The broad program strategies of the 21st Century School Fund fall into three categories:
INNOVATION — 21CSF is a leader in innovative solutions to public education and school facilities issues. Through practical application of our ideas, processes and methods - including the use of technology, community partnerships and effective implementation of educational and community improvements, we strive to tackle complex educational challenges.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND GOVERNMENT REFORM — 21CSF leverages our local and national constituencies to develop, advocate for and monitor public policies, procedures and practices that support and facilitate our agenda for community engagement in facility planning; schools as centers of community; sound management of school buildings and grounds; and adequate and equitable funding for school facility maintenance, improvements, design and construction.
RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION — The condition of public school facilities is an integral part of educational reform and community revitalization, and matters most to student achievement. 21CSF is dedicated to raising awareness about critical school facilities issues, and to communicating best practices and guidelines for healthy, safe school environments.
Innovation
21CSF initiates and participates in facility planning, management and finance innovation. Over the past ten years, our programs have:
- Facilitated the opening of the new Oyster Bilingual ES in 2001, the result of DCPS' first public/private partnership;
- Developed a software interface to use facility, enrollment, and finance data to evaluate equity and need for public school building improvements in DC public Schools;
- Advised master developer of City of Medicine in Durham, NC on incorporating a small public high school as part of the development of the Veteran's Administration public private partnership; and
- Under contract with Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter High School, 21CSF is providing support obtain governmental approvals and financing to modernize and expand a 100 year old school building in partnership with the District Government and Savoy Elementary School, a DCPS traditionally governed public school.
Community Engagement and Government Reform
21CSF builds constituencies and advocates for government reform on many levels. We have:
- Built working relationships with Washington Teachers Union, Teamster's Local #639 and #730 — the repair workers and custodians of the public schools;
- Sustain an ad hoc collaboration of city-wide education advocates — 21CSF, Parents United, DC PTA, DC VOICE, Prop 100, SHAPPE, Parent Watch, and the Campaign for Full Funding—to improve the quality of advocacy in the city through better communication, understanding and coordination of strategy;
- In partnership with Healthy Schools Network, from Albany, NY, created a DC Healthy Schools Coalition of organizations, not traditionally linked to DCPS—Beyond Pesticides, Alliance to Save Energy, Environmental Law Institute, American Federation of Teachers—occupational safety division;
- Provide staff support to environmental groups working to eliminate hostile exterior play environments and create schoolyard greening of the District of Columbia Public Schools to benefit children and the environment;
- Helped facilitate a community-based long range educational facility master planning process in the District of Columbia, the first educational facility master plan since 1967 and the first city-wide master plan;
- Developed a proposal with the Brookings Institute to define a collaborative model for city and school capital planning for the District of Columbia, which has been accepted by the District Government and is currently underway;
- Engaged public in development of policy on public private partnerships that would ensure public participation and institutionalize the tasks required to implement development partnerships which can be used by developers wishing to enter into facilities related partnerships with the public sector;
- Regularly testified as part of the city budget and performance review process on policy changes that change be made to improve the quality of public school facilities; and
- Built capacity of local groups and organizations to affect the DC public school system, through fundraising, sponsoring and maintaining ed-advocates listserv and encouraging and facilitating collaborative planning and joint projects.
Research and Communication
21CSF collects and disseminates data and information, sponsors research and communicates messages of ideas and aspiration for urban communities. Examples of our efforts in this area include the following:
- Maintain a comprehensive database on District of Columbia public school buildings;
- Issue a monthly email newsletter to nearly 3000 individuals interested in DCPS;
- Surveyed District of Columbia Public School teachers on teaching and school facilities;
- Surveyed District of Columbia Public School principals on facilities and educational adequacy and facility management;
- Produced a brochure on the Oyster Public Private Partnership (please link to Building Outside the Box in publications) and distributed 7,000 hard copies of it;
- Wrote and published: "for generations to come" (please link to "for generations to come" in publications) a leadership guide for renewing public school buildings;
- Under various contracts, conducted best practice reviews of school construction and facilities management in the District of Columbia, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Sarasota County Public Schools, Volusia County Public Schools, Montgomery County Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, New York City Public Schools, and Fulton County Public Schools; and
- Served as principal author of National Center for Education Statistics publication on information systems for school district facility information.
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