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The Washington Post
Council backs boost in charter facilities fee
By Bill Turque
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The District's public charter schools, which have long held that they are shortchanged on funding compared to DCPS, would get a bit more money for rent, mortgage and other facilities costs under a recommendation Tuesday from the D.C. Council.

Both public and public charter schools receive equal financing under the uniform per student funding formula, which is expected to be $8,945 in the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

But unlike public schools, most of District's 57 charter schools, spread across 99 campuses with 28,000 students, come into existence without a publicly financed building waiting for them. So they receive a per pupil facilities allotment to cover their extra costs. Sitting as the Committee of the Whole, the council recommended that Mayor Adrian M. Fenty raise the uniform per pupil fee from $2,800 to $3,000.

The Fenty administration cut the allotment from $3,109 last year, asserting that some schools have been diverting the facilities payments to cover other costs, such as teacher salaries. The mayor is recommending that the allotment remain at $2,800. Charter advocates say D.C. public schools enjoy significant streams of funding outside the uniform per student formula, including an enormous capital budget.

A working group of charter and District officials wanted $3,235, but Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray that only $3,000 is feasible. The hike would cost $868,000, most of which would come from money that had been set aside to service the District's debt.

The facilities fee boost is not likely to quell the debate over funding equity. Charter school supporters say they are concerned that the proposed new D.C. teachers contract, which would provide a 5-year, 20 percent raise and -- if a privately financed performance pay provision is implemented, boost some salaries well beyond the $100,000 range -- will add to their financial disadvantage.

Attorney General Peter Nickles pushed back on that argument Tuesday. Responding to a query from Council member Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), Nickles wrote that because the base salary increases are funded through the uniform per pupil formula, the contract creates no new financial obligations for the District.

"Charter schools will receive the same uniform per student funding amount that the mayor has proposed in the Fiscal Year 2011 budget and can use that amount (or any other funds) to provide the teacher raises they deem appropriate," Nickles wrote.

Barnaby Towns, a spokesman for the charter advocacy group FOCUS ( Friends of Choice in Urban Education) called Nickles' letter "the standard administration line" that ignores the inequities out side the funding formula.

The Washington Times
D.C. OKs charter, adult-ed funding; defers action on teachers pact
By Deborah Simmons
Wednesday, May 12, 2010

The D.C. Council unanimously proposed Tuesday to bolster funds for charter schools, restore cuts to adult-education programs and leave several aspects of the mayor's education spending plans unchanged.

But lawmakers also postponed action on a tentative teachers contract.

The actions - undertaken by the Committee of the Whole, which oversees all public education measures - followed Monday's news from Mayor Adrian M. Fenty that funding for a new four-year contract for D.C. public schoolteachers had been certified by the Office of the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

"I appreciate the confidence in the progress of [the D.C. Public Schools], as expressed by the committees vote to fully fund the mayors proposed budget for DCPS," schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee wrote in an e-mail to The Washington Times.

"The budget voted on today will fully fund the proposed contract with the Washington Teachers Union and allow us to move forward with the critical reforms under way that directly support student achievement. We look forward to working with the council over the coming weeks as they make final deliberations on the [fiscal 2011] budget," she said.

The contract calls for an estimated $20 million in raises for teachers, including a highly watched, voluntary merit-pay program.

Lawmakers repeatedly have said they support increasing salaries for teachers, whose contract expired in 2007. However, legislators on Tuesday said the CFO must provide more detailed information on the agreement and other budget matters before they vote on the mayor's plans.

Council members have "major concerns about budget issues, ... the need to fund teacher raises and some other initiatives in the proposed WTU contract; the existence, or lack thereof, of a surplus in local school budgets; unilateral reallocation of monies appropriated by the council; and reductions in teaching positions," said D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, speaking on behalf of his 12 colleagues.

The mayor proposes giving charter schools about $2,800 per student for facilities, which charter advocates say is insufficient to cover everything from rent to maintenance to utilities.

With charter-school advocates threatening to sue over what they deem funding inequities, the council yesterday proposed that charters receive $3,000 per pupil in facility funds.

Some charter advocates, however, are concerned about an element of uncertainly regarding the funds, which are tied to a federal funding pot of school money. Those dollars could be withdrawn by Congress at any time, jeopardizing loan negotiations made by charter schools.

