC 41”—local officials and activists who protested riders in an agreed upon 2011 federal budget that impinged on the District’s autonomy. Before that, Gray had to shoulder criticism for his initial […]

With black bands wrapped around their mouths and sporting T-shirts that read, “No Taxation Without Representation,” nearly 80 students stood in front of the Senate building last Friday to fight for Washington, D.C.’s autonomy, even though some participants were not D.C. residents. “D.C. was silenced in the Senate and that’s why we wore the gags,” […]

Last week’s congressional and White House approval of a budget that includes the $100 million, five-year renewal of a D.C. school-choice program is stirring controversy between local officials, unions and residents. Detractors say the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), which provides private school vouchers for low-income District students, has not borne the promised fruit and […]

WASHINGTON (April. 18) — Howard Alumna Odiney Brown is determined to make sure her daughter, Shannon, did not die in vain. At age 11, Shannon Tavarez seemed to have everything. She was young and attractive with doting parents, and best of all, Shannon nightly performed the role of the Young Nala the lion club in […]

Decrying what they saw as a trampling of the District of Columbia’s autonomy in a budget deal that could impose new restrictions on the city, Mayor Vincent Gray (D) and other leaders were among 41 people arrested April 11 during a protest on Capitol Hill. Gray and his cohorts blocked traffic, sat in the street […]

Washington, D.C.’s tech-market is growing – and job-seekers are watchful. Mayor Vincent Gray’s recent groundbreaking for the $25 million broadband expansion in Wards 5, 7 and 8 has been one major step this year to close the digital divide. The new DC Community Access Network (DC-CAN) will reach clinics, community centers, and other digitally disconnected […]

WASHINGTON — Two days of testimony about the questionable hiring practices of Mayor Vincent Gray’s administration seem to indicate he was unaware of the nepotism practiced by some of his staff and the alleged quid pro quo hiring of former mayoral candidate Sulaimon Brown. On April 7, 11 witnesses were called before the Committee on […]

Former Washington, D.C. mayoral aide Sulaimon Brown said April 8 he is eager to tell Congress and Justice Department investigators how D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray runs the city. But on April 8 he told the AFRO he won’t talk about his allegations of corruption by the mayor to the D.C. Council, even if subpoenaed by […]