The Vision Thing

DC Mayor Adrian Fenty is bent on taking control of the District's school system. He's got the vision and he's got the plan — and he got them both from Charlotte.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's administration copied significant portions of its education strategy verbatim from a plan developed by a North Carolina school system, even as the mayor seeks to show he has the vision and expertise to restructure governance of the District's troubled public schools.

Fenty's 31-page document is a blueprint of his plans to improve students' academic performance. It contains passages that are virtually identical to some in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools' strategic plan — including the opening statement describing the administration's vision. Fenty's document was submitted to the D.C. Council in late February in support of his proposal to take control of the public schools.

Now, I don't know if the Charlotte plan is any good or not, but if you're going to claim to be able to do what others have tried to do and failed, the least that people can expect is that you can think for yourself. And to let an aide take the fall for this "mistake" only means you care more about covering your ass than you do about your "bold initiative."