Education budget moving forward; ReOpening Schools is no time for standardization; Social Studies Advisory Committee; new school at Upcoming events and meetings...
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Hi All, It has been a tough end-of-the year, but we got here! Congratulations to everyone--teachers, principals, parents, students--and, especially, our graduates. And, have a great, great summer. But first, see below for updates on the education budget, school reopening, and the proposed new Foxhall School. Plus, meeting and events info and an application to join the State Board's Social Studies Advisory Committee.
Virtual meetings and deadlines for your calendar
DC Council Hearings on Education Budget.
Because of the pandemic, the DC Council is holding all its budget hearings virtually. Each committee is making its own rules regarding how they will take testimony. The Education Committee (which convenes jointly with the Committee of the Whole, chaired by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson) is only hearing "live" (virtual) testimony from official government agencies and a selected group of community representatives. On June 4th, the Committees heard from DC's State Superintendent, Hanseul Kang, from me (as president of the State Board of Education) and a number of invited witnesses, representing community groups, organizations, etc. Here is the testimony I delivered on behalf the State Board of Education, Here is the testimony of Melody Molinoff, co-chair of the W3-Wilson Feeder Education Network.
Meanwhile, others can submit testimony by email or voicemail. To submit written testimony to the Education Committee about the budget (or policies) of DCPS, the State Board, or the budget of any other education agency, email astrange@dccouncil.us and indicate "testimony" in the subject line. For voicemail testimony, call 202-430-5720
DC Public Schools (DCPS) and Deputy Mayor of Education (DME): June 11, 8-3 PM
The chancellor of DC Public Schools and the Deputy Mayor of Education will both testify before the Committees on June 11, between 8 and 3. They will also answer questions about various policies and budget priorities from Committee Members. You can watch these hearings online at https://bit.ly/2ooL0l1. Often you can also watch on channel 18.
Additional public testimony (i.e. You!) on June 17/18 Sign up deadline, Friday, June 12.
And, finally: Last week, the Committee of the Whole announced that it will devote next Wednesday and Thursday to hearing live (virtual) budget testimony about any DC agency. To sign up, email cow@dccouncil.us and copy ljordan@dccoucil.us. The deadline is Friday 5pm. live testimony, email If you would like to submit testimony (and I encourage you to do so!) by email or voicemail. To submit written testimony to the Education Committee about the budget (or policies) of DCPS, the State Board, or the budget of any other education agency, email astrange@dccouncil.us and indicate "testimony" in the subject line. For voicemail testimony, call 202-430-5720.
See further below for information on some of the issues around the budget. I will be testifying on behalf of the DC State Board of Education on June 4.
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Ward 3-Wilson Ed Network--Monday, June 8, 7PM
featured guest: Phil Mendelson, Chairman, DC Council
The Chairman will discuss the city's education budget which will have just been formally discussed at Council hearings (see above), and the reopening our schools. All welcome.
The State Board meets for its monthly public session on the 3rd Wednesday of each month (except August). Any member of the public can testify about a DC education issue. To testify, email sboe@dc.gov at least 48 hours before meeting begins.This coming meeting will include experts who will talk to us about issues around DC's STAR school rating system, which the State Board of Education is currently reviewing.
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Apply here to join the
... DC State Board of Education's Advisory Group on Social Studies Standards.
Deadline, Friday June 12 at 12pm.
The State Board, along with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education, have the responsibility for updating and adopting state academic standards. Our social studies standards haven't been reviewed for over a decade! The Board is now recruiting members for a Social Studies Advisory Committee whose purpose will be "to review the existing social studies standards, consider where they are most in need of revision, and make recommendations on how/where they should be revised based on professional expertise and knowledge, as well as recommendations from the field. The Advisory Committee will help articulate values and essential principles for social studies standards in recommendations it will deliver to the State Board. The Advisory Committee will not be tasked with rewriting the current standards.
"In July 2019, the State Board passed SR19-7 that affirmed the revised and updated state social studies standards for the District would be culturally inclusive and anti-racist, impart important social studies content in the early grades, strengthen student knowledge of democratic principles and values and promote civic engagement. be "𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙞-𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙞𝙨𝙩, 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙨, 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬𝙡𝙚𝙙𝙜𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙞𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙫𝙖𝙡𝙪𝙚𝙨, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙚 𝙘𝙞𝙫𝙞𝙘 𝙚𝙣𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩. To ensure a balance of perspectives, the State Board will choose committee members who represent a broad constituency." For more on application criteria and about the committee, see the application here. The application for the committee is live until Friday, June 12 at 12 p.m.
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sboe@dc.gov no later than 48 hours in advance of the meeting
The Coming Education Budget ...
As noted above, the Education Committee and Committee of the Whole will hear testimony from government agencies and invited public witnesses on June 4 and 11. The Committee will mark up its bill, June 18, 2:30-4. Education funding, like all city funding, is under stress, given greatly decreased revenues due to lower consumer spending and rising unemployment--and given the increased need across the city for food, health care, mental health and more, due to COVID. Given all of this, I greatly appreciate that the Mayor's proposed budget included most of the education funding that she had earlier promised. In some cities and school districts, cuts to education have been proposed.
Fairer funding for DCPS
But it's also true that the needs of our schools didn't diminish because the revenues did. In fact, as we know, because of the effects of COVID, we know that need is greater. It's more important than ever that our Councilmembers and Mayor look out for ways to make sure the education budget is structured in a way that makes the most of our reduced funds. It's also more urgent than ever to make sure that funding formulas that hurt DC Public schools get addressed. For a few years, there have been discussions about the ways in which the city's education funding formulas tend to underfund DC Public Schools in comparison to charters. This spring, the C4DC (The Coalition for DC Public Schools and Communities) has adopted two position statements that put those concerns to paper--one on the funding of school maintenance and operationsand the other on the handling of mid-year student transfers. For more information, see this discussion of the budget from the C4DC.
