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Better D.C. Schools Email Update

February 28, 2003 - Issue #8

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.

FY 2004 DCPS Budget Development Process Continues

On February 13th, the Mayor held a hearing on the FY04 DCPS operating and capital budgets. 21CSF testified about 3 areas of priority: (1) maintaining sufficient funding for the capital improvement program and charter school facility needs; (2) improving coordination between DCPS and the Office of Planning on neighborhood development and making schools centers of communities; and (3) the creation of a citizen oversight committee to monitor the capital improvement program. After the hearing, the Mayor released his recommendation for the FY04 DCPS operating budget - $760M, which is well below the DCPS request for $848M, but $20.5M more than the current year budget. The increase includes $15M for inflation and an approximately $500 increase in the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (to pay for teacher salary raises, union contingencies, and student transportation to “swing space” during school renovations). The Mayor’s budget reduces the DCPS request most notably by $17M due to declining enrollment projections, $15.9M for building repairs, and $15.8M for academic improvements. The City Council will be holding a public hearing on the DCPS FY03 Budgets on March 5th and another on March 25th for the DCPS FY04 budget (call 724-8068 or e-mail KTATE@dccouncil.washington.dc.us to register and for info).

Update on DCPS Capital Improvement Program (CIP)

We are once again unable to provide project updates at this time. The February report of the Office of Facilities Management (OFM) was issued to the Board of Education’s Facilities & Finance Committee on February 25th, however, the Committee did not provide a report to the public. The Committee has recently adopted a practice of only releasing a summary report for public review (leaving out contracts information included in the full report), but even the summary report was not made available at the meeting. 21CSF continues to object to these actions, believing that even contracts information is public (with some exceptions), and that it’s important that DCPS operate with full transparency except in confidential matters. We are continuing to pursue this issue, and will provide the latest CIP project updates to our email subscribers as soon as we receive them.

21CSF Completes Report on Citizen Oversight of Public School Construction

This report is titled “Citizen Oversight of Public School Construction Programs: In Search of Promising Practices”. It draws upon experiences from 10 oversight committees throughout the country, and 21CSF has received positive feedback on the report from many of these practitioners. It is now being distributed to key D.C. policymakers with a goal of establishing a citizen oversight committee for the DCPS capital improvement program. Please visit our website (www.21csf.org) for a copy of the full report.

DC Public School Advocates Release Paper Opposing D.C. Voucher Program

21CSF, SHAPPE, DC VOICE, Parents United, and DCPTA recently released a joint paper opposing federally-imposed private school vouchers in D.C. The federal legislation (S. 4) allocates $75 million dollars for eligible students to receive vouchers to attend private schools located in the District and its surrounding counties. The Cato Institute recently released a report in support of the legislation, as did editorials in the Washington Post and Washington Times. The opposition response released by the public school advocates highlights certain arguments not addressed in these pro-voucher documents. These arguments include: the risk to public school parents and students posed by a market system; historical evidence that District residents oppose vouchers; the existence of choice options already in the District; and poor accountability in private schools. For a copy of the response, contact Jeff Edmondson at 745-3745 or jedmondson@21csf.org.

DCPS Continues to Study Options for Staggered Opening Times

DCPS continues to study the possibility of changing the opening time of some schools, in order to cut special education transportation costs by better using the system’s fleet of special education buses. The Board postponed a similar proposal last summer after a public outcry. By instituting different start times for elementary and secondary schools, special education drivers would be able to cover twice as many routes. However, questions remain about the idea, such as the costs incurred (lighting for athletic fields, etc.), whether projected savings are feasible, whether special education students will actually get to school on time, and whether the disruption of daily schedules for the majority of students (including changes to before and after school care, athletics, and other after school activities) is worth the savings. Since research shows that later start times are better for adolescents, some also question whether DCPS should even consider earlier opening bells for secondary school students. Of the 630 senior high school students transported at present, only 141 are enrolled in DCPS high schools.

In March, the Board of Education is expected to receive four plans to consider for implementing staggered opening times this Fall:

- Open all elementary schools at 8:00, and all secondary schools at 9:30.
- Open some elementary schools at 8:00, and other elementary schools and all secondary schools at 9:30.
- Open all secondary schools at 8:00, and all elementary schools at 9:30.
- Open all secondary schools and some elementary schools at 8:00, and other elementary schools at 9:30.

For more information, contact:

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