Vouchers pass House…National early childhood spending measured…Demographics changes drive up cost of living for some [News, 3.31.11]

EDUCATION
- The House voted 225-195, largely on party lines, to reinstate the school vouchers program yesterday. (Examiner, 3/31) The bill now moves to the Senate, where its fate is unclear. A number of Democrats in the Senate have supported the program in the past.

- Editorial: Cheating allegations can’t mask real gains in D.C.’s schools (WaPo, 3/31)

GIVING | The Three Core Approaches to Effective Philanthropy (SSIR, 3/29) “Each type executes something quite different, and recognizing this distinction is critical to their success.”

EQUALITY | Writing for the Washington Area Women’s Foundation, D.C. councilmember Muriel Bowser says, “I am proud to say that the District of Columbia has consistently sought to protect and enhance opportunities for women of all ages and backgrounds.” (WAWF, 3/30)

ENVIRONMENT | Save Money, Go Green – The Nonprofit Roundtable and its partners have launched another round of the Nonprofit Energy Alliance. Qualifying organizations can potentially save 10-15% on energy costs, while doing something good for the environment. The deadline to participate is Wednesday, April 6, 2011.

CENSUS | Increasing racial mix in D.C. neighborhoods comes at a cost (Examiner, 3/31) “The changes are driving up the cost of living for many.”

EARLY CHILDHOOD | A first-of-its-kind report from the Partnership for America’s Economic Success comprehensively calculates national spending on the early childhood sector. (PAES)

NATIONALS | It’s a dreary opening day for the Nats, but today begins “Phase Two” for our hometown team. Let’s hope $126 million man Jason Werth lives up to his last name. Go Nats! (WaPo, 3/31)

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My little sister is featured in a Washington Post piece about an art project called “Dear World/Write Our Future.” I always knew she’d get famous by writing Swahili words on her hands!

Can Failure Be the Key to Foundation Effectiveness?

By Rebekah Seder, Program Coordinator

At Washington Grantmakers’ Thought Leader event this month, Bob Hughes, former Chief Learning Officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, spoke to members about something that funders often try to avoid talking about: failure.

Hughes

According to Hughes, the philanthropic sector “undervalues failures and puts too much emphasis on perceived successes,” a pattern that can sometimes limit the ability of foundations to fully reach their potential to bring about social change. Part of the reason for this is the structure of relationships within the sector.

Failure is a tough thing to talk about given the dynamics between foundation staff and trustees, and between funders and grantees. Talking about failure requires both a high level of trust and a commitment to thinking about failure in terms of learning, instead of just in terms of accountability.

Up for House vote, voucher program brings out many opinions [News, 3.30.11]

A bill that would bring back the school voucher program in D.C. is scheduled to be put to vote in the House today. Locally, the program has mixed support – Kwame Brown and Marion Barry support it, while Mayor Gray and a number of other council members are against it. (DCist, 3/30)

Nationally, the bill has strong Republican support (it is sponsored by Speaker of the House John Boehner). The Obama administration, however, issued a clear statement of opposition yesterday saying that there isn’t evidence that the program improves outcomes. President Obama did not threaten a presidential veto. (WaPo, 3/30)

The Washington Post editorial board has a very strongly worded response to the administration’s position which says,”The White House of course has a right to its own opinion, as wrongheaded as we believe it to be. It doesn’t have a right to make up facts.” The editorial points out the investigator who studied the vouchers program found that it “markedly improved important education outcomes for low-income inner-city students.” (WaPo, 3/30)

Hopefully politicians on both sides of aisle are staking their claims solely in the interest of students. A reduction to partisan politics would be a shameful one.

EDUCATION
- DCPS asks inspectors to review cheating charges (Examiner, 3/30)

HOMELESSNESS | Emails Show D.C. Struggling With Homeless Shelter Capacity (City Paper, 3/30)

WORKFORCE | Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker has created a $50 million economic development fund aimed at job creation in the county. Currently, 60% of county residents work elsewhere. (WaPo, 3/30)

COMMUNITY | George and Trish Vradenburg of the Vradenburg Foundation are the co-chairs of that 8th Annual National Alzheimer’s Gala. The event takes place a week from today and features David Hyde Pierce (of Frasier fame) as MC. Tickets and table sponsorships are available here.

ARTS | A new mapping tool called Art Around shows the location of art all over the District – including galleries, statues, architecture, murals, and even some graffiti. (City Paper, 3/30)

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Speaking of graffiti, I watched the documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop last weekend. I can’t tell if it is a brilliant hoax or a truly absurd story, but I highly recommend it.

