District Chronicles V14 Issue 38 by District Chronicles

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SATURDAY

DCFD OFFERS FREE ALARM/INSTALLS AFTER FATAL FIRE 4

Blacks, Latinos more likely to be on the other side of the digital divide Page 8

Freddie Allen/NNPA

May 14 - May 20, 2015

DCPS to award students with Seal of Biliteracy Page 12 www.districtchronicles.com

Volume 14 Issue 38

Editorial

Blackonomics: Baltimore – Another horror movie rerun

Freddie Allen/NNPA

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) looks toward the sky as he talks about the tragic death of Freddie Gray with protesters at Pennsylvania Avenue and W. North Avenue in Baltimore, Md.

By James Clingman NNPA Columnist

2 | May 14 - May 20, 2015 | District Chronicles

he movie we are watching in Baltimore is a rerun and a sequel. The price of admission has always been too high, but we continue to pay the exorbitant price, anyway. As the opening line in the old TV show, “Dragnet,” proclaimed, “the story you are about to see is true. The names have been changed to protect the innocent.” In today’s society, that second line should say, “The names have been changed to protect the ‘guilty.’” My 11-year-old nephew, since the age of five or six, has been reciting, verbatim, the words from his favorite movies. He knows the directors, the release dates, and the bios of the stars in those movies. He has seen his favorite movies many times over. He reminds me of Black people, as we watch the same movie over and over, except we do not remember the vital information contained in the movie, and we even forget who the main characters were and the roles they played. The latest movie being run in Baltimore is a sequel to the ones we watched in Ferguson, Missouri, and Staten Island, N.Y. It is rerun of what we saw in Los Angeles, Cleveland, and North Charleston, South Carolina. How many times are we going to pay the price of admission to see the same movie without

memorizing the lines and learning from them? How many times must we go through the same experience before we change our response to it? Some very interesting and pitiful responses (reviews) have come from some of the “leaders” in Baltimore in the aftermath of Freddie Gray’s death. We knew what the politicians’ reviews would be; they are always true to form. But the older folks, who decry the violence as “insulting” and “disrespectful” to Freddie’s family, are even more disingenuous. They seem to have forgotten about 1968 when their generation, and maybe even some of them, burned down buildings and looted all across this nation, in the aftermath of MLK’s assassination. Were their actions deemed insulting and disrespectful to King’s family? If so, did that stop them? The self-righteousness I hear from those in my generation about the youth who are doing the same thing they did in the 1960s is unfortunate. Where were they before the looting and burning started in Baltimore? Were they busy teaching the youth that what took place in the 1960s was detrimental to their neighborhoods, as they now like to say to TV news reporters? If they have not, until now, passed on those lessons to younger folks, their words ring hollow today. Some of the sanctimonious

comments being made by my generation very strongly suggest that even though we have seen this movie many times, we are content to watch it again without having shared its lessons. Is it because we are ashamed of ourselves now? Do we think we are better than our youth today? We should be bringing the generations together rather than separating them and acting like we have not been where they are. Frederick Douglass’ words are clear regarding power, but as I always add, a demand not backed-up by power will not come to fruition; and the real power in this country is the almighty dollar. Just look at what happened in Indianapolis when the LGBT folks were upset. They did not burn anything down or throw one brick, because they know that dollars rule the day. Their threats to withdraw their dollars were immediately addressed by the politicians. People whose families own storefront businesses are very unlikely to throw bricks through the windows and burn them down. Sgt. Joe Friday had another saying in Dragnet: “Just the facts ma’am, just the facts.” Jim Clingman, founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached through his website, blackonomics.com.

Finance

Black families must focus on asset building By Charlene Crowell NNPA Columnist

s the wealthy few continue to prosper, the rest of the nation is caught in a financial tug-of-war between stagnant wages and a rising cost of living. In communities of color, chronic unemployment and underemployment and a host of other social ills are added burdens to an already challenging economy. These and other disturbing trends were the focus of the recent Color of Wealth Summit, conceived and convened by a national research organization, the Insight Center for Community Economic Development and a solution-oriented social change nonprofit, the Center for Global Policy Solutions. The two-day conference engaged prominent thought leaders to propose solutions to the growing racial income and wealth divide that has come to characterize America’s economy. According to Maya Rockeymoore, its president and CEO, “Most organizations and policy makers focus on improving income and income supports such as safety net programs. Recent research confirms how hard it is for families that lack adequate earnings, to make it from one payday to the next. While the idea of saving is valued, for too many consumers nothing is left once basic living expenses are met. According to the most recent report of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress: Median net worth in Black households fell by more than 40 percent from 2007 to 2013. White households during this same period saw median net worth drop 26 percent; Median weekly earnings of Black college graduates working full-time and their White counterparts showed that the Black grads’ annual earnings were $12,000 less; and Overall, the Black median earnings of $34,600, is nearly $24,000 less than the same measure

