Just in case you thought Chicago's was unique in ignoring the pleas of parents, when Rahm Emanuel's hand-picked board closed 50 public schools in one day, think again. A similar battle is going on in the District of Columbia, where parents are pleading with the D.C. school officials to open a public school where one was closed. School officials offer dodges, double-talk, and shifting explanations to parents who want a public school. This is what democracy does not look like, as officialdom finds myriad ways to evade public testimony by parents, in DC which has received millions from the Walton Foundation and other malanthropists NOT to change course and listen to residents.