"We welcome the increase for the charter schools," Barnaby Towns, spokesman for D.C.-based Focus on Choice in Urban Schools, told The Times. "It seems it's not really up to the council whether the charters get the money... . What the charter schools are really looking for is money to cover their facilities costs and the inequity there that needs addressing.

"We're sure the council actions are well-intentioned," he added.

The council also proposed restoring $965,000 to the city's adult-education programs.

Students and advocates of adult education recently testified before the council on the progress being made by students and graduates of the program. Ms. Rhee told lawmakers last week that some of the funding loss was attributed to the fact that some students could not prove D.C. residency.

The council will reconsider the mayor's proposals during the May 18 and May 26 legislative sessions.

The Current
Rhee, Ghandi testify on teacher's contract
By Jessica Gould
Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Speaking before the D.C. Council on Friday, city chief financial officer Natwar Gandhi declined to certify the use of private funds to support the salaries and benefits included in the tentative D.C. Public Schools teacher contract.

But Gandhi and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee said their offices are working together, and moving closer to a resolution.

"We recognize the great importance of this agreement and applaud the work of all involved. Over the last two weeks, we have made great progress in resolving the funding issues," Gandhi said. "We will continue to work cooperatively with the chancellor to resolve the remaining funding issues and explore alternative resources to support the tentative agreement."

According to Gandhi, D.C. Public Schools submitted a set of proposed changes to its budget for fiscal year 2010 and 2011 in order to free up funding for the contract. Ideas include putting federal appropriations toward the contract, freezing central office vacancies, renegotiating a food services contract and reducing spending on the Saturday Scholars program.

But even with those changes, Gandhi said, the city would need to put another $10.7 million toward the tentative agreement. He said he could not certify the use of private foundation money to fund the contract because foundations would have the right to withdraw their funds if there were a change in leadership at D.C. Public Schools or if the school system failed to meet educational benchmarks.

Plus, Gandhi said, the foundations' draft agreements do not provide specific sums, only "up to" amounts. He also noted that the agreement allows either party to terminate the deal with only 30 days of notice, and that if any one funder backed out of the deal, the entire agreement could be jeopardized. He also reiterated his concern about outstanding "spending pressures" already facing the school system, and noted that charter schools' concerns about the contract have yet to be addressed.

According to Friends of Choice in Urban Schools spokesperson Barnaby Towns, some charters have said that salary increases embedded in the contract could increase the inequity between funding for city-run and charter schools.

"They're not bothered by [D.C. Public Schools] getting foundation money, which [many] of them do as well," he said of charter officials. "What they're bothered by is an inequity in public funds."

Towns said failing to certify the private funds and using city money to support the salaries would only exacerbate existing funding inequalities between charters and city-run schools, the latter of which, he said, receive twice as much money per student in their facilities funding.

"That creates an imbalance," Towns said. "They'd like to see the balance put back so that charter schools get as much public money as public schools do."

Gandhi said his office wants to better understand the charters' position. "We believe a full discussion of these issues is in order to fully understand the impact of the tentative agreement on the District's charter schools," he said.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Rhee reiterated her enthusiasm for the contract, and said her office had made strides in closing the funding gap.

"We're very excited about the teachers union contract. We think it's an incredibly unique opportunity to make sure teachers get the resources they need to be successful and that they're recognized and rewarded for the incredibly hard work that they do," she said.

Rhee said that of the $21.1 million in private funds to be used for the salaries, philanthropists have assured her that $16.6 million will be available upon ratification and certification of the agreement. "That will take care of the $10.7 million hole in fiscal year 2010," she said, adding that confusion over the school system's budget in recent weeks has been "unfortunate."

In fact, the marathon hearing capped nearly a month of heated back-and-forth between the chancellor's office, council members and the Office of the Chief Financial Officer.

On April 7, D.C. Public Schools, the Washington Teachers' Union and the American Federation of Teachers announced that they had reached a tentative agreement on the highly anticipated teachers contract.

The agreement grabbed national headlines with its promise of teacher salary increases of more than 20 per- cent over five years, a voluntary pay-for-performance program and increased professional development.

But almost immediately following the announcement, controversy enveloped the tentative agreement.

Asked Tuesday whether Gandhi would be certifying the contract in the coming days, spokesperson Karyn Siobhan Robinson said: "We are still working on this and we hope to have something very soon."