Blacks lag behind in earnings, home ownership and wealth in comparison to Whites.

for Whites. “The same groups of people who have historically been left behind are growing in number and population,” observed Angela Glover Blackwell, a summit participant and founder and CEO of PolicyLink. “It is critical that we support asset-building programs and policies that create and protect opportunities for all families to save and invest in themselves, their futures, and their communities.” Historically, homeownership has been the gateway to building wealth and assets. Unfortunately, the nation’s foreclosure crisis altered wealth-building for millions. According to the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, nearly 14.8 million foreclosure notices were filed from January 1, 2007 to May 31, 2013. By late 2014, according to the Census Bureau, only 42 percent of Black families were homeowners – more than 22 percentage points lower than that of the nation (64 percent) and 30 percentage points lower than that of Whites (72 percent). The current homeownership level is the lowest since 1993. While most Black and Latino homebuyers have had their mortgages underwritten by government-backed programs such as FHA, VA and USDA, the greater challenge has been access to private sector conventional mortgages that over the life of a loan are

far cheaper than the governmentbacked offerings. The annual Home Mortgage Disclosure Act report (HMDA), quantifies by race and ethnicity mortgage lending and denials for mortgage loans. For 2013, the most up-to-date report, the data clearly reveals that while conventional mortgage originations rose slightly from 2012 to 2013, nationwide Black consumers, who are more than 13 percent of the population, received only 2.3 percent or 36,903 loans. In 2012, the same data point was even smaller, with only 26,500 such loans. Earlier research by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), a summit co-sponsor, revealed that many homebuyers of color were steered into higher-cost, subprime loans – even when they qualified for cheaper ones. After analyzing 50,000 subprime loans, CRL concluded that Blacks and Latinos were almost a third more likely to receive a high-priced loan than were Whites with the same credit scores. “Proving that when families receive responsible mortgage loans, they are able to build a financial safety net that they can access during challenging times,” said Nikitra Bailey, a CRL executive vice-president. Charlene Crowell is a communications manager with the Center for Responsible Lending. She can be reached at Charlene.crowell@responsiblelending.org.

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Neighborhood

DC fire department offers free alarms following fatal blaze

Vito Magglolo/DCFD

Firefighters fight to control a fatal blaze on at Kenyon Street last month. DCFD reached out to the community offering free alarms and free installs for those who get a smoke/carbon monoxide alarm.

By Sarafina Wright Howard University News Service

4 | May 14 - May 20, 2015 | District Chronicles

he District of Columbia Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service offered to install fire alarms in the homes of Colombia Heights and Parkview residents for free after an 81-yearold woman died an unknown man was injured in a blaze and in the Northwest Washington neighborhoods. The fatal fire occurred last month in the 1000 block of Kenyon Street. Alysia Taylor, chief of staff for the DCFD and EMS, made the offer during an Advisory Neighborhood Commission meeting for the Northwest Washington neighborhoods. The free alarms are part of the A’Sia Sutton Smoke Alarm Giveaway and Installation Program. “The program allows all residents in the district to receive a free fire alarm and installation,” Taylor told those gathered at the meeting. “It was important for us to come out to this community and offer residents help with fire prevention.” It is standard practice for DC Fire and EMS to visit communities

