A lot of education reformers, it turns out. That was apparent at last week’s council hearing on May 16. As you may recall, the hearing was a re-convening of the public roundtable on the future of school reform in DC held by the city council education committee on March 19. As a statement on the … Continue reading Who’s Afraid Of DC Education Data?
Still Segregated 64 Years After Brown v. Board: It’s Past Time To Do Better, DC
[Ed. Note: The following is by DCPS parents and education advocates Iris Bond Gill and Erin Roth, who unlike many other education reformers in DC actually have skin in this game. Visit them on twitter at @iris007gill (Iris) and @erotheroth (Erin)] By Iris Bond Gill & Erin Roth In our nation’s capital, where school reform … Continue reading Still Segregated 64 Years After Brown v. Board: It’s Past Time To Do Better, DC
It’s Not Just Ellington—Or Ballou
We unelected and unappointed DC citizens apparently know more about our president’s sexual proclivities than we do about residency fraud or graduation accountability in our publicly funded schools. For instance, back in March, during her agency’s performance oversight hearing before the council’s education committee, state superintendent of education Hanseul Kang promised to provide a list … Continue reading It’s Not Just Ellington—Or Ballou
Springtime For DC Schools: Begging, Diamond-Encrusted Door Locks & An Independent Commission
Billed as only for government witnesses, the city council’s April 19 DCPS budget oversight hearing also featured public witnesses who had been unable to testify during the DCPS budget hearing for public witnesses, held over spring break. (Minor aside: Despite a petition to move that DCPS public witness hearing, the city council moved only the … Continue reading Springtime For DC Schools: Begging, Diamond-Encrusted Door Locks & An Independent Commission
Do They—Or Don’t They?
As with getting a straight answer on hair dye (or paying off people for the occasional indiscretion), tracking whether our publicly funded schools use at risk funds appropriately appears to be difficult. Given that DC’s two schools systems (DCPS and charters) outline the use of at risk funds differently, even simple measurements become a tough … Continue reading Do They—Or Don’t They?
It’s Perfectly Normal To Be In Favor Of By Right Schools
In a 2003 interview, novelist Kurt Vonnegut was quoted saying the following: “It’s perfectly ordinary to be a socialist. It’s perfectly normal to be in favor of fire departments.” I was forcibly reminded of that statement during meetings in the last few weeks to get public feedback for cross sector task force recommendations; the master … Continue reading It’s Perfectly Normal To Be In Favor Of By Right Schools
“This Is Not A Law That We Are Enforcing”
The following is a transcript (starting at 2:28:45 in the video available here) from the budget oversight hearing of the public charter school board on April 11, before the education committee of the city council. In it, committee chair David Grosso asks charter board executive director Scott Pearson about illegal out of school suspensions. Besides … Continue reading “This Is Not A Law That We Are Enforcing”
