Deborah Simmons

D.C. statehood follows Sisyphus uphill

D.C. statehood advocates are again in Sisyphean mode, making likely ill-fated attempts to turn the nation's capital into the nation's 51st state. Published December 21, 2017

D.C. needs a Metro general manager-like clone to run schools

If Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld has a doppelganger, the District needs hire him to run D.C. Public Schools (DCPS), where readin', writin' and 'rithemtic are the basics of education no more. Published December 19, 2017

Public housing residents should turn to DIY

Breaking news: The federal government's chief landlord, the General Services Administration, informed us on Monday that the government owns or leases 5,066 bathrooms, more than 1,500 prisons, 766 hospitals and 2,427 schools. Not fake news: Ben Carson takes a lot of criticism. Much of the blowback is by default. Published December 18, 2017

How lawmakers should handle the Ballou High School grade-fixing, absenteeism scandal

D.C. Council members David Grosso, Charles Allen, Robert White and Trayon White should be seated front-and-center on the dais Friday for the scheduled public roundtable on "Graduation Rate Accountability." Published December 14, 2017

Metro considers tunneling from Rosslyn to Georgetown

The latest mass-transit spending splurge in the D.C. region will likely be a new Metrorail station located a skip and a hop across the Potomac River in Rosslyn in Northern Virginia. Published December 13, 2017

Cruz-Meadows amendment would allow parents to save for children’s education

Well, folks. You asked the question, "How can I save for my children's education?" and Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Mark Meadows have answered. Published December 11, 2017

At BASIS schools, teaching and learning pay off

BASIS is a for-profit charter school network, the kind of organization that puts schools like Ballou High School to shame. Published December 7, 2017

Goal of Ballou High School cheating probe should be accountability

There are several moving parts in the probes of the grade-inflation scandal at Ballou High School. Published December 5, 2017

Terry McAuliffe, Virginia road grinch, steals Christmas

Terry McAuliffe is the kind of governor who prides himself as a good-doer who works to benefit the hard-working people of Virginia. When it comes to his efforts in Northern Virginia, however, somebody should design a T-shirt that says #RoadGrinchofVirginia. Published December 4, 2017

Tax cuts, spending and Democrats

Ever since Richard Nixon presented stakeholders in the nation's capital with limited home rule in 1973, Democrats have held the purse strings and dived into public coffers for liberal causes. Published November 30, 2017

Soft bigotry, low academic expectations at Ballou High

When George W. Bush first ran for president, he told everyone paying attention, including his audience at the NAACP, that he would challenge the "soft bigotry of low expectations" inside and outside America's classrooms. Published November 29, 2017

Metro should scrap its ad guidelines

Either the folks who run the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority don't want to understand how the U.S. Constitution, marketing and free speech work — or ignorance has finally taken its toll on the lot. Published November 28, 2017

Denzel Washington on fatherhood, family values

Denzel Washington is probably going to catch hell for espousing a family values script that has been tethered in the hands of conservatives. Published November 27, 2017

Hurricane Maria causes health scare on mainland

America's health care system is facing a potential crisis, and it has nothing to do with Obamacare, opioids or veterans' care. Published November 23, 2017

Thanksgiving: Time to take back the true meaning

The day is about the thanks first and the giving second. Published November 20, 2017

Retool the crime-fighting toolbox

A Baltimore Police homicide detective was doing his job Wednesday night when he was shot in the head. He died Thursday afternoon. Published November 16, 2017

Ray LaHood’s Metro reform report

Americans now know what Obama transportation chief Ray LaHood thinks should be done with the D.C. region's primary transit authority. Published November 13, 2017

Veterans Day Strong!

The U.S. has been in Afghanistan for so long, a second generation and a third generation of "military brats" have joined the ranks. How do we count the ways to honor them? Published November 9, 2017

Big government won

Many Americans did exactly what Big Labor has been asking them to do for two generations: Support Big Government. Published November 8, 2017

Rushern Baker, et al. vs. Gov. Larry Hogan

Democrats Ben Jealous and Maya Rockeymoore Cummings should be quite comfortable watching Republican Gov. Larry Hogan and their brother Dem Rushern Baker duke it out over the scandalous grade-fixing problem in Prince George's County. Published November 7, 2017