NEWS
- D.C. mayor blocks building funds for charter schools [Washington Latin PCs and DC International PCS mentioned]
- Feds urge schools and colleges to appoint Title IX coordinators
- Public boarding school _ the way to solve educational ills? [SEED PCS mentioned]
D.C. mayor blocks building funds for charter schools [Washington Latin PCs and DC International PCS mentioned]
Watchdog.org
By Moriah Costa
April 24, 2015
WASHINGTON, D.C. — D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser froze $4 million in building funds meant for two charter schools, despite the D.C. Council and former Mayor Vincent Gray promising the money last year.
The freeze is an attempt to help close the city’s $250 million budget gap, the mayor said.
One allocation of $2 million was earmarked for the Washington Latin Public Charter School to build a gymnasium at the renovated site of the former Rudolph Elementary School. The other $2 million was to go to DC International Public Charter School to help build a permanent site at Delano Hall at the Walter Reed Medical Center.
D.C. Councilmember David Grosso, an at-large independent, said at a Committee on Education hearing Wednesday he was appalled the will of the council wasn’t heard.
“…There’s either a miscommunication or some kind of change of direction here that I don’t appreciate,” he said.
Martha Cutts, head of Washington Latin, said that because of a lack of increased funding and rise of operational costs, the school could not afford to build a gym during recent renovations.
“It is enormously disappointing and frustrating,” she said of the mayor’s action.
Cutts said all D.C. public high schools and all but four charter high schools have gyms.
The school, which serves 670 students in grades five to 12, is $2.8 million short of the $5 million needed for the gym. The $2 million allocation would have allowed construction to begin next month, Cutts said.
Mary Shaffner, executive director of D.C. International Public School, said that without the $2 million grant to fund pre-development, the school will not be able to build its $35 million facility.
The school is a middle- and high-school language immersion program that offers continuing education for students of five different language immersion elementary schools.
“If we do not receive the grant we will need to push our construction at least a year, limit enrollment and actually risk the success of our school,” she said at the committee hearing.
Scott Pearson, executive director of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, said the mayor’s action “just seems wrong.”
“It baffles me that this council can pass a law that appropriates money. That law is then signed by a mayor and then the will of the council is not fulfilled,” he said at the Wednesday hearing.
Charter schools receive $1,600 to $2,600 less per pupil than conventional D.C. public schools and $3,000 less for facility funding, according to a 2013 city commissioned study. A pending lawsuit is challenging the funding disparity.
Advocates argue that discrepancy in funding is part of the challenge of finding a permanent space in a city where real estate is scarce and expensive.
The office of the mayor could not be reached for comment.
Feds urge schools and colleges to appoint Title IX coordinators
The Washington Post
By Emma Brown
April 24 2015
The U.S. Education Department issued guidance Friday reminding schools that they must designate an employee to oversee their efforts to comply with Title IX, the federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs and activities.
The guidance applies to all institutions that are subject to Title IX, including K-12 schools, colleges and universities, and it emphasizes the importance of ensuring that the employees who serve as Title IX coordinators have enough independence and authority to carry out their responsibilities.
Federal officials also released a Title IX resource guide meant to help schools understand their obligations and help Title IX coordinators better understand their role.
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights has found “that some of the most egregious and harmful Title IX violations occur when a recipient fails to designate a Title IX coordinator or when a Title IX coordinator has not been sufficiently trained or given the appropriate level of authority,” wrote Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights, in a letter to education officials nationwide.
“By contrast, OCR has found that an effective Title IX coordinator often helps a recipient provide equal educational opportunities to all students.”
Title IX is often thought of as the law that protects girls’ right to athletic opportunities that are on par with those offered to boys. But the law outlines broad protections against sex discriminations, and the Obama administration has used the law to investigate dozens of college and universities for their handling of sexual violence reports.
Public boarding school _ the way to solve educational ills? [SEED PCS mentioned]
The Washington Post
By Carolyn Thompson, AP
April 25, 2015
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo’s chronically struggling school system is considering an idea gaining momentum in other cities: public boarding schools.
The idea is to put round-the-clock attention on students and away from such daunting problems as poverty, troubled homes and truancy.
Supporters say such a dramatic step is necessary to get some students into an atmosphere that promotes learning. And they say it’s worth costs estimated at $20,000 to $25,000 per student per year.
Buffalo school board member Carl Paladino envisions a charter boarding school that immerses students as young as first or second grade.
Former Buffalo charter school dean Tanika Shedrick, meanwhile, is pursuing the state’s first public boarding high school in Buffalo.
Private boarding schools have been around for centuries but public schools are a newer idea. The Washington, D.C.-based SEED Foundation operates three.
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