- The D.C. charter school wish list
- DC Public Schools: How to keep kids out of class, not in
- Catania wants DC schools chancellor to explain 'invitation only' summer school
The Examiner
By Mark Lerner
April 20, 2013
From a public policy standpoint, if you asked charter leaders what they would like most from their government I believe there would be an almost uniform call for one thing: to be left alone. If you have been following news about this sector you will have observed that it seems everyone wants to impose their will on charters. One D.C. Councilman wants to give new schools the right to offer a neighborhood admission preference. The Chairman of the Council's education committee threatens to tinker with the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula and end the practice of having revenue follow the child. The D.C. Board of Education is trying to impose a revised set of high school graduation requirements. Politicians toss around the idea of a cap on the number of charters that can be created and call for coordination between the locations of these alternative schools withDCPS. It is enough to keep those of us in the movement up at night.
The second item on the wish list would be to solve the permanent facility issue. Shuttered DCPS sites should be turned over to charters at no cost. Traditional schools don't pay rent for their space and charters as public institutions should enjoy the same right. And it appears discriminatory for those working in the Wilson Building to happily pay for renovations to underutilized regular classrooms when charters have to fend for themselves when fixing up DCPS properties that have been allowed to deteriorate beyond recognition.
The last item I will mention is closely related to facilities. Charters would like to be treated equally when it comes to funding. News reports that DCPS receives $13,000 more per child compared to charters does not sit well when you are struggling mightily to keep high performing teachers from going elsewhere. It is not enjoyable to negotiate with banks on tenant improvement loans when you are limited to a $3,000 per student facility allotment and it is estimated that the other system receives three times as much. It seems exceedingly odd that you have to pay for attorneys and building maintenance when regular schools receive these services for free. Many people who, like me, are drawn to education reform as a civil rights issue do not understand being treated like we are being told we can only sit at the back of the bus.
I understand that Councilman Catania will be holding meetings later this week on the 2014 DCPS budget and the Mayor's Master Facility Plan. I hope I have provided him with a good place to start the discussions.
The Washington Post
By Michael Shank and Allyson Mitchell
April 29, 2013
A new report, released last week, suggests that DC Public Schools’ much lauded reform efforts are still failing to produce positive results for DC’s students. Despite changesfirst championed by former Chancellor Michelle Rhee and now by Chancellor Kaya Henderson, the report isn’t pretty: There was little progress in test scores, costly school closures made capacity problems worse and sent students to poorer-performing schools, restrictive evaluations led to higher turnover of teachers, and racial gaps in achievement grew.
Elaine Weiss, the National Coordinator who wrote the report for theBroader, Bolder Approach to Education campaign, said that“instead of continuing Rhee’s reforms, the District should address health and other problems that lead to truancy, and it should make sure the quality of teachers in Anacostia are just as good as those in Chevy Chase”.
In addressing DC’s truancy, an issue that we’ve written about before , a key component is often missed: suspensions, detentions, and exactly how DC Public Schools is disciplining its students. Long-term suspensions in DC Public Schools (DCPS) are common, can last anywhere from 11-90 days, and may be authorized only by a person designated by the chancellor. And while DC Municipal Regulations Chapter 25 requires that students under long-term suspension “shall be placed in an Alternative Educational Setting that will allow the student the opportunity to continue to earn credits towards promotion or graduation requirements," there is concern in the community that the 'alternative setting' is often the student's home.
How long-term suspensions inspire chronic truancy, then, is the question. In many cases, suspension forces the student to repeat grade levels, which, if exercised on a reoccurring basis, can cause the child to abandon hope of graduation. Once a child feels defeated, it is not only the grades that suffer; increases in chronic absenteeism, truancy, and student dropout rate also occur. And suspensions pose a particular problem in poorer parts of DC, like southeast, where long-term suspensions force a single parent to take off work, unpaid, or leave their child at home unsupervised.
