Last week, Jon Hale, professor of education at the University of Illinois, spoke with Illinois-based public schools advocate (and former DCPS parent) Peter MacPherson. Their hour-long conversation, linked below and recorded for this blog, covers topics in Hale’s recently released book, The Choice We Face: How Segregation, Race, and Power Have Shaped America’s Most Controversial … Continue reading In Conversation: Jon Hale Talks School Choice (& Its Baleful Effects) With Peter MacPherson

[The following is an email sent to DC’s mayor, council chair, deputy mayor for education, and charter board chair regarding the continuing lack of protection of the public interest in the development of the charter school property at 2345 R Street SE, in Ward 8. It got no response from anyone addressed. The property in … Continue reading No Response: Damaging The Public Interest At 2345 R Street SE

DCPS may have horrific numbers of covid cases, burned-out staff, nonworking HVAC in a third of its schools, outstanding work orders in yet more, poor contact tracing, a lack of textbooks, nontesting of symptomatic students, not even 10% testing of asymptomatic students, poor quarantine learning, parents and students penalized (with unexcused absences for quarantining and … Continue reading That Time When A Neutered Council And An Angered Executive Got Together Over A Bombastic Letter . . .

After 3 weeks of DCPS in person learning, parents, staff, and students can all say it’s been a real education. First, a few action items: --Take this ward education council survey today, to better inform parent advocacy around in person and virtual learning in DCPS. All eight of the city's ward education councils have worked … Continue reading Plaguing Around

Days between when staff showed up at DC’s Inspired Teaching charter school in person and when the first staff member tested positive for covid: Less than 5 Days between when administrators learned of the positive test and when the school notified parents of it: 4 Days after the parent notification that students returned to school … Continue reading Counting Down To School

During the August 18 public meeting of the DC state board of education, that body’s president, Ward 5 rep Zachary Parker, appeared to have mixed up two recent DC education studies. (See it here, starting at about 1:29:20.) The study Parker appeared to think one of the public meeting witnesses was discussing was recently released … Continue reading The (Mis)Measure Of DC Education Data

--At the July 15 meeting of the Ward 6 public schools parent association (see here for the video, passcode 5O!h!69Z), DCPS chancellor Ferebee noted that every DCPS school will have a full-time nurse (starting at minute 8:35). The chancellor also weighed in on school librarians (starting at minute 10:25): “Schools from my view have already … Continue reading The Long, Hot Summer . . . Budget

[Below is an email sent to DC Council chair Phil Mendelson on June 23 regarding DCPS libraries. The writer, long-time DCPS libraries advocate Peter MacPherson, got no response from the chairman. In spring, DCPS revealed that 37 schools would not have full-time librarians in SY21-22, with the number having no librarian at all increased from … Continue reading No Response: DC School Libraries

At 6 pm on March 30, 2021, DGS (DC's department of general services, which operates all DC's publicly owned buildings) and the deputy mayor for education (DME) held a combined surplus/disposition meeting for the closed DCPS school, Wilkinson, at 2330 Pomeroy Road SE. What followed was the only public outreach--exactly 1 hour--by public agencies in … Continue reading Sweetheart of Sweethearts: The Wilkinson Deal

A bunch of hearings slated for next week, on schools and their recovery from the pandemic, showed up on the council calendar recently: Monday May 24, 12 pm: hearing with invited experts on school re-opening and academic recovery; more information is here. Wednesday May 26, 9 am: hearing with public and invited witnesses on the … Continue reading In Case You Missed It . . .