–Although last week’s November 5 hearing on federal force excesses in DC is over (see here and here for reporting), the DC council is still accepting written testimony on the subject until 5 pm this Thursday November 12. Just watching a few minutes of public witness testimony illustrates the trauma DC adults and children are enduring with our >450 day occupation that has seen DC police assist federal forces in brutalizing DC residents and keeping kids from school while DC leaders (and DCPS) remain largely silent: EmpowerEd’s Caroline Pryor (at the 1 hour, 15 minute mark); Frankie Seabron of Harriet’s Wildest Dreams (at the 1 hour, 21 minute mark); Carlo Chavarria (at the 1:49:30 mark); Jaime Fearer (at the 2:11:07 mark); Michelle Chappell (at the 2:20:05 mark); Tanya Golash-Boza (at the 2:23:17 mark); Myles Duffy (at the 2:50:30 mark); Kayla Eaton (at the 2:57:23 mark); Mister Ringler (at the 3:36:48 mark); Kiara Rutherford (at the 4:20:50 mark); Joy Harrington (at the 4:25:30 mark); and Raymond Weeden (at the 7:56:30 mark).

Short: DC MPD cooperation with ICE, FBI, and other federal forces is hurting students and killing residents. If Houston can limit cooperation with ICE, so can DC.

–This is just a shout-out to the previously reported DC council annual hearing coming up this Thursday November 12 on chronic absenteeism & truancy.

–DCPS is holding a virtual budget forum for FY28 on November 17 starting at 6 pm. Sign up and more information is here.

–On November 18, at 2:30 pm, the DC council will hold a continuation of its October 8 hearing on problems with DCPS elevators. (More information is here.) As with the prior hearing, this is for invited witnesses only, but the public can submit written testimony until December 2. (BTW the council video for the October 8 hearing appears to be missing; here is the office of cable TV’s version.)

–DCPS appears determined to imminently destroy its only city-wide accredited Montessori program at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan (CHML). Specifically, on November 20 the school’s accreditation may end in the wake of DCPS cutting out Montessori programming and adding (non-Montessori) Heggerty and Eureka to classrooms for the youngest students.

Setting aside that CHML’s building was recently modernized with specialized classroom space to support Montessori programming and teacher training, DCPS instituted these changes without informing families until after the school year started. Thus, in addition to betraying families who purposefully chose CHML in the lottery, that change provides a direct enrollment lift to DC’s five charter Montessori programs, only one of which (Lee) is accredited.

So, before that November 20 deadline, check out what parents have said—and sign the petition to restore CHML’s Montessori programming. You just might save a Title 1 DCPS school (from DCPS).

–On December 9, at 10 am, the DC council will hold a hearing on academic achievement.

From the council write-up:

“The purpose of this hearing is to examine the academic achievement of students in the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) and the District’s Public Charter Schools (DCPCS) sectors. Specifically, this oversight hearing will focus on DCPS’s and DCPCS’s performance and their plans for continued improvement following the release of the 2026 Comprehensive Assessments of Progress in Education (CAPE) results. This hearing is an opportunity to discuss steps the education agencies are taking to improve literacy and numeracy skills and improve academic performance overall. The Committee holds a hearing on this matter annually.”

–On December 11, at 10 am, the DC council will hold a hearing on several bills around improving student ids for DC students. (At several points in the November 5 hearing, the lack of student ID for DC students was highlighted, indicating a particular vulnerability for our students in the face of roving gangs of federal terrorists.)

From the council write-up:

“The stated purpose of Bill 26-420 is to require the Mayor to ensure that local education agencies issue student identification cards to middle school and high school students. The stated purpose of Bill 26-856 is to require student identification cards issued under the Student Identification Card Act of 2025 to be included free of charge and include all the functionality of a District of Columbia Public Library card. It would also enable access to Department of Parks and Recreation facilities, convey how to contact the national Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, and be provided free of charge.”