Defending this policy, the DC Public Schools “Philosophy and Approach to Student Behavior and Discipline” stated that the “discipline policies are developmentally-appropriate, equitable, and consistently enforced school wide”. Yet, it is difficult to find substantiating evidence to validate these claims. In addition to a lack of consistent discipline and enforcement across DC schools, and even within the same school, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and DCPS are continuing to overstep reasonable bounds when it comes to school discipline procedures.
Police are now assuming roles once served by school counselors. The existence of cops with handcuffs in hand, serving as hall monitors and lunchroom attendants under the title of Security Resource Officers(SRO), should be a major concern to parents and policymakers. Many inner-city schools have gotten cozy with the local police departments in order to display a semblance of security and safety. This is especially the case after the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.
By bringing the police into the schools, discipline that was historically handled by trained counselors behind closed doors is now carried out in the open with harsher punishments and the prospect of a tainted criminal record. Students are on guard at all times, since putting a hand on someone can bring not only suspension but also an arrest for simple assault. These zero tolerance policies have created a prison-like atmosphere in some DC public schools.
The SROs wear duel hats while in the school setting. They have all the rights of a police officer, but they are also active members of the school administration and, as any other school official, are permitted to stop, question, and take action without contacting parents or guardians in advance. This means that SROs can question students for criminal activity without a parent present and without reading the student their Miranda Rights. This is enabling them to act outside of policing procedural structure when in their school capacity. The minor can then be arrested for the information they unwittingly relayed to the officer. An MPD circular, or written directive, requiring police to consider the child’s age as a part of the Miranda custody analysis expired in 2012. As new guidance was not published, the written directive remains unclear in 2013.
In an effort to bring accountability to this MPD-DCPS partnership, the department was ordered last year by D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith N. Macaluso to release almost all of its orders and policies to the Partnership for Civil Justice Fund. It was most comprehensive release of police documents in the history of DC's Freedom of Information Act. What the MPD didn’t release is telling: Standard Operating Procedures and Regulations for the Use of Force in DC Public Schools, Searches and Seizures on DC Public Schools Property and the Code of Conduct for Contract Security Officers and Special Police Officers in DC Public Schools all remain restricted. Since these MPD directives remain undecipherable, a student’s best option, then, is to remain silent if they are questioned by SROs at school and request that they gain parental consent if they wish to continue the conversation. But that’s only a short-term fix.
The long-term fix is this: Low-level school-based offenses such as simple assault or verbal violence do not warrant ushering our children into the criminal justice system. Curbing bad behavior requires a holistic approach, with trained community members and counselors working with students on a one-on-one basis. Instead of indefinite suspensions with little support, we should focus on keeping students in school, not out of it. By doing so, we have a better chance of graduating DC’s young adults so they become contributing and productive members of their community. As an added bonus, it will decrease the likelihood of a school-to-prison pipeline, something the MPD can assuredly support.
Michael Shank is adjunct professor at George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution and a regular contributor to The RootDC. Allyson Mitchell is a graduate student at the school.
MyFOX Washington DC
By Karen Gray Houston
April 29, 2013
The chairman of the D.C. Council Education Committee, David Catania, is looking for answers from Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson on a dramatic drop in the number of slots for summer school and published plans to make it available only to certain students.
The Washington Post is reporting the school system is now targeting students lagging behind somewhat in reading for summer school, students who will benefit from the five-week program as opposed to students who are below-grade level.
A retired federal government employee, who has volunteered as a teacher's aide in D.C. schools, Barbara Greene tells FOX 5 she has concerns.
"What's going to be their process to identify those kids that are lagging behind?" she asks. She also thinks students with problems in math and science should also be allowed in summer school.
Councilmember Catania says it's not too late for the mayor to set aside funds for the summer school program. Catania points out, "There's a combined surplus of $1.6 billion.” He also says, "The notion that we don't have the money to give kids the kind of remedial assistance they need, so they can be on grade level to success, just strikes me as wrong." Catania is holding a schools budget hearing Thursday morning at 10 a.m. The schools chancellor is scheduled to testify.
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