ABCDE METRO thursday, december 30, 2010 31, 9 a.m. 38, noon 39, 5 p.m. 36, 9 p.m.


Obituaries Geraldine Doyle was a 17-year- old factory worker whose photo inspired a WWII recruitment poster that featured her image and the phrase “We Can Do It!” B5


How will 2011 begin?


Capital Weather Gang’s Jason Samenow will be online Thursday at 1 p.m. to discuss his holiday forecast.


THEFEDERALWORKER The book of jobs


It might not be spellbinding reading, but check out the government’s 2011 budget requests for what positions agencies are looking to fill. B3


A rebirth and rebuilding


for textbooks MANY ERRORS DISCOVERED


Fairfax reconsidering one of its choices


BY KEVIN SIEFF Reports of extensive errors in


Virginia social studies textbooks prompted state education offi- cials on Wednesday to propose revamping the approval process to prevent the issuing of flawed textbooks. Fairfax County offi- cials also said they may discon- tinue using one of the books. The new state procedures


MARK GAIL/THE WASHINGTON POST GreatMillsHigh student Logan Gatton helps her cousin, a student at St. John’s. organize books to be shelved in the lower-grade library. P


arents, teachers and staff members gave up most of their


Christmas break to help set up and organize classrooms at St. John’s School in Hollywood, Md., in time for students’ returnMonday. A portion of the school was damaged in February’s heavy snow. That building has been rebuilt, and another has been renovated. Volunteers from the Knights of Columbus trucked textbooks from a facility where they were stored to the school. The energy-efficient design and modernization included input from teachers and staff.


LINDA DAVIDSON/THE WASHINGTON POST


would require that publishers hire context experts and provide extensivenewdocumentationfor claims in their textbooks. Educa- tion Department staff also would do more-detailed reviews before passing the books to the small groups of classroom teachers who traditionally have reviewed them, according to a statement from Superintendent of Public Instruction Patricia I.Wright. “Virginia students deserve


textbooks that reflect the quality of the commonwealth’s national- ly recognized history and social science standards, and as the


B EZ SU


JOHNKELLY’SWASHINGTON Touching base with 2010


We catch up with some of the folks mentioned in this year’s columns, such as Dave the anvil guy and Lynn the fundraiser, to see what they are up to as 2011 approaches. B2


Editor’s note: The Local Living section is off this week. It will return next Thursday.


Va. may tighten approval process


errors found by the reviewers clearly show, the review process must be improved,”Wright said. Proposed changes would re-


quire the Virginia Board of Edu- cation’s approval. The Education Department


began increasing its scrutiny of textbooks after The Washington Post reported inOctober that one provided to fourth-graders, “Our Virginia: Past and Present,” in- cluded a controversial claimthat thousands of African American soldiers fought for the South during the CivilWar. The claimis often made by Confederate heri- tage groups but is rejected by most historians. That book’s au- thor, JoyMasoff, has since apolo- gized for that problem, as has the publisher, Five Ponds Press of Weston, Conn. Historians whom the depart-


ment selected to review “Our Virginia” and another book by same publisher, “Our America: To 1865,” submitted lists of doz- ens of errors this month. A reviewof books by other publish- ers also found problems with some descriptions of events in the Civil War. State officials plan to meet Jan. 10 to discuss the historians’ concerns. Five Ponds Press publishes


four other textbooks used in books continued on B8


Md. toweigh own MARK GAIL/THE WASHINGTON POST


Acouple of St. John’s School students, above, enter the newbuilding. Snow damage to a 1953 building, left, was so severe that it had to be taken down.


BY SHANKAR VEDANTAM Maryland would offer in-state


college tuitionbenefits toundocu- mented immigrants who have at- tended state high schools and whose parents are taxpayers if a measure being proposed by state Democrats becomes law. The proposal, which will be in-


Immigration dispute erupts in Va. courts


Some state judges revisit criminal cases to prevent deportation


BY TOM JACKMAN A recent U.S. Supreme Court


ruling that noncitizens in crimi- nal cases must be advised of the possibleconsequencesofaconvic-


tion has sparked a flurry of ap- peals by defendants who claim that they didn’t knowthat convic- tionwould lead to deportation. But in Virginia, a similar battle


has emerged overwhether judges canrevisit andreopenoldcases or even summarily revise the sen- tences toavoidaconvict’s removal fromthe country. A Loudoun County General


District Court judge recently re- opened four cases involving de-


fendants who say they would not have pleaded guilty if they had known that theywould be deport- ed. In one instance this month, Loudoun prosecutors sought a court order to stop the judge from reopening such cases, but a Cir- cuitCourt judge refused. “Virginialawshouldnotbecon-


strued to permit a ‘do-over,’ just because someonehasnowfigured out that committing a crime may have collateral consequences,”


