The title of this blog post was what a staff member of the DC department of energy and environment (DOEE) wrote to a fellow staff member in an email about a storm water management system at Eagle Academy’s property at 2345 R St. SE. That email was part of a FOIA production I received around … Continue reading “We Got A Lot Of Pressure To Approve This Charter School Project”

This coming week is full of opportunities (some of which are listed below, in chronological order) for DC residents to weigh in on a variety of important issues in our schools: November 15, 6 pm: The DC state board of education (SBOE) holds the first of two public engagement sessions on social studies standards, school … Continue reading Public Ed. Engagement, Week of November 15

[Ed. Note: What follows is an edited interview between DCPS parent Betsy Wolf and a DCPS teacher who helped create RCTs (required curricular tasks) for DCPS. As a condition of this interview, the teacher’s identity remains confidential. DCPS is currently using RCTs as a means of student assessment this school year. But RCTs were created last school … Continue reading A DCPS Teacher Who Helped Create RCTs Speaks Out

[Ed. Note: The following outline of questions and concerns regarding DCPS's upcoming budget was created by citywide members of C4DC, the Coalition for DC Public Schools & Communities, which is dedicated to strengthening DCPS (and includes in its membership this blog). As you tune into the DCPS budget hearing that begins tonight at 6 pm, … Continue reading C4DC Concerns And Questions On The DCPS FY23 Operating Budget

While people continue to debate the new name of Wilson high school (see here and here), and DCPS finally hit the low end of its asymptomatic testing goal 9 weeks into the school year (12% as of October 18—woo hoo!), DCPS passed another covid milestone: 1000 cases after 10 weeks of school. While one may … Continue reading November Events (And A Few October Leftovers)

[Ed. Note: On October 26, a subset of DC council members (Phil Mendelson, Janeese Lewis George, Robert White, Brianne Nadeau, Mary Cheh, Brooke Pinto, and Charles Allen) heard hours of testimony on two bills that would change the governance structure of DC’s office of the state superintendent of education (OSSE). One of the bills in … Continue reading Fixing OSSE (And DC Democracy): Testimony From A DCPS Parent

Last week, Jon Hale, professor of education at the University of Illinois, spoke with Illinois-based public schools advocate (and former DCPS parent) Peter MacPherson. Their hour-long conversation, linked below and recorded for this blog, covers topics in Hale’s recently released book, The Choice We Face: How Segregation, Race, and Power Have Shaped America’s Most Controversial … Continue reading In Conversation: Jon Hale Talks School Choice (& Its Baleful Effects) With Peter MacPherson

[The following is an email sent to DC’s mayor, council chair, deputy mayor for education, and charter board chair regarding the continuing lack of protection of the public interest in the development of the charter school property at 2345 R Street SE, in Ward 8. It got no response from anyone addressed. The property in … Continue reading No Response: Damaging The Public Interest At 2345 R Street SE

DCPS may have horrific numbers of covid cases, burned-out staff, nonworking HVAC in a third of its schools, outstanding work orders in yet more, poor contact tracing, a lack of textbooks, nontesting of symptomatic students, not even 10% testing of asymptomatic students, poor quarantine learning, parents and students penalized (with unexcused absences for quarantining and … Continue reading That Time When A Neutered Council And An Angered Executive Got Together Over A Bombastic Letter . . .

After 3 weeks of DCPS in person learning, parents, staff, and students can all say it’s been a real education. First, a few action items: --Take this ward education council survey today, to better inform parent advocacy around in person and virtual learning in DCPS. All eight of the city's ward education councils have worked … Continue reading Plaguing Around