The Coalition for DC Public Schools and Communities, EmpowerEd, and the Ward 7 Education Council are together hosting a candidate forum focused on DC public education issues on March 5.

Starting at 6 pm, 2026 candidates for DC mayor, DC delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, and DC council chair will explore education topics important to DC residents in the only forum of its kind in DC this election year.

Here are attendees as of the afternoon of this post:

Mayoral Candidates
Janeese Lewis George (confirmed)
Gary Goodweather (confirmed)
Kenyan McDuffie (no response)
Vincent Orange (pending)

DC Delegate to the U.S. House
Brooke Pinto (declined)
Robert White (confirmed)
Kinney Zalesne (confirmed)

DC Council Chair Candidates
Jack Evans (confirmed) 
Phil Mendelson (confirmed)

At 6:15 pm, the forum begins with mayoral candidates, moderated by Dr. Marla Dean, chair of the Ward 7 Education Council.

At 7 pm, candidates for the U.S. House delegate appear, moderated by Leigh Dingerson, author of Building The Power To Reclaim Our Schools.

At 7:45 pm, candidates for the council chair appear, moderated by Nzinga Tull, board chair of Teaching for Change.

The forum will take place at the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church, 3000 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. There are multiple bus routes within a couple of blocks and lots of parking at the church.

You can also watch the forum online, via youtube, which will also host audience questions for candidates.

Register here if you’d like to attend in person. (Note that you do NOT need to register if you plan to stream on youtube.) You can submit questions in advance on the registration page linked here. Updates to attendees will be posted on the preceding link for registration.