Sunday, December 14, 2008; A01
Extract
"The D.C.-based Friends of Choice in Urban Schools took credit for nominating Nida to the charter board. Leaders of the organization described Nida as an analytical, hardworking man of integrity who pioneered charter lending and made a huge contribution to a system that has produced a number of high-quality schools that serve the District's poorest children."
"In D.C., as in many other cities, there are a small number of bankers, developers, contractors and business people who really took a risk on charter schools early on and made it possible for charter schools to grow and thrive," said Robert Cane, the group's executive director. "Tom Nida is one of the first. Without these people, we wouldn't have 35 percent of the kids in charter schools."
*** Clarification to This Article***
Nona Richardson, a spokeswoman for the D.C. Public Charter School Board, said staff members believe that Chairman Thomas A. Nida voted against an enrollment increase for William E. Doar Jr. Public Charter School for the Performing Arts on Feb. 21, 2006. Mark Lerner, who is chairman of the Doar school's board and attended the 2006 meeting, said Nida voted against the increase. The board's official minutes of that meeting do not reflect that vote but instead show that Nida joined in a unanimous approval of the increase, as The Post reported in a Dec. 14 Page One article and an accompanying graphic. Richardson said a memo asserting that the minutes are incorrect would be added to the charter board's file. Nida did not respond to requests from The Post for comment on his vote.