D.C. Board of Education presents alternative proposal to improve city schools
Responding to Mayor Adrian Fenty’s plan to take over Washington, D.C.’s public schools, the D.C. Board of Education has unanimously passed and presented to the D.C. city council an alternative proposal that outlines specific academic targets to improve the city's low-performing school system within two years. Led by board president Robert C. Bobb, the board proposed the "Emergency Student Achievement Act of 2007," which would allow the school board to retain power over its budget and the construction and renovation of school buildings and give a new D.C. State Department of Education the ability to open charter schools. In contrast to the mayor’s plan, which does not deal directly with academics, Mr. Bobb promises to increase services for special education students in D.C. classrooms and to increase the number of students who test at the proficient or advanced level by 10%. Additionally, he says the board proposal would not require a change to D.C.’s Home Rule Charter, which Mayor Fenty is seeking by going to the U.S. Congress. "This is not a bill on restructuring," Mr. Bobb said at the board meeting. "This is a bill that is focused on improving student outcomes." Although D.C. School Superintendent Clifford B. Janey attended the board meeting, he declined then to reveal which plan he supports. But Mayor Fenty scheduled a news conference on public safety at the same time as the school board announcement and afterward asserted his intent to proceed with a mayoral takeover.
From the outset, Mr. Bobb has faced an uphill battle securing the D.C. city council votes, because only two council members have criticized the mayor’s plan, while nine members stood with Mayor Fenty when he announced his plan. During the second in a series of council hearings, Mr. Bobb argued the mayor’s plan is misguided in focus. "Right now what the students of the District of Columbia public schools need is for the mayor and council to enact meaningful education reform, not governance reform ...," he said. "Moving and adjusting boxes in an organization is not going to make the reforms of an organization work." Under questioning, Superintendent Janey broke his silence, saying he was concerned about aspects of the mayor’s plan. "I'm in favor of the Board of Education's proposal as it's been articulated," he said. "Yes, it's late, but it's still the right position to have and to advance." Michael Casserly, executive director of the Council of Great City Schools, a coalition of 66 of the nation's largest urban public school systems, also praised the school board plan: "It is a serious bill, it is a substantive bill, and frankly it emphasizes the one priority that probably needs the most emphasis all around, and that is student achievement." Critics say Mr. Fenty's plan focuses too much on the structure of school governance instead of improving student achievement. Mr. Bobb's proposal would allow the board to act more freely and promises specific academic outcomes within 18 months. But some council members said the school board's countermeasure contained laudable goals that have come along too late. "It's like trying to move the chairs on the Titanic," said council member Marion Barry. "The ship is sinking."
Washington Post
By Theola Labbe, with David Nakamura
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Washington Times
By Gary Emerling
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Washington Post
By Staff
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[Editor’s Note: Details on the board’s proposal, including the legislation, a Power Point presentation, and a side-by-side comparison of the two plans, are posted on the board’s website, below. Background on the takeover bid is available starting at the second link. While the board’s plan may well be the more relevant and more ambitious of the two from an educational standpoint, other considerations figure prominently. A dismissive Washington Post editorial cites council chairman Vincent C. Gray as asking of the board’s ambitious benchmarks, "What magic do they plan to use and why on earth have they been sitting on it for the last 30 years?" and adds, "The most damning aspect of the board's plan as well as of its performance in running the schools is that it seeks emergency legislation to enact reforms it already has the power to undertake. And, frankly, should have undertaken." Mayor Fenty has held a press conference, reported at the fourth link below, to unveil an audit that finds the school district’s poor financial record-keeping, unauthorized overtime, and other flaws jeopardize D.C’s bond rating.
At the final link, Washington Post columnist Marc Fisher suggests in the end there will be no battle between the school board and the mayor. He quotes Mr. Bobb as telling him, "It’s pretty clear to me that the mayor gets to take over the school system." The good news, Mr. Fisher argues, is that both sides agree on the need for decisive and drastic action, on the fact that "the schools alone can’t make the fix," on the "impossibility of getting stuff done in the labyrinth of the school bureaucracy," and on the failures of the previous school boards, "which everyone agrees were awful bordering on criminal." The next council hearing is scheduled for February 7.]
[D.C. Board of Education website]
[NSBA School Law pages on mayoral takeover bid]
[Washington Post editorial]
Washington Post
By Nikita Stewart & David Nakamura
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Washington Post
By Marc Fisher
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