B4 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11 , 2021
International Track and Field,
which provides athletes from im-
poverished backgrounds a
chance to compete international-
ly.
Through an international
scholarship program, she said,
the program has helped hundreds
of student-athletes attend college
without debt.
In addition, Thorpe estab-
lished an annual scholarship and
athletic convention, where disad-
vantaged student-athletes can
meet with coaches and admis-
sions officers to learn about re-
cruitment and college accep-
tance.
She won the 2018-2019 Nation-
al Life Changer of the Year award,
which is given by National Life
Group, a collection of financial
services companies, to teachers
and school administrators who
TEACHER FROM B1 make a difference in the lives of
students.
Thorpe began teaching at the
International High School at Lan-
gley Park in 2018 and was charged
with redesigning the 12th-grade
English curriculum to give it “a
global perspective and a cultural-
ly responsive lens,” she said.
She assists her students with
college applications and also
helps them obtain scholarships.
In 2018-2019, she helped them
win about $6.5 million in scholar-
ships to 11 c olleges, she said.
Thorpe is the second American
to win the Global Teacher Prize.
Its first awardee, in 2015, was
Nancie Atwell, the founder of the
Center for Teaching and Learn-
ing, a nonprofit K-8 demonstra-
tion school in Edgecomb, Maine.
Last year’s prize went to Ran-
jitsinh Disale, who teaches girls at
a village school in western India.
[email protected]
Teacher wins $1 million
for aiding Md. students
that was known to some employ-
ees within Metro.
NTSB spokeswoman Jennifer
Gabris said the agency is work-
ing with both inspectors’ general
offices, but that the combined
federal and Metro probe will
request information separately
that is needed for their investiga-
tion.
Metro spokeswoman Kristie
Swink Benson declined to com-
ment on the specifics of the joint
investigation, saying “we are co-
operating fully with both the
[Metro] Inspector General and
the DOT Inspector General.”
Transportation Department
Inspector General Eric J. Soskin
declined to comment through an
office spokesperson. Metro In-
spector General Geoff Cher-
rington also declined to com-
ment.
The scope of the investigation
is broad, but centers on who
knew about wheelset defects that
have been discovered more than
50 times over four years and
what those with knowledge did
with the information, according
to a person with direct knowl-
edge of the probe who was not
authorized to speak publicly.
Investigators are also search-
ing for breakdowns in communi-
cation and notification. While
the inspectors’ general offices
have the authority to conduct
criminal investigations, the per-
son said any possible criminal
case would likely be referred to
the Justice Department or feder-
al prosecutors.
Inspectors general have high
levels of independence and au-
tonomy, assigned or appointed
within public agencies to investi-
gate from within and root out
criminality, fraud, abuse and in-
efficiencies to bring more trans-
parency and accountability.
The Washington Metrorail
Safety Commission, an agency
Congress created in 2017 to over-
see safety after years of lapses,
has said its inspectors were not
told of the defects, as required.
Members of Congress, including
Rep. Gerald E. Connolly (D-Va.),
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton
(D-D.C.) and Rep. Don Beyer
(D-Va.), have called for greater
accountability and transparencyMETRO FROM B1from Metro’s leadership.
In a letter Friday to Cher-
rington, Connolly asked the Met-
ro inspector general to find out
why the safety commission
wasn’t notified and to reportback to the subcommittee Con-
nolly chairs that requires Metro
to provide periodic status re-
ports. Connolly called Metro’s
lack of reporting a “consistent
pattern of resistance” in its deal-
ings with the safety commission.
In a response Cherrington
sent Monday, he said an investi-
gation was underway to trace the
chain of information of the de-fects and to determine if em-
ployee misconduct was involved.
“I am pleased my request for
an investigation into these safety
failures is being pursued,” Con-
nolly said in a statement to The
Post. “Metro had serious break-
downs in safety protocols that
could have resulted in cata-
strophic incidents. Transparency
and accountability are critical if
we are going to restore confi-
dence in Metro.”
The defects came to light Oct.
12, when a Blue Line train
slipped off the track outside the
Arlington Cemetery station, forc-
ing the evacuation of 187 passen-
gers. An NTSB-led investigation
discovered that wheels on one
rail car had shifted outward from
its fixed axle, causing the derail-
ment.
Investigators learned Metro
had been aware of the defect
since 2017, when a handful of
instances subsequently were dis-
covered each year during routine
inspections. That number surged
this year, when 18 instances of
the progressive defect were
found before the derailment.
The safety commission or-
dered the transit system to pullall 7000-series cars out of service
on Oct. 17. The NTSB and Metro
then discovered about 20 more
cases during emergency inspec-
tions of all 7000-series cars. The
cars, which make up nearly 60
percent of Metro’s roughly 1,200-
car fleet, were phased into serv-
ice beginning in 2015 — two
years before the first defect was
spotted.
NTSB investigators say Metro
knew enough about the defects
over the years to have discus-
sions with manufacturer Kawa-
saki Rail Car, but Metro General
Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld and
Metro Board Chairman Paul C.
Smedberg have said they were
not aware of the issues. Metro
officials have said they initially
viewed the problem as a rare and
isolated warranty problem af-
fecting a sliver of the fleet until
the caseloads rose this year.
NTSB Chair Jennifer Ho-
mendy has said the defect could
have led to a catastrophic inci-
dent if not discovered. The rare
defect has puzzled longtime
train and rail engineers, me-
chanics, and current and former
NTSB investigators, who have
said wheels are typically pressed
into axles with such force that
they do not move.
Investigators have sent metal
from the wheelset to NTSB’s labs
for testing, Gabris said.
Metro continues to operate
the rail system with about 40
older-model trains. The system is
testing an inspection process
that aims to detect wheelset
defects before they can cause
harm. Investigators have said the
malfunction only appears on
some trains and surfaces after a
long period of time and usage.
If the testing works, Metro will
ask the safety commission to
allow 7000-series rail cars that
show no sign of the defect back
into service. The transit agency
hasn’t said when that could take
place, but has told riders that
current, limited service levels
will stay at least through the end
of the month.
Trains on the Red Line are
running every 12 minutes, while
operating every 20 minutes on
the Green and Yellow lines, and
30 minutes on the Orange, Blue
and Silver lines.
[email protected]Metro hit with 2nd defect investigation
“Transparency and
accountability are
critical if we are going
to restore confidence
i n Metro.”
R ep. Gerald E. Connolly
(D-Va.)BILL O’LEARY/THE WASHINGTON POST
Inspectors general with the Transportation Department and Metro
are investigating w ho knew about the d efect, which has suspended
most of Metro’s fleet, and what they did with the information.V ALERIE STRAUSS/THE WASHINGTON POSTKeishia Thorpe teaches high school English in Bladensburg.
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