- Gray administration wants to establish unified lottery for D.C. public and charter schools [Capital City PCS and Elsie Whitlow Stokes PCS mentioned]
- Letter to the Editor: Washington Latin offers solid program [Washington Latin PCS and FOCUS mentioned]
- DCPS to replace 16 principals this fall
- Tea party groups mobilizing against Common Core Education overhaul
- Business community shows support for preschool expansion in letter to Obama
Gray administration wants to establish unified lottery for D.C. public and charter schools [Capital City PCS and Elsie Whitlow Stokes PCS mentioned]
The Washington Post
By Emma Brown
May 30, 2013
The Gray administration is seeking to establish a unified enrollment lottery for the city’s traditional and charter schools in time to determine admissions for the 2014-15 school year, officials said Thursday.
While many details are yet to be worked out, the goal is to streamline an enrollment process that can be chaotic and frustrating for families and school administrators, said Deputy Mayor for Education Abigail Smith, whose office is coordinating the effort.
Smith said she is working with Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson and Scott Pearson, executive director of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, to design the new system in consultation with charter school leaders.
“We’re committed to a process that’s fairer for families and that allows families and schools to plan better,” Smith said.
D.C. Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large), chairman of the education committee, called the move “long overdue” and said he would continue his own efforts to design a unified lottery system.
“It may be we have a couple of options available” for the public to consider, he said.
Currently, dozens of charter schools operate separate enrollment lotteries. The traditional school system holds its own lottery for students seeking a seat in pre-kindergarten or in magnet schools and other so-called out-of-boundary schools outside their neighborhoods.
Children can win admission to multiple schools across both sectors, creating long wait lists that shift throughout the summer and into the fall as families decide where to enroll.
A shared lottery could help eliminate much of that movement, Smith said.
Parents would complete one online application, ranking both traditional and charter schools in order of preference. A computer algorithm would then run the lottery, admitting each child to only one school and maximizing the number of students who are matched with one of their top choices.
It’s not clear how many schools a parent would be able to rank. Also up in the air is whether wait lists would be managed centrally or by individual schools — and whether there would be any wait lists at all. Some cities that have already adopted unified lottery systems, such as New Orleans, do not use wait lists.
Despite those unknowns, D.C. school system officials said they have committed to participate in the shared lottery for the 2014-15 school year.
It’s not clear how many charter schools will sign up for the shared lottery. Participation would not be mandatory, and several charter leaders said they need to see more details before committing their schools to a new enrollment process.
“I think it’s doable,” said Karen Dresden, the head of Capital City Public Charter School, who said she supports the spirit of the shared lottery and is inclined to take part if the details seem reasonable. “Whether it’s doable by next year, I don’t know.”
Linda Moore, founder of Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School, said she would be hesitant to commit until seeing how the effort works in its first year.
Smith is seeking commitments from charter schools in June and is confident that a critical mass will sign up, she said, “if not in the first year, then in the second year.”
She said details about the new lottery will be available to parents in the fall, with the lottery to open in January.
Not all parents welcome the prospect. Lowrey Redmond, who just survived the search for a preschool for her daughter, said no matter what officials say about a computer algorithm, condensing all the lotteries into one would feel to her like less choice.
“I actually think that’s going to reduce the chances of me getting into something,” she said.
The Washington Post
By Emma Brown
May 30, 2013
D.C. Public Schools officials said this week that 16 schools will open this fall with new principals, roughly matching last year’s leadership turnover.
Officials would not discuss reasons for individual principals’ departures, saying only that some are resigning or retiring, and others have received letters of “non-appointment” — another way of saying they’ve been fired.
Among those being replaced is Thelma Jarrett of Coolidge High, who was put on leave last fall after she was charged with assault because of an alleged physical altercation with other Coolidge staff members following the school’s homecoming football game.
Also leaving is David Pinder of award-winning McKinley Technology High, the system’s 2012 principal of the year. Pinder announced in March that he is leaving to take the helm of the D.C. office of New Leaders, a nonprofit devoted to training principals.
Principal turnover in the District’s traditional school system spiked in 2008, when then-Chancellor Michelle Rhee hired 46 new school leaders in one summer, but has since slowed.
Still, attrition is high compared to many suburban systems. This year’s 16 leadership changes represent about 16 percent of the system’s principalships. Montgomery County Public Schools, for example, usually turns over between 5 and 7 percent of its principal posts, according to spokesman Dana Tofig.
Most of the District’s departing principals did not respond Wednesday to a request for comment. Others told The Washington Post they are leaving of their own volition.
Mary Weston, principal of Burroughs Education Campus in Brookland since 2010, said she has resigned because she is moving to North Carolina to raise her children near family. Burroughs was named a “reward” school this year after making double-digit gains on standardized math and reading tests under Weston’s leadership.
Jermall Wright of Leckie Elementary said he resigned to take a position with Denver Public Schools, and Zakiya Reid of Bancroft Elementary said she is leaving to spend more time with her family. Cheryl Warley of J.O. Wilson Elementary said she is retiring after 38 years in the system.
