fenty paid a lot of attention to education reform. on the first day of his term, in an unprecedented and controversial move, fenty introduced legislation to restructure the school system to give him full responsibility for schools. across the district, district residents had been demanding that the schools be "fixed." schools in the district had been troubled for years with student test performance scores and graduation rates among the lowest in the nation. in 1996, a control board appointed by congress had taken over control of the public school system, declaring that the schools were in a "state of emergency." mayor fenty viewed this re-structuring as the solution.