CDN 02/12/14 By Michael Shank and Erica Marshall WASHINGTON, February 12, 2014 —This April, when the District of Columbia begins its public debate over the draft budget for fiscal year 2015, there is an opportunity to give many of the District’s youth a second chance on life – literally. All […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 12/09/13 By Michael Shank and Ed Lazere WASHINGTON, December 9, 2013 —As Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pushes for a national minimum wage increase this Congressional session – and as the Seattle area suburb of SeaTac, Washington passes the highest minimum wage in the country last week at […]
WASHINGTON TIMES 11/05/13 By Michael Shank WASHINGTON, November 5, 2013 — The escalating conflict between the Washington Redskins football franchise, its owners and fans, and the growing community of concerned citizens, tribal leaders and District of Columbia City Councilmembers who want the football team to change its name is reaching […]
HUFFINGTON POST 10/21/13 By Michael Shank A damning report, released this week by Opportunity Nation, says that 6 million young people – or 15 percent of American youth — are neither in school nor working. This shocking statistic has particular importance for Washington, D.C. This coming fiscal year, which began […]
WASHINGTON POST 05/17/13 By Michael Shank It’s hard to believe that so many in America — over 50 million people — live in food insecurity. This is the unfortunate reality all too common in Somalia or Pakistan, but America? What’s worse is that this food insecurity is most apparent in […]
WASHINGTON POST 05/08/13 By Michael Shank and Lindsay Schubiner Mayor Vincent C. Gray(D) proposed a bill last week that would permit undocumented District residents to acquire driver’s licenses and identification cards. D.C. is the latest in a string of states that have taken similar steps in response to immigrant rights […]
WASHINGTON POST 04/29/13 By Michael Shank and Allyson Mitchell A new report, released last week, suggests that DC Public Schools’ much lauded reform efforts are still failing to produce positive results for DC’s students. Despite changes first championed by former Chancellor Michelle Rhee and now by Chancellor Kaya Henderson, the […]
WASHINGTON POST 04/10/13 By Michael Shank and Lindsay Schubiner On Wednesday, thousands of immigrants, documented and undocumented, will gather in Washington, D.C. to rally for comprehensive immigration reform, hoping to tip the scales of Congressional bipartisan support. The city’s Mayor Vince C. Gray (D), if he chooses, will have an […]
WASHINGTON POST 03/27/13 By Michael Shank and Allyson Mitchell With DC Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s call this month for educational equity across the District’s divide, there is a great opportunity to address one driver of this inequity: the high school truancy and chronic absenteeism, especially for students who attend schools east […]
WASHINGTON POST 03/13/13 By Michael Shank The District of Columbia’s poverty problem received much-needed attention recently with this paper’s reporting on how DC General has become a home for hundreds of homeless parents and children. The over-crowded and abandoned hospital-turned-homeless shelter has become a testament to DC benevolence, ushering in […]