School Budgets get more transparency!
DCPS budgets have in the past been thoroughly un-transparent, leaving the public unable to understand why some schools were getting cuts and others additions, where the new (and old) dollars were going, how at-risk dollars were being used, and so on. This year, in a continuing effort at greater transparency, DCPS has launched an interactive budget dashboard, publishing each school's budget online, with a breakdown of how the budget will be deployed at each school and how the school's final budget compares with the budget as submitted to the DC Council. While there is much more that is needed to bring about the transparency that we need and there is much more this tool should do in the future (including, for example, providing clarity over how at-risk dollars are being used), I give great kudos to Chancellor Ferebee and DC Public Schools for this important step!
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Surprise!!!! A new Foxhall Elementary School!
The Mayor's new budget includes a proposal, finally!, for a new school in Ward 3. It would be a newly built school housed on the grounds with the existing Old Hardy school. For the benefit of students and city taxpayers school space is vital, as virtually every school in the Ward is already beyond recommended capacity, enrollments continue to grow, dollars are being wasted on trailer complexes in multiple schools, etc.... I undoubtedly speak for our community in saying that we appreciate the recognition of this need for additional building capacity. But why, why, why, why, why do these proposals get developed and proposed behind closed doors with ZERO discussion with folks in the community. It is maddening and ultimately so unhelpful to solving the problem. No one from the administration asked parents, PTO or LSAT leaders, community leaders, elected officials--including members of our ANC's, myself or Council Member Mary Cheh--for any prior input. Its inclusion in the budget came following no discussion, no warning. As is typically the case when those running the show don't consult those who are on the ground, there are lots of issues. Among other issues,
--the cost of the plan is likely tens of millions of dollars more than if the new school was placed in a renovated, expanded version of the current Old Hardy building.
--the proposal takes away previously committed funding from Key and Stoddert, dollars that are needed to address these schools' severe overcrowding now--for the 6 years until the new school is scheduled for completion!
--all of this is being done at a time when due to the pandemic and social distancing, these Key and Stoddert and others need additional space now, in order to distance students.
In response,CM Cheh wrote this letter to Deputy Mayor of Education Paul Kihn, who she will be meeting with. To be clear, this lack of conversation with the community is a city-wide thing, and across our schools. It undermines the development of strong policies and programs and the good will of the community.
We'll keep you posted.
ReOpening our schools--Plans and questions???
The Mayor's ReOpen DC Recommendations
As I'm sure many of you are aware, the Chancellor has announced plans for distance summer school and an August 31 start to the 20-21 school year. The details of how we will return are still being worked through, with the Mayor relying on recommendations made by the Childcare and Education committee to guide logistical decisions. In brief, the opening will occur in stages based on the city's safety status, moving from our current stage: red=full shutdown, to orange and yellow stages of partial openings, through to green=a full return to in-person schooling (hallelujah - may it be so someday soon!) When students return in August, you can count on some configuration of hybrid learning, with some in-person and some continued distance learning taking place, optional in-person return, and greatly reduced class sizes for those who do return in-person. You can see its recommendations here.
DCPS has announced the following summer events and offerings:
Virtual high school graduations will take place throughout June. Here's the full schedule for individual schools.
Students transitioning to grades 3, 6, and 9 in the fall may be able to start in-person learning in early August, depending on our city's health status at that time. Read more here.
Individualized assistance will be available for students transitioning to college in the fall. See details and application here.
Last month, the Mayor created the ReOpen DC Advisory Committee, including a committee focused on schools and childcare, to advise her on issues related to re-opening our schools this summer and fall. The Committee made its report last week. You can see the full recommendations here.
Much of this makes sense, and figuring this out is unbelievably complicated. In effect we're asking our schools to figure out how to simultaneously run an "in-school" school and a virtual school--and doing both at a time when we're in a pandemic, and students, staff, and families have been dealing with isolation, sickness, and even death. My hats are off to all those charged with developing ideas and plans.
As the Mayor and DCPS continue to think and plan, I want to raise two concerns that I hope will be considered. Please let me know if you are sympathetic to these ideas or not.
* Prioritizing those who are most in need/who have lost the most during the physical school shutdown. Some students fared much worse in the shutdown that others, in particular those who are already behind, who are weak readers, who have attention and learning disabilities issues of all kinds, and who have less access to parents or other caregivers. In addition, some students have been particularly traumatized, either because family member have been sickened or died from COVID, had their family lives otherwise turned upside down, possibly by a changing family financial situation or drastically changed family schedule. It seems like these are the students who should be most prioritized as we return to school--whether that means an early start to school or access to summer school or other special programming.
* Flexibility for schools to provide the best possible education in this most unique moment. In the Ward 3-Wilson Feeder area, almost every school is already over capacity. It is unclear how, in some of these schools, social distancing will be made to work even with shifts or alternate-day or -week schedules. Meanwhile, there are a number of schools in the city, and in DCPS, that are under-enrolled. But all schools are being told that they'll need to go to part time in-person schedules. Is that actually necessary in every school? Is it possible that in some schools it's possible to socially distance given current space and enrollment and still go to school daily? Different schools, whether because of crowding or other issues, may be better served by different solutions. I worry about a mindset that says all answers must be standardized and the same everywhere. We are in a unique situation. We may need unique solutions, and schools will need the discretion to identify them. Obviously, there are some things--like a uniform set of health standards enforced in every schools--that must be standard.
Let me know if you have other thoughts on re-opening. Meanwhile, happy summer!!!!! And, if it fits, happy graduation!
