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Better Schools Email Update

July, 2002 - Issue #2

Enclosed please find Issue #2 of the 21st Century School Fund’s Better Schools Email Update. We apologize for the delay since the last email in February. In the future, the Update will be sent out the last week of each month.

The Better Schools Email Update is designed to provide our community with information about the efforts of 21CSF and other local education advocates to improve the District of Columbia Public Schools. If you know of someone who would like to be added to this list, or if you would like your email addressed removed from this list, then please email us at newsletter@21csf.org.

New Report Challenges School System’s Estimate of Excess Space in High Schools

On May 1, the 21st Century School Fund and SHAPPE (Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals, & Educators) issued “Myth and Reality: A Study of Excess Space in the District of Columbia Public High Schools.” This study was undertaken because of concerns that the District’s multi-year school building modernization and replacement program may be based on estimates of excess space and underutilization that are too high. “Myth and Reality” is based on an in-depth floor space analysis of Cardozo High School, the first of 13 high schools set to be renovated, and a review of the design plans for McKinley Tech High School, the first high school for which construction has begun. After reviewing these two sample high schools, it appears that DCPS records and estimates are incorrect. Based on these results, 21CSF and SHAPPE have recommended that DCPS reexamine the actual space at each high school and revise their current space standards. A copy of this report and its executive summary will soon be made available on the 21st Century School Fund website: www.21csf.org.

School System Capital Budget Mark Goes to Congress

The District has completed the process for determining its budget for the fiscal year 2003 (10/1/02 to 9/30/03), with the school system’s capital (facilities work) portion of the budget set by the City Council at about $222 million. This amount is much less than the $327 million requested by the school system, but more (partly due to successful lobbying by 21st Century School Fund and others!) than the $183 million proposed by the Mayor. The District’s budget has been formally submitted to Congress, and will hopefully be approved by Congress and signed by the President in September.

Planning Process for District’s High Schools Currently Underway

Building on the Facility Master Plan approved by the DCPS Board of Education last year, a separate planning process is underway to determine how the District’s public high schools will be modernized. The multiphase process includes the development of a District-wide framework, individual high school campus plans, and coordination and documentation of these plans. Phase I (framework development) has consisted of a series of meetings and workgroups to discuss city-wide issues, such as the location of specific career tech programs, provisions for special education students, the location of athletic facilities, a strategy for auditorium use, and the status of arts and music programs. Preliminary findings and recommendations exist, and will be finalized over the summer, with the intent of informing a scheduled update of the District’s overall Facility Master Plan in the Fall.

Transforming the DCPS Central Office Administration

On May 3, DCPS issued Reduction-in-Force notices for approximately 700 central office administration positions, as part of a Business Plan for Strategic Reform aimed at improving support to schools and increasing efficiency. Some of the positions were eliminated, and new duties, responsibilities, qualifications, performance standards, and pay-grade levels have been defined. Certain positions are exempt (such as those providing direct service to students, people with grant-funded positions, and Superintendent’s selections), while the remaining ones were originally scheduled to be terminated effective June 30th, but will now be terminated on July 31st. The new openings will be filled from applicants responding to vacancy announcements (see Washington Post, May 5th), and existing central office workers have been eligible to re-apply. At a Board of Education meeting on July 17th, the Superintendent announced the hiring of 15 new administrators; 9 come from outside the school system, and the rest were hired from within.

The 21st Century School Fund and other local education advocacy organizations have been studying the ongoing transformation in order to fully understand its ramifications. Many questions have emerged as part of this review, such as whether DCPS has the capacity to attract and evaluate so many new hires efficiently and to train large numbers of new employees; what effect this process will have on workplace morale and institutional memory; whether the transformation will drive away some of DCPS’ most effective and experienced employees; and, most importantly, whether service to the local schools can continue unimpeded.

Maintenance and Repair Workers Fighting Layoffs under Central Office Transformation

Dozens of DCPS maintenance and repair workers are scheduled to be laid off as part of the Central Office Transformation, and the Teamsters Union (which represents them) has provided strong opposition. One Union action was a filing in court for an injunction to halt the transformation process, but this was unsuccessful. Another action, which has proven more successful, was a protest rally (in which the 21st Century School Fund and other advocacy organizations participated) outside the Wilson Building on June 21st to urge the City Council and Mayor to keep the workers. On June 25th, Councilmember Chavous wrote a letter to the Board of Education President Peggy Cooper Cafritz stating that the Board “completely misunderstood the intent of the Council in making reductions in Central Administration,” and that they “should move for an immediate reconsideration of the proposed reductions in central administration and order the rescission of reduction-in-force notices to school based and frontline workers. Despite these planned layoffs, the Teamsters and DCPS recently reached a tentative contract agreement for the period of 10/1/00 to 9/30/03, providing wage increases and a signing bonus.

For a copy of “Myth and Reality” or the capital budget, or for information on the Central Office Transformation, please contact Jordan Spooner, Director of District of Columbia Programs for the 21st Century School Fund, at 202-745-3745, or by email at jspooner@21csf.org.

For information about the high school planning process, please contact Cathy Reilly, director of SHAPPE (Senior High Alliance of Parents Principals and Educators), at 202-723-331, or by email at shappe@erols.com.

For more information, contact:

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