- D.C. Council should eliminate education committee, but it won't
- D.C.’s Cesar Chavez Public Charter School celebrates ‘Tier 1’ status [Cesar Chavez PCS mentioned]
- Character and leadership help D.C. charter school jump to highest ranking [Center City PCS mentioned]
- D.C. students remember Marion Barry
D.C. Council should eliminate education committee, but it won't
The Examiner
By Mark Lerner
December 5, 2014
The Washington Post's Michael Alison Chandler wrote a recent article concerning the uncertain fate of the D.C. Council's education committee now that Councilman David Catania, who chaired the committee, will no longer hold public office come January. It was D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson who created the education committee a couple of years ago and chose Mr. Catania as its head. Ms. Chandler reported that for six years prior to the formation of this committee education matters were brought before all 13 council members as a committee of the whole.
The formation of the education committee was a mistake. It permitted Mr. Catania to challenge Mayor Vincent Gray and Chancellor Kaya Henderson as to who who was really running the traditional school system. Remember Mr. Gray's reaction after Mr. Catania introduced seven bills impacting the operation of the DCPS, as described at the time by the Washington Post's Emma Brown:
"Gray administration officials have said that some of Catania’s proposals would replicate current efforts and that others could interfere with mayoral control of the schools. 'To the extent that any of those bills, individually or collectively, lead to people not working together, it could be a problem,' Gray said."
It was abundantly clear to me watching committee hearings in which Chancellor Henderson testified before Mr. Catania that he showed absolutely no reluctance in micromanaging schools that were placed under Mayoral control in 2007. Diluting the authority over DCPS can have the severely detrimental impact of diverting the focus on school reform, which is exactly what Mr. Gray observed at the time. From the same story by Ms. Brown:
“'We’ve already made revolutionary changes in our public education system. These were the right things to do,' said Gray (D), referring to the rise of charter schools and the advent of mayoral control of traditional schools.
'Now we must have the courage of our convictions to stay the course and the smarts to know when to make refinements and adjustments,' he said."
Splitting the responsibility and accountability of our regular schools between the Mayor and the Council means no one is really responsible or accountable.
But I fear all of these words will fall on deaf ears. Mr. Mendelson and the Council will want to maintain their power over DCPS, and so I see the continued operation of the education committee. Look for Councilman David Grosso to be named chairman as he was directly at Mr. Catania's side whenever he held a public meeting or visited a school.
D.C.’s Cesar Chavez Public Charter School celebrates ‘Tier 1’ status [Cesar Chavez PCS mentioned]
The Washington Post
By Michael Alison Chandler
December 4, 2014
Cesar Chavez Public Charter School in Parkside celebrated its “Tier 1” status this week during an assembly with a drum line, a panel discussion that touched on teen motivation, and rows of cheering students.
It’s the first time that the school has achieved the high-performing designation by the D.C. Public Charter School Board.
“We are working to make D.C. the fastest-improving urban school district in the country,” said new chief executive Joan Massey. “You are all a part of that.”
The school was rated according to a framework that takes into account graduation rates, academic growth in reading and math, attendance and parent satisfaction. It is one of six charter high schools in the District to achieve Tier 1 status, thanks in part to a significant boost in math scores. Schools are classified according to three tiers, and those in the lowest tiers risk having their charters revoked.
Principal Dwan Jordon credited the D.C. Promise Neighborhood Initiative with helping the school improve over the past few years.
The Kenilworth-Parkside community won a $25 million federal grant in 2012 to end intergenerational poverty through supports and services from birth through adulthood. Chavez founder Irasema Salcido was instrumental in securing the grant.
Wednesday’s assembly was also organized to announce a $300,000 grant from AT&T Aspire that will fund a partnership with the College Success Foundation to provide tutoring, mentoring and college counseling for Chavez students at risk of dropping out.
Character and leadership help D.C. charter school jump to highest ranking [Center City PCS mentioned]
Watchdog.org
By Moriah Costa
December 5, 2014
WASHINGTON, D.C. — At Center City public charter school Congress Heights, a group of about 25 first graders sit crossed-legged in front of Linda Kim as she reads to them about Ancient Egypt. Upstairs, Tamika Fernandez helps her fourth and fifth graders solve decimal problems on the whiteboard, while across the hall, Wendy Oftedahl’s class of seventh graders listen to author Karen Harrington talk about the writing process.
It’s teachers like Kim, Fernandez and Oftedahl who, under the the leadership of Congress Heights Principal Niya White, helped the charter rank among the city’s top tier schools by the D.C. Public Charter School Board last month.
The charter school, located in Ward 8, is the first to go from the lowest rank to the highest since the board began ranking schools four years ago.
The rankings, called the Performance Management Framework, are released each year and measure how well schools prepare students for college and improve math and reading skills, from Tier 1 to Tier 3. The board also measures attendance and re-enrollment.
This year more than 12,000 students attend the city’s 22 highest performing schools, a 9 percent increase from 2013.
White credits the higher rating with the school’s commitment to building student character, providing constant feedback to teachers and engaging parents.
“We needed to change our shift so that students understood that being a student with good character would actually take you far and improve you as a person in general,” she said.
White became the principal three years ago and under her leadership the school has retained 86 percent of its staff year after year, a huge feat in an industry rife with teacher dissatisfaction and turnover.