The Washington Examiner
Charter schools crying foul over DCPS contract
By Leah Fabel
Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The District's charter schools are clamoring for more public dollars and threatening a lawsuit as the city's traditional schools approach what would be a lucrative teacher contract.

Charter advocates worry that the proposed contract --with healthy pay raises and the potential for thousands of dollars in bonuses -- would draw the highest-performing teachers back to DCPS.

That scenario drew little sympathy from members of the D.C. City Council at a recent budget hearing.

"What about the law says that this [labor] agreement would affect charters?" said Muriel Bowser, D-Ward 4. "I'm always a little surprised by the desire to be separate, except when it's really good."

Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, a vocal supporter of charters as healthy competition to traditional schools, nodded along with Bowser's remarks.

But what appears to be healthy competition is based on an unfair starting point, said Barnaby Towns, spokesman for Friends of Choice in Urban Schools.

"I agree [with competition], except that charters should get the same amount of public money," Towns said. "Even trying to poach teachers is fine as long as the public funding equity is there, which it currently isn't."

Charter schools receive about $8,800 per student for operating expenses and about $2,800 per student for facilities -- everything from renting or building a school, to upkeep, heating and cooling.

Actual spending on facilities is closer to $4,800 per student, according to the D.C. Public Charter School Board. The facilities budget for DCPS averages about $6,000 per student.

In addition, charter schools do not receive funding from the city for teacher pensions and are not given shares of various funding streams outside of local dollars.

Some charters are considering a lawsuit, Towns said, adding that the city's funding violates the School Reform Act passed in 1996, which guarantees equal funding.

"Charters have a very legitimate grievance," said Andrew Rotherham, founder of Bellwether Education Partners and a former charter trustee, adding that there's "no good rationale" for the unequal facilities funding.

He commended Rhee for her efforts in crafting a good contract for her teachers, but said that the city could be more aggressive in support of charters.

"In New York, the chancellor is renting vacant schools to charters for $1 per year," Rotherham said.

The Washington Post
D.C. lacks funding for teachers raises, CFO tells council
By Bill Turque
Saturday, May 1, 2010

The District's chief financial officer told the D.C. Council on Friday that the city remains short of the money needed to pay for raises in a proposed new teachers' contract and that he is not ready to declare the deal fiscally sound.

Natwar M. Gandhi's assessment means that uncertainty about the pact, hailed nationally as a groundbreaking plan that rewards teachers for performance rather than seniority, will continue at least for the near future.

The contract, which promises educators a five-year, 20 percent package of pay increases, cannot be presented to the Washington Teachers' Union or the council for approval until it receives Gandhi's blessing.

The analysis began a day of testimony from Gandhi and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee that highlighted the fiscal confusion surrounding the contract and the continuing tensions between their agencies. The Gandhi deputy assigned to Rhee's office, George Dines, said he was excluded from the chancellor's senior staff meetings because he was a temporary appointee. Under subsequent questioning, Dines also acknowledged that he had been unable to deliver timely financial reports to Rhee.

Gandhi told the council that although progress has been made in closing a $33 million funding gap, problems remain on two fronts. The city is still $10.7 million short of fully funding the pact, which will cost $135.6 million over the next four years. He reiterated that the District cannot use $21 million available from four private foundations to pay teacher salaries because the money comes with unacceptable conditions, including the group's right to withdraw it if the school system's leadership changes.

"At this time, we cannot certify the use of private foundation funds to support salary and benefits under the tentative agreement," he said.

Rhee, who followed Gandhi to the witness table, said the District is attempting to persuade the private funders -- the Broad, Arnold, Walton and Robertson foundations -- to modify their requirements. The hope is to allow the city to receive about $16.6 million in donations immediately after fiscal certification, union ratification and council approval of the contract.

The other issue is a projected $22 million in overspending in the school system's current budget. Gandhi disclosed the problem last month after Rhee announced that she intended to pay for part of the contract with a $34 million surplus. Gandhi said most of the surplus was offset by overspending on overtime, special education and central office operations.

The school system "continues to face remaining spending pressures of $22.8 million," Gandhi said. "We cannot ignore these pressures as we work to close the FY 2010 fiscal gap in the tentative agreement."

Rhee said her staff was working on a package of reductions that would fill the gaps in the contract and the current budget but did not offer much detail.

"I'm perplexed why we don't have a better handle on these numbers," council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) said.