Women’s Foundation featured in Forbes…Gray pushes ‘One City’…GOP Fannie and Freddie plan similar to Obama’s [News, 3.29.11]

GIVING | A Forbes article about women-led philanthropic organizations investing in female populations praises the Washington Area Women’s Foundation as a model of success. (Forbes, 3/28)

COMMUNITY | Congratulations to David Bowers, a steering committee member of the Community Development Support Collaborative, for being awarded the Livable Communities Leadership Award from the Coalition for Smarter Growth! David joins the ranks of previous honorees Dan Tangherlini, Bob Peck, and Harriet Tregonning, among others, and will be honored at a reception in May.

THE DISTRICT | Mayor Gray delivered his first State of the District speech last night, down-playing the controversy surrounding his administration and instead focusing on “improving education, generating jobs and reducing crime.” Returning to the theme of his campaign, he said, “I will work to make one city out of the two very different realities that coexist today.” (WaPo, 3/29)
- Related: Full speech text.

POLICY | GOP lawmakers to unveil own plan to wind down Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac (WaPo, 3/29) “[I]t mirrors the Obama administration’s approach to shutting down the taxpayer-backed mortgage giants but only on a faster timetable.”

HEALTH | Opinion: Putting D.C.’s health-care agency on the right track by director of the D.C. Department of Health Care Finance Wayne M. Turnage. (WaPo, 3/29) “Mayor Vincent Gray has set four priorities for the agency: improving health outcomes; strengthening program integrity; improving oversight of and increasing Medicaid billing for public providers; and implementing health-care reform.”

ARTS | Have you heard about Bank of America’s Museums on Us program? If you are a BofA/Merrill Lynch cardholder, you get free access to more than 150 museums across the country the first weekend of every month – including The Phillips Collection and National Museum of Women in the Arts in D.C.

HIV/AIDS | Needle Exchange Could Lose Funding (WAMU, 3/29)

EDUCATION
- Rhee, D.C. Board of Ed. Respond To Test Tampering Allegations (DCist, 3/29)

- Montgomery County charter schools blocked again (WaPo, 3/29)

- In D.C., Nia Community Public Charter School and Ideal Academy Public Charter School might lose their charters. (Examiner, 3/29)

‘Sizzling’ housing prices…More Census exploration…CFNCR profiles local animal shelters [News, 3.28.11]

HOUSING | Looking for a great bargain on a house in the region? “Go to Detroit,” says a housing expert. The region’s housing prices are ‘sizzling’, even as the national average has been struggling.  (Examiner, 3/28)

EDUCATION
- Opinion: Gray’s charter school funding flip-slop damages education hopes (Examiner, 3/28)

- Experts question accuracy of D.C. school test gains (WTOP, 3/28)

ARTS | The finalists for the Mayor’s Arts Awards have been announced. Winners will be picked at a ceremony in April.

CENSUS
- An nifty extended regional map shows race and ethnicity by location.

- D.C. population count by ward (DCist, 3/25)

- TBD has an, um…uh…well, bizarre interesting timeline theory about why the District’s black population has been declining. It includes bike lanes, the ban on the sale of single beers, the arrest of a graffiti artist, and the opening of Nationals Park. Among other things, of course. (TBD, 3/25)

METRO | Metrorail turned 35 years old yesterday (it doesn’t look a day over 60!) and Greater Greater Washington has a fun slide-show depicting the evolution of the system from its first four stops through today. (GGW, 2/27)

STATEHOOD | E-filing of taxes in D.C. is resulting in fewer donations to a fund aimed at lobbying for statehood. (WaPo, 3/28)

ANIMALS | The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region profiles local animal shelters. (CFNCR)

LOCAL | A quick look at the history of Washington National Airport. (Cranky Flier, 3/21)

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We’ll report tomorrow on Mayor Gray’s “State of the District” speech. Lots of people will be paying close attention to this one, it seems.

Census data reveals demographic changes in DC…Food insecurity in the region and illiteracy in the District [News, 3.25.11]

CENSUS | The 2010 census data released yesterday shows a stark demographic shift in DC’s population, which has increased (for the first time since 1950) to 601,723 residents. The biggest shift is among the city’s black population, which decreased by 11 percent over the last ten years, a fact that probably does not come as a surprise to many in the District, where the effects of gentrification can be seen throughout the city and have been central to political rhetoric for years. (WaPo, 3/24)

Check out the fascinating infographics on the Washington Post and New York Times websites to explore the data at both the neighborhood and regional levels.