She is rarely in her office and spends her days co-teaching, observing classrooms or going over test results with students. White makes an average of 16 informal and three formal visits to each classroom a year, not counting the times she co-teaches.
“It’s not the teachers who are walking on this journey by themselves, but definitely with us every step of the way and having conversations about it,” White said.
The school’s commitment to building character is seen throughout the hallways and classrooms, which are lined with the students’ work and reminders about the school’s mission to building character, excellence and service.
Anita Haynes enrolled her daughter, Aliya, in Congress Heights as a preschooler and has stayed in D.C. for the past four years so she can continue attending the school.
“(White) runs it really tight over there,” she said.
Aliya, who is now in second grade, is learning sign language and reads books that fourth graders are just starting to read at other schools, Haynes said. She said Aliya’s school work is difficult at times, but the teachers are always willing to provide extra help.
“They talk about a lot of stuff that elementary kids aren’t even exposed to until high school,” she said.
Congress Heights is one of six Center City schools across the district that serve mostly low-income students. The charters were originally Catholic schools and transitioned to public charter schools in 2008.
The charter’s Shaw and Brightwood campuses ranked as Tier 1 while its Petworth and Capitol Hill schools ranked as Tier 2. One of the schools, Center City Trinidad, ranked as Tier 3.
Russ Williams, president and CEO of Center City schools, said he is working to improve the quality of the other schools to Tier 1, but has had difficulty finding high-quality leaders.
“There aren’t six Niya Whites. What I need are six Niya Whites,” he said. “And that’s a problem citywide. There’s not a strong enough cadre or pool of people that really get what an effective principal is.”
Williams said he put new leaders in lagging schools. Internal data indicates Trinidad has improved from last year. Williams has high hopes the school will rank as Tier 2 next year.
Both White and Williams are happy with the ranking, but think more needs to be done to give students a quality education.
“This is good, but it’s not good enough and we can do better,” Williams said.
But for Haynes, Center City is good enough.
“I plan for (Aliya) to stay there until she gets to eighth grade,” she said. “I have no interest in other schools.”
D.C. students remember Marion Barry
The Washington Post
By Michael Alison Chandler
December 4, 2014
Eleven days after Marion Barry died, the life and legacy of the four-term mayor were the subject of a history lesson at Anacostia High School.
Students watched a news clip about him Thursday, answered questions and reflected on why he “was respected and loved by Washingtonians . . . especially those in Ward 8.”
The lesson was a precursor for a memorial service on the football field Thursday afternoon, during which the teens released 78 balloons into the air, one for each year of his life.
“We wanted to pay tribute to a soldier for Ward 8,” said Anacostia High School Principal Lloyd Bryant.
As the city began a three-day commemoration of the former mayor and, most recently, Ward 8 D.C. Council member, schools across the ward took a moment to remember him Thursday afternoon. Citywide, educators and advocates also reflected on his impact on public schools.
Three days of memorial events have begun for longtime D.C. mayor Marion Barry. His casket arrived Thursday morning at the Wilson Building, where members of the public are paying their respects. (Alice Li/The Washington Post)
Barry’s first foray into city politics was on the Board of Education. He was elected in 1971, and he became board president a year later. By 1974, he had won his first seat on the city council, and he was elected mayor in 1978.
During the lesson at Anacostia High, officials said students did not know many details about Barry’s life. But they knew that for their parents and grandparents, the civil rights leader turned politician was a symbol of opportunity.
“When I was a kid in school, I wanted to be Marion Barry,” said David W. Smith, a lifelong D.C. resident who attended Beers Elementary School in Ward 7.
He remembered Barry would come to the safety patrol parade and give out awards, and he got his first summer job through a program Barry created, working as a camp counselor. “I learned how to work with young people, and that’s work I still do today,” said Smith, who runs a nonprofit group focused on teaching African American history.
Mary Levy, an education advocate from Ward 3, remembered Barry as a preschool champion who helped make the District a leader in early education.
During his tenure as mayor, she and other parents often sparred with Barry as they pushed for more education funding, said Levy, who also worked as a budget analyst focused on public school spending.
But in recent years, as a Ward 8 council member, Barry enlisted Levy’s help during budget season. He wanted to increase transparency of the process, and he wanted her to analyze where the most highly effective teachers were working. She found the fewest were in Ward 8 and a disproportionate number were in Ward 3.
“He really did promote equitable treatment for low-income kids,” she said.
John H. “Skip” McKoy, chairman of the D.C. Public Charter School Board and an urban planner by training, said he was hired into Barry’s administration in 1979 as a planning director. He recalled those early days as a continuation of the civil rights movement, with talented African Americans working together to make life better for poor, disenfranchised city residents. “It was the most exciting five professional years I ever had,” he said.
Later in his career, when he became active in the charter school movement, Barry was “balanced in his views” as debates flared between charter — and traditional — school advocates, he said. Ultimately, Barry supported putting quality schools into poor neighborhoods, he said.
Braswell Chappelle, the Anacostia High student body president, credited Barry for his first summer job when he was 14, doing maintenance at a school and an apartment building and for bringing opportunities to young people.
Ronald Edmonds, who was Anacostia’s student body president in 1988 and now teaches social studies there, had more personal memories of the man he called “my mayor.”
He recalled how Barry visited the school and that he recommended him for a scholarship that helped his mother afford to send him to college. “He lived and walked this community,” he said. “He was a big part of my life.”