–Mayor Bowser has until January 1 to opt in to the federal education tax credit voucher program passed by right-wing education privatizers in Congress. She has not yet—but the heat is on her from many private interests to do so before she leaves office next year.

Basically, the program provides tax credits to those who give money to (any) organization that provides vouchers for K-12 education. There is no income limit for the credits–nor any way to ensure funds go to all (much less any) public school students. Thus, in addition to potentially vitiating DC’s vaunted uniform per student funding formula (UPSFF) and decreasing public school enrollment, the scheme ensures that the private and parochial schools that stand to benefit the most do not have to provide special education and other targeted educational services that public schools are required to provide.

Here is a write-up of the public funding this program would require, and here and here and here are good write-ups of why it’s a poison pill for public education (though a great way to help the wealthiest enjoy private school choice).

(Oh, here and here is contact information for DC’s mayor and cabinet just in case you wish to give them a little jingle on this subject before the new year—you know, like not kneecapping the new mayor with a drain on public education the minute she takes office.)

–As DC’s public school funding is expected to decline commensurate with expected enrollment declines, some recent DC charter school expenses are, uh, interesting.

The charter board regularly posts charter school expenses above $25,000 in materials for some of its board meetings. In my experience, board members rarely say anything about these expenses, often approving them via the board’s consent calendar. (This information is also posted in annual fiscal audits of DC charters. Though that is lagging data, it highlights a school’s expenses over an entire fiscal year, rather than in part of a year and across schools as with the posted items for charter board meetings.)

Anyway, I decided to look at these expenses from February through July 2026, as recorded in board materials from the May and October 2026 charter board meetings. Most expenses seemed natural to me for schools to incur. For instance, some larger recorded expenses for this six-month period appeared to be for student food and janitorial services. Besides expenses for auditors, there were also expenses for immigration legal services, payments to the DC charter alliance, and large investments in laptops and student transportation.

But there were also some expenses that seemed a little, well, odd to me, so I have put them below according to what is listed as the least amount spent (there is a range of low to high).

Now, some may believe that spending $200K on investment management or $225 on “strategic communications” is a good investment of DC taxpayer money. But given that we are constantly told how there is never enough money for X in our schools (where X = something a teacher or principal needs immediately for instruction–or just functioning toilets), spending thousands on investing advice, alongside marketing and fundraising consultations, feels a bit removed from the idea of public education.

(OTOH the good times for adults at the Hyatt Chesapeake Bay and Lansdowne resorts could be what incentivized DC’s former state superintendent of education Hanseul Kang to return to DC as superintendent of KIPP DC.)

As reported in materials for the May 18 charter board meeting, covering charter school expenses >$25K from 2/3/26 through 3/31/26:

Center City, $25K on fundraising consultation
Friendship, $105K on party rentals
Friendship, $105K on party decor
KIPP DC, $43K on commencement venue
Rocketship, $95K on consulting
Thurgood Marshall, $40K on catering
DC Prep, $33K on advertising and marketing
KIPP DC, $78K on special event hotel
KIPP DC, $28K on a special event at the Nationals
KIPP DC, $150K on the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay
Cedar Tree, $100K on marketing
Cedar Tree, $120K on marketing
Friendship, $225K on strategic communications
DCI, $30K on strategic communications

As reported in materials for the October 26 charter board meeting, covering charter school expenses >$25K from 4/1/26 through 7/31/26:

DC Scholars, $78K on fundraising & strategic action planning
DC Scholars, $89K on strategic planning
KIPP DC, $200K on investment management
KIPP DC, $25K on financial advisory services
Friendship, $74K on Westin Hotel convocation
Monument, $45K on Conrad DC special event
Capital City, $25K on strategic planning
Friendship, $175K on Lansdowne leadership retreat
Digital Pioneers, $25K on staff and student recruiting
Ingenuity Prep, $70K on grant development consulting
Academy of Hope, $90K on fundraising campaign