A group of AU students protested throughout the city over the last two weeks to encourage the D.C. Board of Education and Mayor Adrian Fenty, who recently won approval to take over the city's public school system, to repair the crumbling physical structures of the District's schools.
In addition to making speeches before the board, some students from the class dressed in Papier Mache toilet bowls and protested in L'Enfant Plaza. The students, members of a Community Development class, wanted to draw attention to malfunctioning heat, air conditioning, ceiling fans and toilets.
Although it's good to have one person who can be held accountable for the failures (and successes) of the school system, it seems that the entire school administration has spent too much time bickering about who should be in charge and not enough time discussing why the schools are falling apart and why students consistently get below-average test scores.
Now that Fenty has taken over the schools, it's time to get to work. Children in D.C. public schools deserve the same education as kids in private schools or suburban public schools. It's time to give it to them.
