D.C. school rheeform: Another privatizer bellies up to the trough

D.C. Councilman David Catania, who's the head of the Council's new newly constituted Education Committee, wants to take Michelle Rhee's failed corporate-reform plan to the next level. He's handing out a big contract to Hogan Lovells, an international firm with "wide areas of practice in government and industry, including K-12 and higher education," to re-design the city's school reform plan. The firm's lawyers will supposedly "research school policies that have succeeded around the country, help determine what might work in the District and translate that into legislative language."

Hogan Lovells is one of the world’s largest law firms with $1.8 billion in revenue and 2,500 lawyers in 40 offices, including the US, Abu Dhabi, China, Vietnam, and Caracas. They are big in defense contracting, real estate, and aerospace. They used to operate in Chicago but shut down this city's operation in 2010 because of  "conflicts and deteriorating performance." Just this past month, they were hit with a huge malpractice suit by former clients, claiming HL gave bad advice following a failed development venture that led to a $36 million jury verdict against them.

Last year, HL put together a  research report called, "Evolution: Profiting from Uncertainty." That ought to tell you something about where this is headed.

Catania admits that the elected City Council members essentially know nothing about education and therefore need to contract out school reform planning to HL lawyers. Buckle up, D.C.

He might have considered asking educators.  I mean, they know a little about education.