that have been affected by fires, said Taylor. Additionally, Inspector Thomas Burr, a 23-year veteran, gave residents fundamental tips on fire safety. “A lot of fire code violations are behavioral,” said Burr, “things like unmanageable storage, faulty electrical appliances, extension cords without surge protectors and so on. We try to be proactive, so that loss of life and property will be minimized.” Burr also encouraged residents to monitor their smoke alarms. It remains imperative to have a dual smoke/carbon monoxide alarm on each floor of a home, he said. Families should also have an escape plan as well as a distinguished meeting place. “We only install fire alarms through the program, however, we encourage residents, if they can to purchase the dual alarms, and we will install those free of charge,” he said. Burr warned the residents not to make the same mistake as Rodney Todd, a single father who was found dead with his seven children of carbon monoxide poisoning in their Princess Anne, Maryland, home. Todd was using a generator

to heat the home after the electrical power in the house was shut off, said police. “That is why it is important to get the dual fire alarms,” said Burr. “These alarms work even if the home has no power, because it is battery operated.” We’re all about prevention. We want to arrive on the scene before the fire.” The Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that between1999 – 2010 there were an average of 430 deaths each year due to carbon monoxide poisoning, and the National Fire Protection Association reports that between 2007 and 2011, home fires caused an average of 2,570 deaths annually. Johnny Williams, 64, does not have a need for a free smoke detector, but as president of a seniors’ apartment building, he has concerns for his residents who are hearing impaired. “My concerns are about the elderly and seniors who suffer from loss of hearing – and who won’t be able to hear the beeping,” said Williams. “I would like for the fire alarm program to include LED fire alarms that flash when it is going off.”

Divine Intervention

An open letter to the Supreme Court on same-sex marriage By Gay Clark Jennings Religion News Service

Happy Family Banquet

Mr. Chief Justice and may it please the court:

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As you and the other justices of the Supreme Court consider whether to strike down marriage equality bans in Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky, I want to speak to you as the parent of an adopted child and as a priest. In his argument before your bench last week, John Bursch, the lawyer defending Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriage, argued that the state has an interest in denying the rights and responsibilities of civil marriage to same-sex couples because “when you change the definition of marriage to delink the idea that we’re binding children with their biological mom and dad, that has consequences.” It may be bumper sticker philosophy, but it’s nonetheless true that love – intense, deeply committed love – makes a family. But as long as same-sex couples are refused the right to marry, their families, which may include both their biological and adopted children, will be denied basic legal protections and advantages. The government has no reason to make these children suffer to ward off Mr. Bursch’s difficulty in understanding different kinds of families. Some of the questions asked of the lawyers for both sides had a familiar ring for me. The Episcopal Church, which I serve as a priest in the Diocese of Ohio and as president of the House of Deputies, has been struggling to articulate its understanding of marriage – both Christian and civil – for more than 40 years. During that time, we have asked, just as you and Justices Kennedy and Alito did last week, whether we had the wisdom and authority to revise age-old thinking, whether we were moving too quickly, whether we were the right institution to lead this change. During some of those years, we were also examining the Doctrine of Discovery, the principle supported by both papal bulls and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, that lands not governed by a Christian ruler were open to discovery and

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Rev. Gay Clark Jennings

conquest. This pernicious idea cast a cloak of theological respectability over the worst excesses of colonialism. As Christians and as citizens, we waited too long to repudiate the racist foundations on which this unjust and exploitative doctrine was rooted. In 35 years of ordained ministry, it has been my privilege to know many faithful, committed same-sex couples whose love gave me a deeper understanding of God’s love and whose joy in one another testified to the goodness of God’s creation. I have also learned through simple, everyday experience that same-sex couples make vital contributions to our civic life. They work hard, raise children, volunteer and pay taxes, just like opposite-sex couples. There is no reason that they should not enjoy the same dignity and legal protections. Yes, the government has an interest in fostering strong communities and strong families, and all of our communities and all of our families will be stronger when marriage equality makes the lives of same-sex couples and their children more safe and secure. No religion’s belief or practice should be permitted to restrict the rights of people to marry and receive equal protection under the law, and no one’s religious free-

dom is threatened by ending unjust legal discrimination. Existing laws rooted in the First Amendment protect any clergyperson who objects to same-sex marriages from being required to participate. Religious organizations already enjoy significant protections in hiring individuals who share their beliefs for ministerial roles, and religious charities that do not accept government subsidies are not required to place adopted children with same-sex couples. People who argue against marriage equality frequently do so for religious reasons, even if they cast their argument in secular terms. While I believe there are strong constitutional arguments for striking down bans on marriage equality, I support striking down these bans because of my faith, not in spite of it. It is long past time for people of faith to repent of this sin. And it is long past time for this court to end any kind of legal discrimination against God’s children. Sincerely, The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings The Rev. Gay Clark Jennings is the president of the Episcopal Church’s lay and clergy House of Deputies and is a member of the worldwide Anglican Consultative Council.