HUNGER | A new study shows that 400,000 people in the Washington area experienced food insecurity during 2009. Even areas that are relatively affluent have experienced a rise in hunger: between 7 and 8 percent of people in Fairfax and Montgomery counties reported having gone hungry. As Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett recently wrote in an open letter to funders, “The Montgomery County that you have thought of as a rich, white suburb that doesn’t need the attention of the Washington region’s philanthropic community has been changing rapidly.” (WaPo, 3/24)

LITERACY | At over a third of the city’s residents, the illiteracy rate in the District is 20 percent higher than the national average, according to a new study. What is truly eye-opening in this story though, is that about 40 percent of students in one particular literacy program, run by the nonprofit Washington Literacy Council, have high school diplomas from DCPS. (WAMU, 3/24)

ARTS | Following up on recent remarks from the head of the National Endowment for the Arts, a blog post on the Grantmakers in the Arts website explores the need to increase the demand for the arts in order to meet the ever-growing supply. (GIA, 3/24)

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The cherry blossoms are already opening, and the annual festival kicks off tomorrow. For those brave enough to face the masses of tourists downtown, there are plenty of festival activities throughout the weekend. Hopefully the possible snow (!?) on Sunday won’t get in the way of anyone’s plans!

Thursday (really) brief [News, 3.24.11]

GIVING | A survey conducted by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative shows that giving improved in 2010. The survey has graphics breaking down giving by region, organization size, type of charity and type of donor. (Atlantic, 3/23)

EDUCATION | George Washington University’s “Prize Patrol” has awarded full four-year scholarships to nine high-achieving DCPS students. (WAMU, 3/24)

HUH, WHAT? | D.C. has worst cell service in the U.S. (WTOP, 3/24) A perfect excuse for ignoring calls!

CHERRY BLOSSOMS | The festival opens this weekend, but peak bloom time has been revised to March 29-April 1. (Examiner, 3/24)

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Busy office day, slow news day!  Rebekah will be filling in tomorrow, so I hope you all enjoy the weekend.

Regional budget challenges for social services… ‘Intriguing’ IMPACT data…Agencies need heads in D.C. [News, 3.23.11]

BUDGETS
- Proposed 2012 budget for Prince George’s County would cut nonprofit funding by one-third. (Examiner, 3/23) “‘”If we get less money, we’re going to have more kids in gangs, we’re going to have more people showing up at food banks who go away hungry and more homeless people because the foreclosure rate is not slowing down in this county,’ said Jerry Adams, the executive director of the Prince George’s Human Services Coalition.”

- A coalition of nonprofits is pushing to preserve funding levels for social services in Fairfax County. (WaPo, 3/23) Think Twice Before You Slice’s campaign director says  Fairfax’s challenges may be tougher than similar ones in Montgomery County.

- The District will attempt to collect one billion dollars in overdue fines from the “last few decades.” (Examiner, 3/23) That’s a lot of money to have not collected in the first place.

EDUCATION
- The Aspen Institute has released a study of the IMPACT teacher evaluation system’s first year. Bill Turque calls the data “intriguing.” (WaPo, 3/23)

- The governors of Maryland and Virginia have different views about the importance of money in education reforms. Both perspectives are worth considering, perhaps, since both states’ education systems are ranked in the top five in the country. (WAMU, 3/23)

GOVERNMENT
- A number of key District agencies – including Transportation and Housing and Community Development – have yet to receive permanent directors. (City Paper, 3/22)

- Marion Barry opposes D.C. Office on Aging nominee (TBD, 3/23)

LOCAL | Gladiolus. That’s the winning word from the very first national spelling bee, won by local resident Frank Neuhauser who passed away earlier this month. (WaPo, 3/23)

Jobs! (Post one – $60 for 60 days)

Looking to hire? Spread the word with WG’s job board!

Positions appear for 60 days on the WG website, are featured in WG’s blog and newsletter, and enter the Simply Hired database to appear on LinkedIn, Myspace, and others. Click here to post/view all jobs. (WG members post for free.)

A really challenging charter school…Free cancer screening for the uninsured…Mixed numbers on giving [News, 2.22.11]

EDUCATION | A proposed charter school will set a high bar. A really high bar with students starting AP classes in ninth grade or earlier. But will it work in D.C.? (WaPo, 3/22)

WORKFORCE | Project Makes D.C. Residents Competitive In Challenging Job Market (WAMU, 3/22)

GIVING
- Two-Thirds of Charities Predict Giving Increase in 2011 (Chronicle, 3/21)

- But…Nonprofits Say Recession Not Over Yet, Poll Shows (Chronicle, 3/21)

HEALTH
- Under-insured and uninsured D.C. residents have about a 30 percent rate of precancerous polyps – much higher than the national average. A free cancer screening program seeks to address the problem. (WaPo, 3/22)

- Maryland health reform benefits touted by White House (WBJ, 3/21)

RANKINGS | A Gallup survey (clearly not conducted during rush hour) ranks the Washington region as the happiest among the 52 largest cities in the country. (Examiner, 3/22) My theory – people are happier where they can look up and see a good chunk of the sky.

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We might lose our spot on the happiness list after people hear about… potential wintry mix this week?!