Kaye Christian has given new meaning to the term "judicial activism." Or perhaps we should call it "judicial brain-dead-ism." She is the D.C. superior court judge who has taken it upon herself to protect the safety of the schoolchildren of the District of Columbia -- and protect them she has these past five years to such a degree that they seem rarely to attend school at all. This fall, she has forced the cancellation of the first three weeks of school on the grounds that the school buildings themselves were not up to her safety standards. That was substantively ridiculous, but debatable as a political game of chicken with the school board. Last week, however, Christian journeyed into the twilight zone. Fearful that the little darlings might be cold, she shut down an enure D.C. elementary school because -- get this -- its boiler needed to be replaced. And she has threatened to shut down another 46 buildings because of boiler problems. That's 46 out of 147 D.C. public schools.
What with D.C. public-school officials and D.C. judges and the D.C. control board, there really can't be school choice soon enough for the children of the nation's capital.