will be held by the council committee on education next Thursday, May 19, starting at 9:30 am. See here for more details and to sign up to testify. The mayor's appointment of lawyer Saba Bireda to the charter board (to replace an outgoing member's unexpired term) is interesting. Bireda has worked as a political appointee … Continue reading New Charter Board Member Confirmation

Whether intentional or not, a website about raising chickens in DC public schools, created by our office of the state superintendent of education (OSSE), is as interesting as it is informative. Among other things, the website contains a document created by OSSE and the DC Department of Health called the “Chicken Management Plan Template,” which … Continue reading The Chicken Guide (aka The Plan)

Several things below that may be of interest in the run-up to the June council hearing on lead in school water (no date yet): 1. A primer on lead in water strategies and questions created by parents at Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan for use by other concerned public school parents, including sussing out the testing … Continue reading Lead in School Water, Part 1 (of Who Knows How Many)?

Today, Thursday May 5, the city council education committee will hold a hearing at 2 pm (Wilson Building, 1350 PA Ave. NW) on its draft education oversight report and budget recommendations, before approving them. The draft report is here. The budget recommendations are here. Related: David Grosso, chair of the council's education committee, revised DCPS … Continue reading Council Releases School Oversight Report and Budget Recommendations

This Saturday May 7, from 10 am-2 pm, Playworks is holding a free Rally for Recess at J.O. Wilson Elementary (660 K St. NE), rain or shine. The rally is timed to ensure that recess is at the forefront of local school scheduling for SY16-17. In DC, for instance, it is not clear to what degree … Continue reading Rally for Recess, May 7, 10-2

Just got an email about this, so am passing it on, since it's slated to happen in TWO hours: Who: DC public school parents, staff, children to join with the environmental justice committee of the Sierra Club What: To present brown water to city council Where: Our city hall, Wilson Building (1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW) … Continue reading Show Up at City Hall with Brown Water

Last week, public school parents and advocates in Ward 6 sent a letter to the council demanding that the proposed FY17-FY22 DCPS capital budget not be approved before clearer rationales are presented. They are asking parents and advocates in other wards to sign on before May 1. (Here is the link; a link to the … Continue reading Sign This Letter Before May 1, and You Just Might Save a Public School

Now that PARCC testing is well underway in DC public schools, test scores and their correlation (or not) with student achievement and teacher quality, hiring, and turnover seem to be in the air we breathe. In January, in a report titled "Teacher Turnover, Teacher Quality, and Student Achievement in DCPS," researchers found that some relatively high … Continue reading Does Testing Produce Better Teachers–or Just More Contracts for Consulting About Them?

The DC Fiscal Policy Institute (DCFPI) recently wrote about a study by budget analyst Mary Levy on how DCPS is proposing to use its FY17 at risk funds, which are supposed to be set aside specifically for students meeting the law’s definition of “at risk” (homeless; in foster care; high school students at least one year … Continue reading Risky (School) Business

With sad food options, neglected kitchens, and no viable, noncorporate, way to deliver food to its students, DCPS doesn’t appear to value the quality of what students put in their mouths during the school day. Turns out, school food may not be the only consumable hazard for DC public school kids. Back in the hazy … Continue reading Putting the “Lead” in DC Education Leaders