This past week, after more than a month, DCPS ended holding public feedback sessions on its strategic plan. The only hitch: There is no strategic plan. For sure, there were good questions asked of participants at the virtual session I attended, on October 1—and the slide deck presented at my session articulated goals as well … Continue reading DCPS Strategery (Now, With Council Assistance!)

[Ed. Note: The following editorial, to save legislation that would ensure all DCPS schools have librarians henceforward, is by long-time DCPS libraries activist Peter MacPherson.] By Peter MacPherson For reasons that cannot sustain even modest scrutiny, DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson has shown no interest in helping DCPS school librarians.  Worse, he is actively preventing … Continue reading Come On, DC: Save Our School Librarians!

Yesterday, at large council member Christina Henderson, along with council chair Phil Mendelson, introduced legislation that would, literally, only change one term in existing law, from “2022-2023” to “2023-2024.” In so doing, the council member is proposing to throw out her own legislation, which required all DC school students 12 and up to get vaccinated … Continue reading Covid 1984

This coming Saturday, October 22, at 10 am, be sure to join DCPS librarians at a read-in at our city hall, the Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW), to protest the DC council not passing legislation that would provide a librarian for every DCPS school. Specifically, the Students' Right to Read Amendment act is in … Continue reading Support Librarians This Saturday, October 22, 10 AM

[Ed. Note: On September 27, the DC Council held a hearing on a resolution regarding the need for a large addition to Stoddert Elementary as well as overcrowding of schools in Ward 3. The hearing had a number of public witnesses as well as government witnesses--but the only council member in attendance was the chair … Continue reading The Coming Storm Of Expanding Ward 3’s Schools

--DCPS is holding strategic planning meetings; sign up is here. (Fun fact: When searching for more information about this, I found a press release for DCPS’s strategic planning . . . from 2012.) --On November 2, the DC council will hold a hearing for a bill on expedited background checks for teachers. More information is … Continue reading In Case You Missed It (Now, With Graphs!)

[Ed. Note: On September 16, the DC Council heard testimony on a revision of the Schools First In Budgeting act. Introduced back in December 2021, the bill had a public hearing in January 2022--after which followed months of silence. The bill was one of a pair that council chair Phil Mendelson had introduced to address … Continue reading Ignoring The $1 Billion Elephant In The Budget Room

On August 1, the deputy mayor for education (DME) and several of his staffers met with C4DC to discuss education planning in DC. But the DME didn’t really discuss what he is actually planning with respect to DC’s publicly funded schools other than to report on three things he hopes to accomplish in 2023: finishing … Continue reading Fiddling While DC’s Schools Burn—And Action To Take Today

[Ed. Note: This blog post on where to find education agency oversight responses is intended to be a resource. Many thanks to DCPS budget analyst Mary Levy for her excellent help and insight locating and enumerating these sources. Background: Every spring the DC council holds oversight hearings—budget and performance—for each DC education agency. The council … Continue reading DC Education Agency Oversight Responses: A Resource

In April 2021, and then again in October 2021, my husband sent an email to the generic email (dme@dc.gov) for the office of the deputy mayor for education (DME). In both emails, my husband requested enrollment data by DCPS boundary for the 2020-21 school year. Previous years’ data had been released publicly—but not for that … Continue reading When The Long Arm Of The Law < Public Shaming: DME FOIA Follies