So as we DC residents wait for the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill to allow us to use our own local tax dollars and correct the $1 billion hole Congress callously (and undemocratically) forced into our (previously balanced) budget, the mayor and DC council wait to get a new fiscal year budget going and DCPS schools go over (and/or suffer through) their initial allocations (see here, courtesy of teacher Laura Fuchs).

In reality, no one knows how this will shake out.

Council chair Phil Mendelson noted that without DC being able to use its own tax dollars appropriately (our money is literally sitting in a Wells Fargo account), charters could lose their 4th quarter payments in April. DCPS has not indicated what would be cut exactly, but at least one school is already facing potentially devastating losses.

As a result of our forced budget uncertainty, last week scores of DC residents took to congressional office buildings to beg House members to pass bill S1077, which would restore DC’s ability to control its own money. (Imagine!) Naturally, none of the House members represent DC because we DC residents have no voting representation in Congress despite DC paying more to the federal government in taxes than 13 states.

(Taxation without representation was a thing only in the 18th century, apparently.)

Anyhoo, in the middle of this maelstrom, a friend sent me a link to Heather Cox Richardson’s piece on the significance of March 25. As Cox Richardson wrote, on that day in 1911 the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire killed 147 workers. Like many others at the time, this company apparently conducted its business with little, if any, consideration of the humanity toiling on behalf of those who profited from that toil. Those workers died because, among other things, the company did not provide escape routes.

Cox Richardson outlined how in the wake of such needless tragedy, reformer Frances Perkins conducted investigations to improve worker safety. For her efforts in establishing labor laws and regulations that we today recognize as standard (and, as some might say, civilized) and in pushing public programs to help ordinary Americans, Perkins was rightfully made the namesake of the Department of Labor building here in DC.

Not coincidentally, that is now one of the government buildings in DC the president wants to get rid of (along with most of the staff therein).

All of this inspired me to reflect on what we here in DC experienced on March 25, 2025.

That day, I went with two other DC residents to the House office of Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican representative from a suburban Philadelphia district. Once in the reception area of the representative’s office, we introduced ourselves as DC residents and asked if the congressman knew about the bill that could save our DC budget. The receptionist was unsure about the representative’s knowledge but offered to pass along a 1-pager we had on the issue. We thanked the receptionist and asked if there was anyone we could speak with on staff or with the representative himself. We were told no.

But at that exact moment, a man walked into the reception area from outside the office—and it was the congressman himself! As I confirmed he was Brian Fitzpatrick, the representative slowly backed away from me, toward one of the interior office doors. When I explained that we were DC residents and there for his support of S1077, the representative pulled up a cell phone to his ear, said he was on a call, and quickly disappeared into his staff offices, closing a door behind him. The entire interaction lasted less than 20 seconds.

As the congressman vanished (with what appeared to be a fake call), another person popped into the reception area—the congressman’s chief of staff. What a coincidence! For several minutes, the chief of staff spoke cordially with us, appearing positive that the representative supported the bill that would save our budget (while looking slightly less cordial when I asked if the representative would co-sponsor the bill and ensure its swift passage).

At about the same time on March 25, Fitzpatrick’s fellow Republicans advanced a bill to nullify DC’s law for being a sanctuary city.

Also on that day, a short distance away from where Republicans were busy nullifying democracy in DC, the president’s legal demagogues issued a document that force-fed specious arguments to the U.S. District Court in DC, and its chief judge James Boasberg, as an apparent excuse for continuing to grossly violate American law by deporting legal immigrants to a foreign jail without a shred of due process.

(Now, this is where irony is working overtime locally: That legal document’s circular arguments match the tenor of policies we in DC have been forced to adopt by education reformers across the country—like the judge’s brother, who during his tenure as head of public schools in Denver closed schools and expanded charters, while serving as the boss of Antwan Wilson prior to Wilson being appointed DCPS chancellor. The judge himself dismissed a 2013 lawsuit against DCPS closures that year (and its allegations of racial discrimination) by noting that “closing under-enrolled schools will save resources that can then be spread throughout the school district to benefit all students” (even though it never happened and never will because of fixed costs). The judge also noted in that decision that if the closures disproportionately affected Black students (which they did), that was not intentional—so it was all good and legal! One can only wonder what this judge now thinks about such rationales potentially (or actually!) being used to justify unconstitutional crimes perpetuated in our names.)

By the evening of March 25 in DC, the senior director of policy for DC’s deputy mayor for education, Clara Botstein, gave a presentation to SHAPPE on a draft of Compact 2042. If this project seems new to you, it is because it is indeed new.

Here’s what the first page of Botstein’s presentation says:

“Compact 2042 is a guarantee that all children born today will graduate high school on a clear path to a good job. To deliver on such a profound promise, this guarantee needs to be backed by our education & training system, and by our employers.”

As a purported gambit to improve DC’s public education, Compact 2042 seems a bit odd. Its clear corporate focus, for instance, comes at a time when most of DC’s publicly funded schools have struggled for years just to, well,

retain staff;
have school nurses;
ensure appropriate special education;
have specials;
have safe outdoor play areas;
have budget stability;
have broad programming;
have racial and budget equity;
have working toilets, door locks, and HVAC;
have adequate supplies of toilet paper; and/or
have soap in bathrooms.

(You know, the little things.)

But Compact 2042 is silent on all of that. That said, we get some clarity on its goals a few pages later in the presentation (boldface NOT mine):

“Now more than ever, we want to make DC an attractive place for employers to locate and grow because of ease of access to talent.”

So we DC dwellers came full circle on that day, March 25: A century before, America understood corporate exploitation and acted to protect the public from it and now, public servants in DC apparently desire to use DC children to court corporate interests as other public servants in DC deny us control over our own money, laws, and destinies. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the distance to child labor and abandoned workplace protections is shorter than ever. (BTW be sure to provide comments on Compact 2042 before summer, when it will be, uh, solidified or something.)

Sadly, the nonsense here in DC did not stop on March 25.

The next day, March 26, unmarked and masked immigration police who were not ICE convened at DCPS’s H.D. Cooke elementary. Their prey was apparently the school nurse. Thankfully, school staff intervened and demanded a warrant—and since there was none, the goons left.

The day after that, the president issued an executive order specifically about DC, outlining a number of things that the president has no real authority over, but that nonetheless will likely be forced upon us—and with our own money, while lies are spewed justifying it. (See here for more than a few whoppers.)

After all, if a DC resident merely speaking can cause a grown man to literally run away while in his own office, the rest of us 700,000 DC residents must be controlled—by lies, exploitation, or whatever else may be brought to bear. It thus seems highly unlikely the current Trump administration will be satisfied with the extrajudicial harm inflicted on DC residents during the prior Trump administration, including but not limited to tear gas, kettling, undue arrests, and rotor wash.

So buckle up, DC—it’s going to be a bumpy ride.