Another 13 principals are being displaced because of the system’s planned school closures. Officials would not say which of those principals will continue working in the school system, saying those decisions are still being made.
“Many of them will continue to serve as DCPS principals and will interview with the school communities from the vacancy list,” said spokeswoman Melissa Salmanowitz. “Others are interviewing for central office and/or school support roles, and others are transitioning out of DCPS.”
Here is the list of schools where principals will be replaced this fall:
Bancroft Elementary
Brightwood Education Campus
Browne Education Campus
Burroughs Education Campus
Coolidge Senior High
Drew Elementary
Houston Elementary
Ketcham Elementary
Kimball Elementary
LaSalle-Backus Education Campus
Langley Elementary
Leckie Elementary
McKinley Tech Senior High
Nalle Elementary
Orr Elementary
J. O. Wilson Elementary
Letter to the Editor: Washington Latin offers solid program [Washington Latin PCS and FOCUS mentioned]
The Current Newspapers
By Robert Buchard
May 29, 2013
As a parent of two children at Washington Latin Public Charter School, I appreciate the public advocacy of Robert Cane [“Public charter schools need funding equity,” Viewpoint, May 15]. Washington Latin is a wonderful community of learners, and I encourage parents considering options for middle school to add Washington Latin to their list.
The Washington Post
By Michael Alison Chandler
May 30, 2013
More than 300 national business leaders signed an open letter in support of greater federal investment in preschool that was sent to Congress and the White House this week and presented Thursday to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan.
The letter reflects a growing campaign to reframe preschool not just as an education issue but as a matter of workforce training and economic development.
Many policymakers and business leaders now talk about early childhood education in economic terms, as offering a good return on investment.
“Currently, more than 90 percent of our education dollars are spent after age 5, yet 85 percent of a child’s core brain structure is developed before age 5. This should have nothing to do with politics and everything to do with good business decisions,” said James M. Zimmerman, retired CEO of Macy’s Inc., in a news statement. Zimmerman is one of eight current or former executives who met with Duncan and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius on Thursday.
The executives and organizations that signed the letter, including the retired chairmen and chief executives of PepsiCo and Proctor & Gamble, agreed on several priorities for preschool expansion, many of which resonate with what President Obama highlighted in his own proposal this February.
They said new policies should start with prenatal care and extend through kindergarten; prioritize children from low- and moderate-income families; give parents options in the public and private sectors; encourage higher quality standards; and closely track the outcomes of different programs.
There is less agreement about how preschool should be paid for, said Sara Watson, the director of ReadyNation, which is organizing the business community to advocate for early childhood education investments. “There is no magic financing solution that is going to make everyone happy,” she said.
The leaders who signed the letter said that a broad expansion will need to include some new funding as well as a reallocation of existing tax dollars.
“Ultimately, we need to put more resources into quality, evidence-based early childhood programs,“ Zimmerman said in a statement.
The Washington Post
By Peter Wallsten and Lyndsey Layton
May 30, 2013
Tea party groups over the past few weeks have suddenly and successfully pressured Republican governors to reassess their support for a rare bipartisan initiative backed by President Obama to overhaul the nation’s public schools.
Activists have donned matching T-shirts and packed buses bound for state legislative hearing rooms in Harrisburg, Pa., grilled Georgia education officials at a local Republican Party breakfast and deluged Michigan lawmakers with phone calls urging opposition to the Common Core State Standards.
The burst of activity marks the newest front for the tea party movement, which has lacked a cohesive goal since it coalesced in 2010 in opposition to Obama’s health-care initiative.
The movement has a renewed sense of purpose and energy following revelations that many of its groups were improperly targeted by the Internal Revenue Service, and members consider dismantling what some deride as “Obamacore” their newest cause. Unlike the health-care fight, though, organizers say the Common Core battle is winnable and could be a potential watershed moment.
“This is the issue that could change things for the tea party movement,” said Lee Ann Burkholder, founder of the 9/12 Patriots in York, Pa., which drew 400 people — more than twice the usual turnout — to a recent meeting to discuss agitating against Common Core.
Lawmakers have responded by introducing legislation that would at least temporarily block the standards in at least nine states, including two that have put the program on hold. The Republican governors of Indiana and Pennsylvania quickly agreed to pause Common Core, and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder (R), a vocal supporter of the plan, is nevertheless expected to accept a budget agreement struck by GOP legislators that would withhold funding for the program pending further debate.
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) — who, like the other targeted governors, is facing reelection next year — said, “We didn’t see it coming with the intensity that it is, apparently all across the country.” Deal has responded by signing an executive order “reaffirming state sovereignty” over education matters, but that hasn’t stopped conservatives from trying to undo the standards.
The White House has promoted Common Core, written by governors and state education officials in both parties and largely funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to create consistent math and reading standards from kindergarten through 12th grade. Academic standards vary widely among states, and that patchwork nature has been partly blamed for mediocre rankings of U.S. students in international comparisons.