Rhee acknowledged it would have been better to seek fiscal certification before announcing the deal. She said she and union leaders were concerned about details being leaked to the media while the contract was pending in Gandhi's office.

"We regret the recent confusion around the fiscal viability of the contract," she said.

A new potential point of conflict surfaced Friday: pressure from public charter school officials to address what they say are inequities posed by the raises promised to D.C. teachers. Public and public charter schools receive the same funding per student, but charter advocates have long complained that public schools benefit from other money outside the per-student formula. The new salary structure would place charter schools at a competitive disadvantage in hiring good teachers, charter advocates say.

Barnaby Towns, spokesman for Friends of Choice in Urban Schools, said some schools are considering legal action against the District if it does not agree to change the student funding formula to account for the pay increases.

D.C. charter school supporters are threatening legal action against the city if the mayors fiscal 2010 and 2011 budget proposals fail to comply with legal mandates for the per-pupil funding formulas.

The threat came Friday as D.C. Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee testified before the D.C. Council on budget disparities and the tentative contract with the Washington Teachers Union.

The union's teachers have been working without a contract with D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) since 2007. The new $1.27 billion deal would cover five years' worth of raises from 2007 through 2012. The performance-pay plan is a voluntary one whose details have yet to be ironed out. The fact that merit pay is part of a deal for unionized workers has nonetheless been touted as "groundbreaking," "historic" and a "game-changer."

The charter school community sees things differently.

Advocates for charters, which are public schools that operate outside the usual school bureaucracy, say they back raises for teachers and support Miss Rhee's efforts to raise private funds. But they say the proposed Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) is inequitable and titled toward traditional D.C. Public Schools.

Charter schools are entitled to uniform per-pupil operating funds in accordance with local and federal laws, Barnaby Towns, a spokesman for Friends of Choice in Urban Schools, told The Washington Times. The union deal pays for DCPS teachers but not charter school teachers.

"D.C. charter schools are not receiving uniform operating funding in fiscal year 2010 and will not receive uniform operating funding in fiscal year 2011," Mr. Towns said. "In each of these years, DCPS gets tens of millions of dollars in additional operating funding through and outside the UPSFF. DCPS can use this additional money for teacher pay raises, but charters do not have this money."

Mr. Towns continued, "Any additional public funding needed for DCPS teacher pay increases should be put through the funding formula. [The] inequity in public funding could be legitimately pursued in a lawsuit."

During his testimony on Friday, Mr. Gandhi told lawmakers that charter school advocates are "quite organized in seeking more money from the city."

Mr. Gandhi said that before he reconsiders certifying the union deal, lawmakers and the mayor must close two budget gaps -- a $28.7 million gap in 2010 and a $135.6 million gap through 2013.

The Washington Informer
PCSB revokes charter of Young America Works, more should come
By Mark Lerner
Thursday, April 29, 2010

I want to turn our attention away from the intergovernmental skirmishing over the new DCPS teachers' union contract with only one additional comment.  If the Mayor and City Council find a way to fund the missing $50 million to get Ms. Rhee out of this mess they can most certainly identify a measly $8.7 million to restore the charter school facility allotment back to $3,109 per child.  Fair is fair.

The PCSB announced yesterday that it had agreed to revoke the charter of Young America Works.  Contained in the press release announcing the decision is this interesting tidbit.  During its existence the board has closed 5 schools and another 8 have voluntarily relinquished their charter rather than go through the revocation process.  This comes out to about 1 school a year.  I think they need to pick up the pace.

What about the 10 schools clustered in FOCUS's School Achievement and Growth Graph demonstrating DC - CAS results under 50 percent proficiency in reading and math and below the average annual growth in these scores of 12 percent?  Do we want to be known as a movement of mediocrity?

I think the members of the PCSB need to get together and set minimum proficiency rates for a school to continue.  I hope the bar is set high.  After all it is a high quality academic program that our movement is supposed to be offering.

The Washington Post
19 area principals receive Post's Distinguished Educational Leadership Awards
By Christy Goodman
Friday, April 30, 2010

One principal visits each incoming student at home. Another has inspired students with special needs to apply for college. Yet another filled her school with love and made her teachers feel like superheroes.

Nineteen of the region's top educators, one from each area school system, were honored Wednesday night with The Washington Post's Distinguished Educational Leadership Awards by Donald E. Graham, chairman of The Washington Post Co.

