[Ed. Note: Every day at Anacostia High School, social worker Nathan Luecking is on the front lines of treating trauma caused by community violence that is, sadly, a common experience for many children in DC. The mental health supports that Luecking and other social workers provide in our schools are both necessary to help our … Continue reading The Urgency Of Childhood Trauma & School-Based Mental Health Programs

Here are five actions [3/22: and 1 more added today! See below.] that you can do--most in less than 5 minutes--to help public education and students in DC in some way. 1. Call council chair Phil Mendelson and education committee chair David Grosso and tell them that the newly introduced school transparency bill needs a hearing … Continue reading Want To Help DC Public Education & Kids In Less Than 5 Minutes? Let’s Get Started!

Once again, it’s almost spring and that means money--or rather, the money that our public schools need and are not getting. Below is a list of budget hearings for DC’s various education agencies before our city council. Sign up and more information are available here. All hearings are at our city hall, the Wilson Bldg., at … Continue reading Budget Oversight Time (>4000 New School Seats Edition)

At the end of February, the Post ran a story on a light industrial building at 3400 New York Avenue NE being used as a halfway house. Now, this has really nothing to do with our public schools, right? Wrong! In November 2018, an apparently well-connected group made a deal with Douglas Development, the building's … Continue reading Hallowed Hallways Or Halfway House? Law Or Lawless? Fun With School Facilities! (Secret Edition)

During the final public hearing/roundtable of the council for chancellor nominee Lewis Ferebee on February 12, so many public witnesses testified about what they hoped for (or disliked about) DCPS itself that after almost 3 hours of public testimony, with almost 2 hours yet to go, education committee chair David Grosso noted petulantly that it … Continue reading What They Said: DCPS Chancellor Nomination

Last week, on a broadcast of the local (and live!) radio show Education Town Hall, educators from Anacostia High School talked about the Black Lives Matter Week of Action in Schools and connected it to the school’s history and future. As Anacostia HS has only 1 star in our new STAR rating of DC’s publicly … Continue reading Seeing Stars

After more than half an hour of public witnesses laying into the charter board’s proposed transparency policy at the board’s January 28 meeting, it was clear that transparency in DC is completely in the eye of the beholder—the beholder with power, that is. (Testimony starts at minute 14 in the video here.) If nothing else, … Continue reading Talking Transparency (Now, With A Petition)

In the swirl of upcoming performance oversight hearings (see the list below and this site's calendar) and council actions regarding our public schools, what’s notable is what’s not being said. For one, the mayor has just requested for DCPS buildings a lot of reprogramming of money originally slated for other uses--to the tune of $54 million. The … Continue reading What’s Not Said: Hearings & Budgets

Tomorrow, Tuesday January 22, three different events will mark an interesting convergence on the idea of justice in public education in DC. First, at 4 pm, the public charter school board will hold a special board meeting at its headquarters (3333 14th St. NW), to vote on revoking the charter of National Collegiate Prep. (For … Continue reading Three Events: January 22, 2019

Herein a rundown of events on the horizon: DCPS calendar feedback: DCPS is soliciting feedback on calendar proposals. See here for more information. School will start August 26 (traditional calendar) or August 12 (extended year calendar). OSSE school report card feedback: The office of the state superintendent of education (OSSE) would like your thoughts on … Continue reading Better School Quality Measures–And Hearings