The standards do not dictate curriculum. Rather, states decide what to teach and how to prepare children for standardized tests based on Common Core.
The standards have been fully adopted by 45 states and the District and are scheduled to be in place by 2014. Supporters fear that an eleventh-hour drop in state participation could dilute some of the potential benefits, such as the ability to compare student test scores across many states, while also creating logistical hurdles for school districts that are developing curriculum and training teachers.
Tea party groups, along with some skeptical liberals, say the standards amount to a federal takeover of education in a country with a long tradition of local control over public schools.
Some conservatives have seized on an optional side project that would have made it possible for states to share student records and test results with researchers, education officials and even software developers. Supporters described the voluntary data sharing, funded by private foundations, as a tool to help educators design effective classroom practices. But critics decried it as a Big Brother intrusion — and several states have indicated that they won’t participate.
Critics also charge that Common Core was thrust onto schools with little public debate. The standards were developed by associations representing governors and school chiefs, underwritten by private funding and propelled by the Obama administration using federal grant money as an inducement. The standards were then approved by education boards rather than state legislatures, and some lawmakers sponsoring bills to rescind the program have said they had not heard of it until constituents alerted them in recent weeks.
Nevertheless, many state lawmakers are being asked to approve funding to enact the standards, including tests and classroom materials. The national cost is estimated to reach the billions.
A Republican National Committee resolution approved last month blasted Common Core as an “inappropriate overreach to standardize and control the education of our children so they will conform to a preconceived ‘normal.’ ”
Various national conservative groups also have leapt into the fray, including FreedomWorks, a tea party umbrella organization, and some state affiliates of Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group backed by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.
The American Principles Project, a Washington-based conservative group, has served over the past two months as a nerve center of sorts for the anti-Common Core movement — distributing research papers and talking points to critics while helping state-level organizations establish Web sites and networks. Emmett McGroarty, a lawyer for the group, has appeared on Glenn Beck’s talk show and traveled to tea party meetings nationwide. Beck and Michelle Malkin, another commentator, have been hammering away on the issue since March.
“The elites in the Republican Party and the Democratic Party don’t get this,” McGroarty said.
The rising tension is creating complications for the GOP, particularly governors, as conservative activists say they are starting to consider Common Core a new test of purity.
Despite Corbett moving last week to “pause” the initiative, Burkholder said she and other conservative organizers want him to go further and pull Pennsylvania out of the program. If he doesn’t, she said, many activists will look for a GOP primary challenger.
“If we are able to find a candidate who is pushing to keep Common Core out of Pennsylvania, then I can promise they will get traction,” Burkholder said.
The speed and ferocity of the effort to torpedo the standards has surprised the coalition of interests that has been steadily working to enact the changes, which includes leading business groups, civil rights organizations and teachers unions.
Deal averted a showdown with fellow Georgia Republicans last weekend when the lack of a quorum at the state party’s convention prevented a vote on a resolution to pull the plug on the standards.
The opposition’s momentum was evident this week in Michigan, where Republican lawmakers moved toward delaying Common Core despite entreaties from former Florida governor Jeb Bush, a respected voice within the party on education and one of the most vocal GOP champions of the new standards.
Bush, who is considering a run for president in 2016, defended Common Core during a closed-door lunch on Tuesday with state House Republicans in Lansing, then reiterated his arguments Wednesday in appearances with Snyder during a policy conference on Mackinac Island.
“Do not pull back. Please do not pull back from high, lofty standards,” Bush said in a pleading tone. He described Common Core as a “clear and straightforward” strategy that would “allow for more innovation in the classroom, less regulation.”
“If I felt this was a federal plan or a plot to take away responsibility for how children learn from states and local communities, I would be opposed to it,” he said in an interview later.
Bush’s education foundation is developing a Web site to highlight reasons for conservatives to support the higher standards.
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Business Roundtable also are planning a public relations blitz to defend the standards. During last month’s Master’s golf tournament, Exxon aired a commercial praising Common Core.
Proponents, though, wonder whether it’s too late. “What might have been a brush fire is now a more substantial fire,” said Margaret Spellings, education secretary under president George W. Bush.
Supporters say the new reading standards emphasize critical thinking, writing and nonfiction, including the country’s founding documents. The math standards involve fewer concepts than are typically taught in many states, but require a deeper understanding, the authors said.
The Common Core effort began about five years ago, before Obama was elected. His administration sped its adoption by requiring states to embrace “college- and career-ready” academic standards to compete for federal Race to the Top grants or to win waivers from the requirements of No Child Left Behind, the main federal education law.
States largely understood “college- and career-ready” to mean Common Core standards, although two states, Virginia and Minnesota, adopted alternative standards that the administration accepted.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan expressed frustration about the rising angst over Common Core during an appearance last week on Capitol Hill. He rejected comments from Rep. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.) that many of his constituents have complained that the administration used federal money to “bribe” states to accept a “federal takeover of curriculum.”
“It’s not a black helicopter ploy and we’re not trying to get inside people’s minds and brains,” Duncan replied.
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