Well, not really a secret--but it feels like that, as I just learned about the implementation of the revised free ride program for DC's students not through my kids' schools, but through an email from a parent who had heard word of mouth. So, shout this information from the DC Department of Transportation from the rooftops … Continue reading New Cards For Kids Ride Free (Shhh: It’s A Secret)

[Ed. Note: Enjoy the expertise of DCPS parent Betsy Wolf in this guest blog on issues surrounding the distribution, recruitment, and retention of effective teachers in DCPS. Wolf is an assistant professor in the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins, where she conducts independent evaluations of K-12 reforms and policies. All academic … Continue reading How To Have Effective Teachers In Every School (Or, What DC Doesn’t Do–But Should)

Yes, it’s summer, the city council is soon on recess until September, and you may be hundreds of miles away from DC physically (or spiritually)--but rest assured, someone in DC wants your thoughts this month on issues affecting our public schools! Proposed credit recovery policy: Our office of the state superintendent of education (OSSE) has … Continue reading It’s July–Time To Give Your Thoughts On DC Education!

During the June 13 graduation accountability hearing before the education committee of the DC city council, council members laid into DCPS interim chancellor Amanda Alexander repeatedly about what DCPS had done, was doing, and would in the future do regarding graduation accountability. Alexander hewed close to information DCPS compiled, represented in part by this document. … Continue reading DC Graduation Rates & Propaganda

[Ed. Note: Over several months, Grace Hu--parent at Ward 6’s Amidon-Bowen Elementary School in southwest DC, former Teach for America corps member, and advocate for educational equity--researched DCPS computer policy and surveyed staff and parents about IT reality in our schools. In this guest blog, Hu shares her conclusions--and a path forward.] By Grace Hu … Continue reading Solving DCPS’s Computer Challenges Is Not Rocket Science

So, we now have a small group of people not representative of the population helping select someone unelected for an important public position to make decisions that could last for generations. Oh, you thought I was talking about the new supreme court justice? Well, I was talking about the search for our new DCPS chancellor. … Continue reading Stacking The Deck: Chancellor Selection Edition

For a city filled with people who profess progressive outlooks, it's amazing how hard our city leaders work ensuring the public is blindfolded and unable to see what the public servants it pays for actually do. Today, for instance, the city council is voting on the FY 19 budget, which contains within it legislation to … Continue reading Closing Open Government (And Public Schools) in DC