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Cover

Trio of Black women seek justice for Baltimore

By George E. Curry NNPA Editor-in-Chief

If ... three Black women can’t get justice ... tell me where we’re going to get it.

Submit

your story ideas, stories and commentaries to lkaggwa@howard.edu

6 | May 14 - May 20, 2015 | District Chronicles

United States Missions Geneva/Creative Commons

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stattorney.org

(NNPA) – Three extremely qualified African-American women are at the forefront of making certain that Freddie Gray’s death at the hands of police in Baltimore will not go unpunished. Loretta Lynch began her first day as U.S. attorney general by focusing her attention on Baltimore and offering the assistance of her department. Within hours of receiving a report from the medical examiner that Gray’s death had been ruled a homicide, State Attorney Marilyn J. Mosby promptly announced the filing of charges against six Baltimore cops in connection with Gray’s death. A couple of hours later, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake followed up with a strong warning to rogue cops that her administration would not tolerate racism. Mosby summed it up this way: “If, with the nation watching, three Black women at three different levels can’t get justice and healing for this community, you tell me where we’re going to get it in our country.” One legal maximum holds that justice delayed is justice denied. If that’s the case, early indications are that there will be no delay in justice in Baltimore in connection with the death of Gray, who was arrested and placed in a police van without a seatbelt on April 12. He fell into a coma en route and died a week later as a result of injuries to his spinal cord. Mosby, a descendant of five generations of police officers, surprised the public by how quickly she filed charges against six police

officers. At the news conference, she said: “To those that are angry, hurt or have their own experiences of injustice at the hands of police officers I urge you to channel that energy peacefully as we prosecute this case I have heard your calls for ‘No justice, no peace,’ however your peace is sincerely needed as I work to deliver justice on behalf of Freddie Gray.” Mosby is a graduate of Tuskegee University, a historically Black institution in Alabama. At 35 years old, she is believed to be the youngest chief prosecutor in the nation. And she clearly aligned herself with the young people who had protested Gray’s death. “I will seek justice on your behalf,” she said to the youth of the city. “This is a moment. This is your moment. Let’s insure we have peaceful and productive rallies From left to right: State Attorney Marilyn Mosby charged 6 officers for the death of Freddie Gray, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings that will develop structural and Blake will not tolerate police brutality in the force, and Attorney General Loretta Lynch has launched a federal investigation into the case. systemic changes for generations to come. You’re at the forefront of to Freddie Gray. And it is my prac- heavy military equipment earlier tigation in this case. These conflicts this cause and as young people, tice not to comment on the legal to curb the violence that flared include your personal and profesprocesses involved; that would not after Gray’s death. But, as she re- sional relations with Gray family our time is now.” In a statement to the media that be appropriate. But I can tell you peatedly explained, she wanted to attorney, William Murphy, and the avoid the over lead prosecutor’s connections with lasted less than reaction that members of the local media,” he two minutes, Ferguson had wrote. “Based on several nationMayor Rawu n d e r g o n e , ally televised interviews, these relings-Blake which only porters are likely to be witnesses in warned: “To incited more any potential litigation regarding those of you street violence. this incident.” who want to To the The FOP is raising money for engage in brusurprise of no the accused police officers, but must tality, misconthe Fra- find another site after GoFundMe, duct, racism – Marilyn Mosby, Maryland State Attorney for Baltimore one, ternal Order the crowd funding site, took down and corrupof Police asked the site. According to public retion, let me be Mosby to step down as prosecutor. cords, Murphy donated $5,000 to clear: There is no place for you in that justice needs to be served.” the Baltimore City Police Depart- When strong sisters take strong Gene Ryan, president of Fraternal Mosby’s campaign and served on stances, invariably there are vocal Order of Police Lodge 3, wrote: “I her transition committee. ment.” Last Friday, President Obama opponents. Rawlings-Blake was have very deep concerns about the said, “It is absolutely vital that the repeatedly criticized for not re- many conflicts of interest presented Follow George Curry on Twitter at @ truth comes out on what happened questing the National Guard and by your office conducting an inves- currygeorge.

