Who was worthy enough to receive invites to testify about D.C. public and charter schools before the House appropriations subcommittee on the District last Tuesday? Chair Ernest Istook Jr. (R-Okla.) extended special entreaties to schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman, control board member Constance Newman, and D.C. Public Charter School Board Chair Josephine Baker, who heads one of the two groups that grant public charters in D.C. The other group, the popularly elected D.C. Board of Education, which chartered and oversees 15 of the city’s 27 public charter schools, was omitted from the list. “We are surprised as well,” says the board’s president, the Rev. Robert G. Childs, who attended the meeting in silence. “I think they’re going to miss a perspective on charter schools in this city.” Istook spokesperson Micah Swafford says it was nothing personal—sort of. “It’s a two-hour hearing,” says Swafford. “There were no slights intended. We just think these are the most important witnesses.” —Laura Lang