Yaida O. Ford, an attorney, wants to use her skills set and experience to represent Ward 8 on the D.C. Council with improving its education system and fostering economic growth as priorities.
With education, she will call for a moratorium on new charter schools coming into the ward.
“We have a crisis in our community that is manifold; school choice has presented a complex problem for us because enrollment in our public schools are down, which means our funding is down in those schools, which means our kids are not getting the services that they need,” Ford said. “Resolving this will require doing more than thing but I want to start a conversation on the education front now because we also need to address trauma in schools. Many of our kids are not learning regardless of whether they are in public charter or public school.
“We have created a false narrative that ‘public charter is better’ but that entire notion is dunked by empirical data,” she said.
Regarding economic development, Ford said the ward 8 is “slated for major development in the next 3-5 years.”
“I want to make sure our residents interests are protected in that process,” she said. “Right now, some of our residents are frustrated by efforts from our current councilman to block development in the Anacostia neighborhood. This was a foolhardy move.
“If there are concerns about displacement, then there are proven methods to address that,” Ford said. “But to do it requires knowledge, skill and the ability to partner with the right enterprises to make sure there is as little adverse impact as possible on our most vulnerable residents. Without new leadership, frustrations will mount and the people who need to be protected the most will get the worst end of the deal when it is all said and done.”
From the Washington Informer