Politics

Black women’s lives matter, too By Julianne Malveaux NNPA Commentator

pened all too frequently in the past 12 months. Each killing strikes our collective community like a body blow, especially when officers are poorly trained, have records of brutality, and are acquitted. When the roll of recent killings is called, women may be absent because there has been little publicity about assaults against women in the past year. Based on the record, however, we know such assaults are likely to have happened. Contemporary African-American women are not the only ones who history has swallowed. Fannie Lou Hamer was beaten so many times, and so severely that she developed a blood clot and lost much of her sight in one eye. One kidney was injured and her entire body covered with welts and bruises. She never regained her health, yet when people call the roll of civil rights leaders and icons, her name is too often excluded. There is a historical precedent for the invisibility of AfricanAmerican women. Hamer is but one of many women whose lives and sacrifices are often ignored. Public policy also ignores the plight of African American women. President Obama’s My

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Valarie Carey/Courtesy Photo

ou know their names – Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Tamir Rice – because these African-American men were unarmed and killed by “law enforcement” officers. Their names have been part of a litany invoked when police shootings are discussed. Their deaths have been part of the impetus for the Black Lives Matter movement, especially because the police officers that killed these men (and a little boy) have paid no price for their murders. You are far less likely to know about Rekia Boyd, shot by an offduty police officer in Chicago. While the officer who killed Boyd was acquitted, her killing sparked few protests, and little national attention. Kate Abbey-Lambertz of Huffington Post identified 15 women who were killed during police encounters when they were unarmed, including Tanisha Anderson (Cleveland), 7-year-old Aiyana Stanley-Jones (Detroit), and Yvette Smith (Bastrop, Texas). The killing of another woman, Miriam Carey, was especially egregious.

Carey, a dental hygienist, drove her car into a security checkpoint near the White House. The Secret Service fired multiple shots at Carey, killing her and putting her 13-month-old daughter at risk. Meanwhile, a White man scaled the White House fence without a shot fired. Another made it into the White House residence without encountering a gun. A few people protested Carey’s death, but the protests fizzled. AlterNet and Clutch Magazine, online sources such as Huffington Post, reported on some of the unarmed Black women who were gunned down. Again, these killings were barely protested, and garnered no national attention. Little seems to have changed since Gloria Hull, Patricia BellScott, and Barbara Smith wrote “But Some of Us Are Brave: All the Women Are White, All the Blacks are Men.” The book, written in 1993, addressed the invisibility of African-American women. While the majority of the unarmed African Americans killed by police officers are men, about 20 percent of those killed are women. The publicized killings of African-American men have hap-

Capitol police and Secret Service officers shot Miriam Carey when she allegedly hit a barrier near the White House and evaded capture in October 2013.

Brother’s Keeper initiative is wellmeaning, but ignores the status of young African American women. While young Black women are more likely to go to college than young Black men, those who do not go to college face some of the same job challenges as men do. Young women can benefit from the same efforts that young men are offered through My Brother’s Keeper, such as mentorship and initiatives to develop pathways to education and employment. Both African-American men and African-American women have economic, psychological, and physical wounds because of

the racism we experience. Our economic wounds manifest as higher unemployment rates and lower wages. Our health wounds are illustrated through the health disparities we experience, along with differences in life expectancies. Our psychological wounds include dysfunction in our organizations and relationships. We won’t have healthy and functional communities until we focus on healing wounds among all of us – Black men and Black women. Julianne Malveaux is a Washingtonbased writer and economist. She can be reached atwww.juliannemalveaux.com.

District Chronicles | May 14 - May 20, 2015 | 7

Technology

Blacks lag in accessing high-speed internet

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Free community-based computer classes are often underfunded small-scale operations, which contributes to the digital divide.

