[Ed. Note: The following is by Mary Levy, DC school budget expert, on the lack of accounting of federal grants in DC’s public schools in the wake of a new financial management system.] By Mary Levy In a startling blow to fiscal accountability, the office of DC's chief financial officer (CFO) has eliminated budget information … Continue reading The Continuing Opacity Of DC School Funding: Federal Grants

—On Wednesday September 6, the DC council will reconvene a hearing on DCPS food contracts. Recall back in August, council chair Phil Mendelson cancelled the hearing’s first iteration when DCPS didn’t provide the contracts (despite being legally required to do so). It is unclear whether the council has the contracts in hand now—and whether the … Continue reading New School Year, Old Problems

This blog post is intended as a resource, compiling recent problems of public access to information held by the DC charter board, with a list of related decisions by the DC office of open government (OOG) as well as other examples. For background: OOG handles complaints around violations by DC government agencies of DC’s Open … Continue reading A Compilation Of Publicly Inaccessible Information Around DC Charter Schools (Or, Do Better DC)

[Ed. Note: A few weeks ago, the Post ran a story on how DCPS has cut funding for student computers and tech, essentially ensuring that all upgrades are on hold for at least a year. Behind that story is a tech tempest of sorts, with the deputy mayor for education blaming the DC council for … Continue reading About Those Tech Cuts In DCPS …

By the end of 2023 (or, as it’s now looking, the beginning of 2024), DC will have both a new boundaries study as well as a new iteration of its master facilities plan (MFP). As both are integral to the future of DCPS, this is the third of four blog posts on the subject exploring … Continue reading Planning For Schools AND Saving Them, Part 3: Charter Expansion Grants

[Ed. Note: Below is a list of recent, dispiriting, and not unique occurrences regarding the dissing of the public around our publicly funded schools. Thankfully, an antidote is at hand: The DC Open Government Coalition (in collaboration with the DC Public Library) is providing a free program to empower residents to get information about our … Continue reading Meanwhile, As The Folks Supposed To Represent DC Taxpayer Interests Don’t . . .

Since early 2023, the deputy mayor for education (DME) has been heading up work on the master facilities plan (MFP) and on school boundaries. Both sets of work have progressed—and one will have town halls this month. MFP Registration is here for the MFP town halls on July 12 (12 pm) and July 13 (6 … Continue reading Moving Ahead With The Master Facilities & Boundaries Plans

[Ed. Note: The following--by DCPS parent and education researcher Betsy Wolf--concisely unpacks a recent study by Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO), which has been funded by pro-charter and ed reform interests. This study compares the performance of charter school students to those in traditional public schools. It comes at an interesting … Continue reading Taking Note(s) On Student Performance

--Building on years of reporting and investigation, DC’s auditor testified on May 25 about ongoing issues around DCPS renovation accountability and warranty guarantees—including outlining Roosevelt HS’s nonfunctioning HVAC. The auditor’s testimony also included a list of that office’s nine reports since 2015 on DCPS renovations, outlining tens of millions in problems, delays, and cost overruns. … Continue reading News Round Up As The School Year Winds Down

On May 30, two events will likely determine the future of some DCPS schools of right. One is the third meeting of the advisory committee for the boundaries study, which is slated to finalize guiding principles for that work. Here’s information on that May 30 meeting, and here is information on all of that body's … Continue reading Will DC Codify Inequity and Erase Some Education Rights on May 30?