I took two pictures yesterday, September 15, 2015, of separate campuses of my DCPS school, the Capitol Hill Cluster School. How does your school compare?

This is a girls bathroom at Watkins Elementary. It has never been renovated since the building was built, in 1962. Watkins is slated to receive a first wave of renovation this coming summer. Other DC schools that look just like this are still waiting.

This is the newly renovated library at Stuart-Hobson Middle School. Two weeks ago, DCPS central staff culled library books, but did not provide replacements. About 2,500 books remain (on the shelves to the left), well short of the accepted standard of 20 books per student. Many DC school libraries face similar shortages, such that school librarians estimate that 500,000 are needed to meet the standard citywide. This school year, DCPS has set aside $1.2 million to purchase new library books citywide. That buys about 50,000 books.