Tomorrow, Saturday October 22, DC's office of the state superintendent of education (OSSE) is holding a parent and family engagement summit. It starts at 9 am and will be held at the DC convention center (801 Mt Vernon Place NW). Registration starts and 8:30 am--and breakfast and lunch will be provided. More information is here … Continue reading October 22: Parent and Family Engagement

The impending changes to DC's public school nurse staffing have prompted civic action: --The Washington Teachers' Union along with the DC Nurses Association is circulating a petition to Mayor Bowser, demanding that each DC public school have a full-time nurse. The petition has nearly 600 signatures already--you can add yours here. --The city council will … Continue reading School Nurse Petition and Hearing

This is what is left of my teenage son's bike helmet after he was struck by a car while biking two weeks ago. He went back to his DCPS high school this week, head and body intact--unlike his helmet, which most likely saved his life because he was wearing it. In DC, we talk a … Continue reading Why Education Is Important

Sorry for the late notice, but I just found out that two meetings of the cross sector task force are happening via phone--and one is right now, 1 pm, TODAY Thursday October 13. This is the phone number to call for both: 515-604-9350, Code 821824. The second phone call will be Monday October 17, also … Continue reading Cross Sector Task Force Call-In on Enrollment Stability–Happening NOW

Starting tomorrow evening, there will be two public information sessions concerning the change in the nurse contract (and thus nurse staffing) in all DC public schools: October 5, Dunbar High School (101 N St. NW) October 17, Thurgood Marshall Charter School (2427 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave. SE). Both forums are from 6 pm-8 pm. DCPS has … Continue reading Getting Ahead of School Nurse Information (Which Appears to Be Behind the Curve)

This past Tuesday, September 27, the cross sector task force met. Since it started work earlier this year, the task force has held monthly public meetings to discuss issues relating to coordination and cooperation between the two sectors of public education in DC: charter schools and DCPS. The task force will continue meeting through June … Continue reading The Cross Sector Task Force & Orwellian Expertise

About the time that school lets out tomorrow Thursday, September 29, at 3:30 pm, deputy mayor for education (DME) Jennifer Niles will hold her third stakeholder phone call concerning the DCPS chancellor selection process. You can register for the phone call here. There will be time for (some) questions after the DME gives an update on … Continue reading DCPS Stakeholder Phone Call: Thursday September 29, 3:30 pm

On Thursday, October 6, starting at 11:30 am, expect a perfect storm of testimony at the Wilson Building. That is when the city council convenes a hearing on two, seemingly unrelated, items: summer modernization work in DCPS and new legislation for lead testing. (For more information and to sign up to testify, see here.) The … Continue reading Lead in Water and Modernizations: Discuss

This coming Wednesday, September 28, at 6:30 pm, at the Columbia Heights Education campus (3101 16th St. NW), DC Education Coalition for Change will hold a debate and (brief) question and answer forum for a variety of state board of education and council at large candidates. Scheduled participants include council education committee chair and at … Continue reading Candidate Education Forum: September 28

[The following is by Peter MacPherson, DC schools activist; see his original on Ellington here.] There are few who will dispute that the new Duke Ellington School of the Arts building being constructed on the periphery of Georgetown is going to be a stunning piece of architecture. The District of Columbia Public Schools will have … Continue reading Ellington and the Disappeared Western High School