The last week of September was eventful for public education in DC--but perhaps not for the expected reason. Tanya Chutkan, a judge in the U.S. District Court for DC, determined that the lawsuit against DC for inequitable charter funding could proceed. That lawsuit was filed last year by the DC Association of Chartered Public Schools … Continue reading Where’s the Equity in the DC Public Education Lawsuit?

Tomorrow, October 14, the education committee of the DC Council will hold a hearing on proposed legislation for charter fiscal transparency. The proposed legislation came about in response to a desire for the charter board to oversee charter school fiscal management in the wake of scandals at several DC charter schools (Dorothy Height Community Academy … Continue reading Hearing on Charter Fiscal Transparency

As noted a few weeks ago, DCPS is changing how renovations are handled and taking over management of the school improvement team (SIT) process--and desires public input on the changes by October 30. Any school undergoing a renovation forms a SIT, which is comprised of school stakeholders, including staff, parents, and community members. In the … Continue reading New School Improvement Team (SIT) Process

Where I live, on Capitol Hill, new condos are going in daily—and with them, a new and growing population of DC residents. All that population influx has city planners in a tizzy. So: Are DC students growing at the same rate? Look at one set of US census data from 2000 and 2010 for DC’s … Continue reading Predicting the (Education) Future in DC

On April 17, 2014, Chan Tei DuRant was worried. The education aide for councilmember Marion Barry had been too busy to make the council hearing that day on DCPS renovations. But she desperately wanted to know if parents from Orr Elementary, in Ward 8, had showed up to testify about the sad state of their … Continue reading Parent Engagement in Schools: Part 3

Some weeks ago, the Progressive Policy Institute released a study titled “A Tale of Two Systems: Education Reform in Washington, DC.” The study was funded by private organizations that promote charter schools and concluded that in DC, charter schools have structural differences that allow them to “outperform” traditional public schools run by DCPS. The only … Continue reading A Tale of More Than Two School Systems

One of the most basic ways parents in DC engage with their schools is through volunteer activities. My kids’ public schools are blessed to have lots of parents volunteering as field trip chaperones; room parents; serving food at PTA dinners; making flyers about PTA events and posting them; and serving as sports boosters. One of … Continue reading Parent Engagement in Schools: Part 2

Our city’s office of the state superintendent of education (OSSE) has admittedly had a rocky road. The recent report by the National Academies on mayoral control of DC public schools noted how OSSE has been bedeviled by high turnover and insufficient data management—and yet manages to have a staff member for every 217 students (in … Continue reading Minding the Minders

This afternoon, the High School Credit Flexibility Task Force is meeting. And what they discuss may change your view of education in DC. Since August, the task force--run by DC’s elected state board of education (which approves graduation requirements for high school)--has been examining whether (and how) to change the standards used for graduation from … Continue reading What It Takes to Graduate from High School in DC

Have you signed up to join with others interested in public education city-wide serving on the cross-sector task force? If not, today, September 22, is the last day to sign up! The task force will develop a report for the mayor on collaborative practices between DCPs and charters. This undertaking is akin to the excellent … Continue reading Deadline is TODAY for cross-sector task force!