--On June 29 at 11 am, the DC council will hold a roundtable on vaccinations for DC students. Immunization rates in DC’s schools are horribly low. Whether the result of ignorance, propaganda, or access (or some combination thereof), this reality portends nothing less than avoidable tragedy. With vaccination rates for DC’s school kids in January … Continue reading Recent & Upcoming Events (Chopping Wood Edition*)

[Ed. Note: The following blog post is by former DCPS teacher Kathleen Coughlin, whose tracking of covid reporting in DC’s publicly funded schools has revealed that various DC agencies have not been following DC law for covid-related data reporting and testing in our schools. Last year, Coughlin created a website with DC school covid data … Continue reading Flouting DC Covid Law, Endangering Students, Teachers, & Schools

Consecutive days starting in late April that DC’s department of health did not report any covid data: 12 Date of letter from DC council members to DC’s department of health, demanding better covid reporting: May 12 Date of reply, saying that the council members’ letter was undermining public trust: May 19 Number of DC’s weekly … Continue reading By The Numbers: DC (Lack Of) Oversight, May 2022 Edition

Number of legally required elements that a March 2022 GAO report found that the DC public school charter board (PCSB) left off its 2021 annual report: 3 (out of 15) Number of those elements that PCSB told GAO could be found on its website: 2 (annual summary of reasons for denying charter applications and description … Continue reading By The Numbers: DC’s Charter Board, Regulatory Capture Edition

Total number of advisory committee members, as specified in authorizing legislation, for DC’s public education research practice partnership (RPP): 21 Percentage that must be appointed by elected or appointed officials not connected to the RPP: 100% Number appointed thus far: 20 Total number of originally scheduled public meetings of the RPP advisory committee: 6 Total … Continue reading By The Numbers: RPP Advisory Committee Speakers’ Edition

--On May 11, DCPS held a public information session about the new Ward 3 high school at 4530 MacArthur Boulevard NW. I found out by accident a few hours before the meeting started. (Yes, I have been a DCPS parent for 17 years. Yes, DCPS has had all my contact information for that time and … Continue reading Absurd Absurdities (And Other Recent DC Education Events & Info.)

On Monday April 4, I got a surprise—and not the kind that comes nicely wrapped in pretty paper. Months before, on December 6, 2021, two bills—24-556 and 24-555--concerning former DCPS schools Gibbs and Shaed, respectively, were introduced. This permanent legislation would extend until 2045 and 2046 (and potentially until 2070 and 2071) the leases of … Continue reading Locking Up Gibbs And Shaed For The Century (Darkly)

Last week (and weeks late), DCPS released the capital plan documentation required when it made public its budget in March.  The documentation marks a seminal moment in the continued disregard of the mayor and her deputies for the public’s connection to the public school assets held in its name. Basically, it is a plan to end municipally … Continue reading DCPS School Planning (AKA “A Hand Tied Behind The Back And A Foot In A Bucket Of Concrete”)

[Ed. Note: On March 7, DC’s office of the state superintendent of education (OSSE) submitted to the federal department of education an addendum to its state plan for accountability for DC’s publicly funded schools. In its cover letter, OSSE mentioned receiving public feedback. But that feedback was limited to four entities: a charter advocacy organization; … Continue reading Feedback For School Ratings And Accountability (And Seeing DC’s Plan In A New Light)

1. On March 30, the DC council will hold a hearing for a FUN bill (more specifically, the Fairness in Use and Negotiation for All Recreational Property bill, 24-0554), which requires public engagement on, and council oversight of, all exclusive use or license agreements for the use of DC recreational properties for a year or … Continue reading Catching Up On March: Events & Happenings