Deborah Simmons

SIMMONS: Hearings to shine light on schools

Kwame Brown has made an about-face and announced that the D.C. Council will indeed hear public testimony during confirmation hearings on the schools chancellorship of Kaya Henderson. Published June 12, 2011

SIMMONS: Henderson choice shuts out people’s voice

What do parents, school employees and other stakeholders in the District think about schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson? We may never know. Published June 8, 2011

SIMMONS: Catania plan for dropouts not the answer

D.C. Council member David A. Catania wants to become nutcracker-in-chief. That is to say, he wants to crack down on the tough nuts of truancy and dropouts. Published June 5, 2011

SIMMONS: D.C. needs to promote itself big time

A critical part of Vincent C. Grays job as mayor is to effectively market and promote the District and to bring home more than just the bacon, and yesterday he announced that he will lay the groundwork for doing precisely that next week. Published June 1, 2011

SIMMONS: House does a disservice to those in the service

Honoring service and sacrifice, freedom and liberty, the living and the dead. Those are the cornerstones of Memorial Day. Published May 29, 2011

SIMMONS: New ideas for D.C. to make ends meet

Rep. Darrell E. Issa is on to something as are D.C. Council Chairman Kwame R. Brown and several of his colleagues. Published May 25, 2011

SIMMONS: Time to blunt pro-choicers’ new ‘initiative’

True pro-lifers, please stand up. Most of you are familiar with the War on Poverty and the War on Drugs, longstanding liberal policies that failed to deliver. Published May 22, 2011

SIMMONS: Put your money where your mouth is

Ambitious politicians everywhere often say one thing but do another, including in Washington, D.C., where the mayor and 13 lawmakers toy as they please with the strings attached to every dollar that makes its way into the coffers. Published May 18, 2011

SIMMONS: In D.C., colorblind ‘One City’ faces a test

The battle lines are drawn as Democrats and Republicans begin anew the decennial game called reapportionment. Published May 15, 2011

SIMMONS: Education should start at home

It's that time of year again, when attention turns to high school proms, caps and gowns, diplomas and other unforgettable Kodak moments. Published May 11, 2011

SIMMONS: Tax-spend not dead in District

Pay attention fiscal conservatives and members of the tea party: A new poll lends heft to the script written by tax-and-spenders, including D.C. Mayor Vincent C. Gray. Published May 8, 2011

SIMMONS: Face it- Some young offenders won’t reform

It's put-up-or-shut-up time for Jim Graham, the Democratic lawmaker who today will lead his merry band of softhearted, progressive lawmakers in grilling the director of the troubled D.C. Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS), whose policies mock Lady Justice's symbols of impartiality, power and the act of balancing law and order. Published May 4, 2011

SIMMONS: Debunking the big lie on D.C. voucher history

If you want to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth on D.C. vouchers, don't listen to the liberals, who are so desperate to contradict conservatives and true proponents of school choice that lying has become their very convenient truth. Published April 24, 2011

SIMMONS: D.C. haters of Wal-Mart engaging in extortion

Wal-Mart haters are at it again, but this time instead of merely rallying and hurling anti-Wal-Mart rhetoric, they are lobbing demands at the retail giant. Published April 20, 2011

SIMMONS: Kwame Brown on the hot seat

Chairman Kwame R. Brown has said that the D.C. Council is no "rubber stamp" for Mayor Vincent C. Gray. Well, now begins Mr. Brown's chance to prove he isn't playing Stan Laurel to the mayor's Oliver Hardy. Published April 17, 2011

SIMMONS: ‘D.C. 41,’ Money changes everything

The arrests heard around the globe of prominent D.C. officials do little to separate perception from reality. Published April 13, 2011

City officials outline agenda in push for budget autonomy

Mayor Vincent C. Gray and other city officials vowed Tuesday to banish congressional meddling in city affairs, capitalizing on the momentum for D.C. statehood that landed them in jail the night before. Published April 12, 2011

Gray, council members arrested during protest

Fired up by a few hundred supporters of D.C. voting rights and opponents of congressional meddling, Mayor Vincent C. Gray, council Chairman Kwame R. Brown and more than a dozen others were arrested outside the Hart Senate Office Building in a carefully orchestrated protest during Monday's evening rush hour. Published April 11, 2011

SIMMONS: Some questions for Henderson

Kaya Henderson should face tough questions during her upcoming confirmation hearing because she isn't going to face stiff opposition from D.C. lawmakers as the mayor's pick to replace Michelle A. Rhee as schools chancellor. Published April 10, 2011