Blazing a bike trail to Tysons Future of commercial center looking friendlier for two-wheel commuters


“Rarely do I see somebody BY KAFIA A. HOSH O


n a crisp, gray morning, Chris French maneuvered a bicycle through Vienna’s


neighborhood streets on his way to work in Tysons Corner. A narrow curve on Old Courthouse Road was the toughest spot, and some frustrated motorists squeezed past him. But a school bus driver drove patiently be- hind French, who was cycling about 14 mph from his home in Oakton.


wait for me,” he said after the ride, his face slightly red butwith no sign of sweat. Biking to work is a choice


offered mostly in cities. And in traffic-choked Tysons, where the car is king, it can be a challenge. The area has few public biking facilities. And lately, making the ride tougher is the construction of the Metrorail line to Dulles International Airport and the Capital Beltway’s high-occupan- cy toll lanes. As part of efforts to redevelop


Tysons into an urban downtown, Fairfax County is forming a long- termplan to add bike lanes, trails and other facilities to the area. The Tysons portion is the first


phase of an effort to create a biking infrastructure across the county. The plan is scheduled to be released in February and will require the approval of the Board of Supervisors. Those who bike to work in


Tysons say the plan is a welcome relief.


tysons continued on B5


said James P. Fisher, chief deputy commonwealth’s attorney for Loudoun. In another example, anAlexan-


dria judge reopened a 12-year-old case, reducing the defendant’s sentence so that deportation was no longer required. “To allow the desire for finality to trump the need for justice in this casewould be a travesty,” Alexandria Circuit


immigrant continued on B3


troduced by Sen.-elect Victor R. Ramirez (D-Prince George’s) when the General Assembly con- venes next month, is certain to generate controversy at a time of heated debate about illegal immi- gration, gaping state budget shortfalls, and intense competi- tion for coveted spots at the Uni- versity of Maryland and other state universities. Montgomery College came under attack this year forofferingtuitionbenefits to illegal immigrants. “The citizens of Maryland do


not offer in-state tuition to their fellow Americans” who aren’t state residents, saidHouseMinor- ity Leader Anthony J. O’Donnell (R-Calvert). “Why would we offer


‘DREAM’ tuition act Democrats renew push to give undocumented immigrants in-state rate


in-state tuition to peoplewho vio- lated our laws to gethere?” But supporters of the measure


say students who attendedMary- land high schools should be en- couraged, and not discouraged, to attend college, regardless of their legal status. “We’re working backwards,”


said Ramirez, who previously in- troducedthein-statetuitionbene- fit in the House of Delegates in 2007. The House passed the bill, but the Senate did not. “We have said, ‘You can go to school for 12 years’–wehaveinvestedinyoufor 12 years, and when that invest- ment isripeforthepicking,wesay, ‘Nomore.’ ” A similar bill was approved by


theGeneralAssembly in 2003 but vetoed by then-Gov. Robert L. Eh- rlichJr. (R). If it is approvedby the legislature again, Gov. Martin O’Malley (D) is expected to take a more sympathetic view, the mea- sure’s supporters say. Shaun Adamec, a spokesman


for the governor, agreed but said thatO’Malleywouldhavetoexam- ineany immigration-relatedlegis- lation before deciding whether to support it. Maryland, with an estimated


250,000 undocumented immi- maryland continued on B8


D.C.’s use of housing grants is questioned


HUD audit prompts return of $1.6 million in federal funds


BY MIKE DEBONIS AND DEBBIE CENZIPER A federal audit has questioned


morethan$10millioninspending by the District’s housing agency, prompting the return of $1.6mil- lion ofHousing andUrbanDevel- opment grant funds. In a report released Dec. 23


after examining the city’s financ- ing of a long-delayed affordable housing project, its use of federal


funds for home-renovation and down-payment assistance, and its transfers to community-based groups, HUD Regional Inspector General John P. Buck raised con- cerns about the city’s oversight of federal funds. The audit identified nearly $1.7


million in costs that the D.C. De- partment of Housing and Com- munityDevelopmenthadimprop- erly chargedtothe federal govern- ment, $6.5 million in expenses that could not be justified to the auditors’satisfactionand$1.9mil- lioninfunds thatwentunspent or werepoorly spent. A city official said in response


that the audit raised several is- sues,particularlypoorgrantdocu-


mentation, that had been identi- fiedandare being addressed. “We knew that there were is-


sues when I first started. There were things in the relationship with HUD that had to be worked on,” saidLeilaFinucaneEdmonds, DHCD’s outgoing director. “We have moved the department to a verydifferentplace.” The $1.6million, which will be


returned to HUD’s revolving ac- count for the District, will be able tobespentonotherprojects inthe city,Edmonds said, andshe added that she was “fairly optimistic” that her agency will be able to document much of the other


housing continued on B4


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