By Jazelle Hunt NNPA Washington Correspondent WASHINGTON (NNPA) – As education, jobs, and the national and global economy go digital, people without broadband (high-speed Internet) access risk being left behind. This disparity in who’s online and who isn’t is often called the digital divide – and Blacks and Latinos are more likely to be in the latter group. But people access the Internet in different ways. Black people are more likely than their White counterparts to own a smartphone and use it for Internet access. At the same time, 12 percent of Black people are smartphone dependent – they have few or no other options for accessing the Internet at any given time. This is compared to 4 percent of Whites and the 7 percent national rate. “Even though low-income households are over-indexing on smartphone use, I don’t think that’s how you want to type a paper, do your research, do your homework, apply for jobs, or apply for scholarships,” said Jessica Rosenworcel, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner, speaking at a Multicultural Media, Telecom, and Internet Council (MMTC) event. The divide can also be traced to educational outcomes, from elementary school up to college. It’s a problem known as the “homework gap.” In an effort to prepare kids for a digital world and workforce, teachers and schools are increasingly assigning homework that requires Internet access to complete

– 7 in 10 teachers do, according to Pew figures. But many students, particularly students of color from migrant/immigrant or low-income families, do not have broadband access or any device at home. “We have 29 million households in the country with schoolage children. Of that, 5 million do not have broadband at home,” said John Horrigan, senior researcher on the Internet and technology at Pew Research Center. “And within that 5 million, African-American households and Hispanic households are disproportionately represented.” While students face the homework gap, job seekers who aren’t as comfortable using computers can face difficulty in securing a career and building wealth. As more industries require some level of computer literacy, and as jobs without these requirements become scarcer, it will become harder to earn a living wage without these skills. “Our economic future depends on [getting people online],” Rosenworcel said. “Already, 50 percent of the jobs that are in the economy today require some level of digital skills. By the end of the decade, that number is 77 percent.” According to a survey report from Project GOAL (Get Older Americans Online), 70 percent of Americans who aren’t online say they simply have no interest. Those who are interested primarily want to get news or information or use e-mail, and not much else. “Trying to figure out what the value is in going online is still an issue for the older adult communities,” said Debra Berlyn, executive director of Project GOAL. “Then

within that community there’s a huge difference between a 65-yearold and an 85-year-old in terms of how they may value going online. So those huge discrepancies mean that you have to show the value a bit differently.” Over the past few decades there have been many attempts to close these digital divides. The federal Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, for example, supports the establishment of better broadband infrastructure and public computer centers. The FCC’s E-rate program seeks to connect the nation’s classrooms and school libraries to the Internet. Another FCC program, Lifeline, which originally offered landlines for low-income families, is exploring a modernization to include broadband Internet. But these programs are generally underfunded, not well-known, deprioritized when funds are allocated, or unable to evolve fast enough. Experts believe that getting everyone online will require prioritizing the Lifeline modernization, as well as creating an effective, inclusive plan to reach the people who need it most. Experts also believe that public-private partnerships will be key. “One big takeaway is that these communities need to be heard,” said Nicol Turner-Lee, vice president and chief research and policy officer for the MMTC. “Because what basically happens is once policy is created, in terms of cultural sensitivity, they’re not matched up to reality. So we end up … back here five years from now, still saying that broadband has not touched or changed the lives of individuals.”

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www.districtchronicles.com 10 | May 14 - May 20, 2015 | District Chronicles

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In the Neighborhood

Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington

Finding Senior Housing can be complex, but it doesn’t have to be. “You can trust A Place for Mom to help you.” – Joan Lunden

Prince George’s County Council urges Gov. Hogan to release $20 million slated for county schools

District of Columbia Lunchtime Music on the Mall Starts May 19. The annual Lunchtime Music on the Mall, featuring local artists from a wide variety of genres, begins next week and will take place every Tuesday and Thursday from noon to 1 p.m. at 7th Street and Jefferson Drive SW during the summer months. The program is co-sponsored

(800) 967-8641 A Place for Mom is the nation’s largest senior living referral information service. We do not own, operate, endorse or recommend any senior living community. We are paid by partner communities, so our services are completely free to families.

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n a joint letter to Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, the Prince George’s County Council and County Executive Rushern L. Baker, III, strongly urge the governor to release $20 million in FY’16 state-appropriated funds supporting Prince George’s County’s 125,000 public school students. The crucial school funding, which received overwhelming bipartisan support in both houses of the General Assembly during the 2015 legislative session, will not require any tax or fee increases, and is solely dedicated to education spending. Council Chairman Mel Franklin said continuing to withhold the funding will have consequences. “The failure to release $68 million in Geographical Cost of Education Index (GCEI) funds, set aside by the General Assembly in the state budget to support Maryland’s costliest school systems, will result in significant cuts in desperately needed programs for our school children and increased taxes on working families,” he said. The joint letter to Gov. Hogan also addresses the release of $15 million in approved operating funds for the Dimensions Healthcare system as part of the implementation of the new Regional

Prince George’s County executive Baker and the council want Governor Hogan to release funds put aside for public schools in the fiscal budget for 2016.

