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By Theola Labbé As the new principal of Ballou Senior High School in 2005, Karen D. Smith was nervous about leading one of her first parent meetings at the Southeast school. Smith recalled last night that then-Superintendent Clifford B. Janey helped calm her fears by ushering her into the meeting and standing by her side as she addressed the group. "I felt your support from the very beginning," Smith told Janey, speaking at a reception for the former superintendent that was sponsored by the nonprofit advocacy group DC VOICE. "You were there to encourage me. . . . I just wanted to appreciate you publicly and openly." About 100 teachers, principals, parents and city leaders filled the foyer of a building in downtown Washington for a public send-off for Janey. It was the first opportunity for Janey to greet his school employees and other well-wishers since learning in a late-night phone call last month with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) that he would be replaced by Michelle A. Rhee as the city's top education leader. "It's because of you that we were able to do what we did in such a short period of time," Janey said, referring to the standards-based curriculum and more rigorous graduation requirements passed during his nearly three-year tenure. Janey did not comment on details of how he was dismissed from his job, but he said that in the past few weeks, he has been enjoying time with friends and family and intends to remain in the District -- for now. "I'm going to be around," Janey said. "I haven't made any particular plans yet." But he did take a small jab at a plan presented by the Fenty administration to reform city schools. Much of the proposal was lifted from a North Carolina school system. "When we did the master education plan . . . we didn't take it from anybody's head," Janey said, and the crowd gave him rousing applause. "We did it." With his wife at his side, Janey listened to more than a dozen speakers who praised his work and noted that his legacy would live on in the education and school renovation plans that he created, which Rhee has said she will follow. "He created a set of expectations for us, and now we have a strong foundation," said Stacey Stewart, president and chief executive of the Fannie Mae Foundation. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) presented Janey with a proposed resolution honoring his tenure as superintendent, which says in part that Janey "successfully pioneered national reforms." Gray said he plans to formally introduce the resolution when the council returns from summer break in September. Some well-wishers formed an impromptu line to wait to hug Janey, who smiled and returned the embraces. Wilkinson Elementary School principal Margaret Stephens-Aliendre said she admired Janey's performance as superintendent. "This doesn't mean that we won't support Ms. Rhee, but the things that Janey did, I think he deserves a farewell," she said. Deputy Chancellor Kaya Henderson, who worked with Janey under contract on teacher hiring and recruitment, said the event was a recognition of his contribution to D.C. education. "He was committed to the children in D.C., and I think people see that and wanted to celebrate that," she said. |
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