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Better D.C. Schools Email Update

April 30, 2003 - Issue #10

This email update is provided by the 21st Century School Fund (21CSF), an education nonprofit in Washington, DC, and is designed to provide our community with information about the efforts of 21CSF and other local education advocates at improving the District of Columbia Public Schools. It is sent out the last week of each month. If you know of someone who would like to be added to our mailing list, or if you would like your email address removed from this list, then please email us at newsletter@21csf.org.

Mayor Cuts DCPS Capital Budget Request In Half

On April 15th, the City Council’s Education committee proposed funding FY04 DCPS operating and capital budgets at the levels proposed by the Mayor, which are $743m for operating and $168m for capital. The amount for capital is barely more than half of the $313m requested by DCPS for the coming year. The discrepancy in the capital budget (which is established in 6-year blocks) between the Mayor’s proposal and DCPS requested is even worse over the coming years, as can be seen below. The biggest concern is for FY07 and beyond.

FY04: DCPS-$313m, Mayor-$168m
FY05: DCPS-$401m, Mayor-$173m
FY06: DCPS-$372m, Mayor-$149m
FY07: DCPS-$294m, Mayor-$21m
FY08: DCPS-$314m, Mayor-$0
FY09: DCPS-$320m, Mayor-$0

City Council Votes Tuesday, May 6th

A final budget vote by the whole City Council was to have taken place yesterday (Tuesday, April 29th), but the vote was postponed until next Tuesday, May 6th. 21CSF will be sending a letter to the Council prior to the vote, urging them to sustain funding for the capital budget through FY07-FY09. All citizens are encouraged to contact their Councilmember to voice the same message. A stable funding level of $150M per year is needed for sound management of the new building projects and to provide for continuous improvement in the health, safety and educational environment of the schools.

DCPS Scales Back Capital Projects

As a result of the reduction in the capital budget, DCPS Office of Facilities Management yesterday submitted a proposed FY04-09 Capital Improvement Program to the Board of Education’s Committee on Facilities and Finance. The committee approved the new proposal, which will next go to the full Board for a vote. The proposal includes the following elements:

1) All schools in construction stay in construction.
2) Four of the tier 1 schools, although fully funded for construction, are delayed. They are Woodson, Hardy, Sousa and HD Cook.
3) The tier 2 schools are fully funded for design, but not construction.
4) Component replacements, mandates, and small capital projects have limited funding.
5) Carpeting and painting are now considered "quality of life projects" so they have been moved into the capital budget from the operating budget where they were previously considered part of maintenance and repairs.

Staggered Bells

The plan to institute a two-tiered system of start times for elementary, middle schools and high schools next fall was essentially quashed recently when the superintendent withdrew his support for the concept. Dr. Vance indicated that the plan would not save as much money as was originally predicted. The idea was to double the number of bus runs for the 3,800 special education students in an effort to make transportation more efficient.

Anti-Voucher Press Conference May 1st; Rally May 6th

The Coalition for Accountable Public Schools and Eleanor Holmes Norton have scheduled a press conference on Thursday, May 1st at 1:00 at the Thurgood Marshall Public Charter School (Intersection of Martin Luther King Avenue and Alabama Avenue, SE). Public school parents will talk about why they oppose the imposition of vouchers in the District.

Everyone is also invited to a Community Rally and Call to Action on Tuesday, May 6th 5:30 pm at Freedom Plaza, 13th and Pennsylvania Ave., NW. This event is also sponsored by the Coalition for Accountable Public Schools.

For more information, contact:

Jordan Spooner: (202) 745-3745 x 16 jspooner@21csf.org