Medical Center, and the need for forward movement on the Purple Line. “We look forward to your positive determination on important budgetary and policy decisions relative to the [c]ounty’s priorities that will continue the prosperity and growth of Prince George’s County and therefore the [s]tate.” Stressing that Prince George’s County is well positioned as an economic engine in Maryland, the letter references the county’s 2015 legislative agenda focusing primarily on safeguarding the county’s budget priorities; specifi-

cally, securing previously committed State funding for the Regional Medical Center, protecting critical K-12 funding including the GCEI and school construction dollars, protecting transportation projects like the Purple Line that provide infrastructure investments and spur economic development by expanding the commercial tax base. To contact Gov. Larry Hogan about this issue call: 410.974.3901, 1.800.811.8336 or Maryland Relay 1.800.735.2258. You can also go online at http://governor.maryland. gov/mail/default.asp, or visit Twitter at @larryhogan.

by Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, the District of Columbia Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and the National Park Service. “Each summer, District residents flock outdoors to take advantage of the warm weather months, but before Music on the Mall, there was little reason for workers downtown to bring their lunch to the most obvious place, our magnificent National Mall,”

said Norton. “D.C. gets a double benefit from Music on the Mall. It gives workers a chance to take a well-deserved break from their busy schedules to relax in the shade, and it gives some of D.C.’s talented and upcoming artists the perfect stage to share their music.” Lunchtime Music on the Mall was developed to especially benefit federal and other office workers who work nearby but seldom see the Mall as a place to have lunch and enjoy the outdoors.

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District Chronicles | May 14 - May 20, 2015 | 11

In the Neighborhood Metro Briefs: Notable news in and around Washington District of Columbia DCPS to award Seal of Biliteracy at graduation

his spring, District of Columbia Public Schools will award the Seal of Biliteracy as a special recognition to students who have demonstrated proficiency in more than one language by high school graduation. The recognition of attaining biliteracy will become part of students’ high school transcript along with an official seal affixed to their diploma. “Earning the Seal of Biliteracy is a tremendous accomplishment for our students who have dem-

onstrated mastery in multiple languages,” said DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson. “We are extremely proud of their hard work and commitment to gaining multilingual and multicultural skills. These abilities are strong assets in today’s global society and will support their success throughout their entire lives.” The DCPS Seal of Biliteracy is awarded based on guidelines drafted by The American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, the National Association of Bilingual Education, the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages, and TESOL International Association. To be eligible to receive the DCPS Seal

of Biliteracy, students must submit an application to their guidance counselor with completed course work and test results demonstrating cultural and communicative competency. Nationwide, nine states and the District of Columbia award a Seal of Biliteracy. DCPS is proud to be the first in the region to recognize the unique skills of our multilingual students with this award. DCPS is committed to providing students opportunities to obtain these skills. For a third year in a row, it has committed funds to provide all DCPS elementary school students access to weekly world-language instruction. Eight DCPS schools also offer dual-lan-

guage programs. To expand on these offerings, the new Brookland Middle School opening in fall 2015 will provide students with intensive arts and world-language experiences. “We challenge our schools and communities to invest in our future leaders with opportunities for developing biliteracy or multiliteracy skills,” said Dr. Libia Gil, U.S. Department of Education assistant deputy secretary, director of the Office of English Language Acquisition. “Congratulations to DCPS for taking this challenge and making a commitment to recognize graduates with a Seal of Biliteracy for their achievements in two languages.”

DCPS high school seniors and juniors can apply for the Seal of Biliteracy by obtaining an application from their guidance counselors or by clicking here. For more information on the application process and eligibility requirements, visit the DCPS website.

Arts, mother earth come together for Greenbelt Greenman Festival

Robert Eubanks/District Chronicles

Robert Eubanks/DistrictChronicles

Robert Eubanks/District Chronicles

12 | May 14 - May 20, 2015 | District Chronicles