Calling the award-winning principals "our life's blood," Graham said, "They are what makes our schools a successful place."

"The outpouring of love in the nomination packages for each of you . . . is more than I can convey," Graham said at the ceremony at The Post's main building.

John Brewer of Dominion High School in Loudoun County has visited more than 5,000 students at home. The work of Susan J. Johnson of Commonwealth Academy, a private school in Alexandria, to encourage her students with learning disabilities to succeed is a miracle, said one parent. A letter nominating Patricia Crain de Galarce of Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School in the District thanked her for the "love you brought to our school."

The Distinguished Educational Leadership Awards were established in 1986. Each principal is chosen by his or her school system based on nominations from teachers, parents, students and colleagues.

Other winners and their schools and systems:

Cynthia D. Baker, General Smallwood Middle School, Charles County; Ruth Barnes, Neval H. Thomas Elementary School, the District; Eric Brent, Forest Park High School, Prince William County; Linda Stith Clark, J.G. Brumfield Elementary School, Fauquier County; and Jonathan Davis, Bollman Bridge Elementary School, Howard County.

Also, Lynne Evans, Eastport Elementary School, Anne Arundel County; Justin FitzGerald, Bond Mill Elementary School, Prince George's County; August Frattali, Rachel Carson Middle School, Fairfax County; Donna L. House, Barstow Elementary School, Calvert County; Sandra M. Kerner, Ridge Elementary School, St. Mary's County; Lisa L. Martin, Colonial Forge High School, Stafford County; Eric L. Minus, Francis Scott Key Middle School, Montgomery County; Kristi M. Mitchell, Brunswick High School, Frederick County; Sharon G. Monde, Jefferson Middle School, Arlington County; Melissa Saunders, Grace E. Metz Middle School, Manassas; and James H. Wilson, Northern Virginia Juvenile Detention Home School, Alexandria.

The Afro-American Newspaper
Friendship Charter on Course to Eliminate Minority Health Disparities
By Dorothy Rowley
Wednesday, April 28, 2010

WASHINGTON - Students at Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School in Northeast Washington, who plan to pursue medical professions, got a chance earlier this month to explore their career dreams with assistance from people already working in the field.

But more importantly, they realized that by remaining in school, they stood at the forefront of helping to eliminate minority health disparities.

"The biggest thing that we pointed out was making sure that students who are going into the medical field have to stay in school to get their education," said Dr. James Rohack, president of the American Medical Association.

Rohack participated in the event on behalf of AMA's Doctors Back to School (DBTS) project, a nationwide effort that endeavors to increase the number of minority physicians.

Rohack said DBTS was created seven years ago by AMA's minority affairs consortium after realizing that in many instances, minority children hardly get a chance to see a physician outside of illness.

"One of the things that we recognized - especially for the Black minority population - was that while the national statistics show between 10 percent and 12 percent of our population is Black - only 5 percent of physicians are Black."

He said that this year, more than 100,000 students from middle and high schools across the country participated in the DBTS program. In doing so, they asked questions ranging from how to become a nurse to becoming a medical researcher.

However, "it's difficult to accept someone into medical school if they haven't graduated from high school," Rohack said. "So the reality has been that the matriculation rates for high school [minority] students make it very difficult for them to proceed on to college and obviously on to medical school."

He said that he found it "exciting" that 100 percent of Friendship's students graduate high school.

"And that in itself highlights a very important first step to eliminating health disparities among minorities ," Rohack said, adding that AMA offers a scholarship program in which $10,000 is awarded to medical students from minority backgrounds.

Among Friendship's curriculum offerings are a workforce development track that includes certificates for pharmacy tech assistant, emergency management technician, certified nursing assistant and a trainer assistant program.  In addition, students can explore careers in biotech engineering and research.?

This year marks Friendship's first year in the program, with 33 students participating in the allied health initiative.

Dianne Harris, Friendship's director of health services, said the event was exactly what her students needed. "Being an urban school, our kids are faced with a lot of different other challenges that they don't see in their communities," Harris said. ?

"As we're dealing with health care reform and looking at all the health disparities in the Black community, we really need to make our students more aware of their surroundings and help them to understand why we have these disparities," Harris continued. "Getting them to be more active in a positive way will hopefully change that and shift the paradigm of how our kids view their communities."

Mike Townsend, spokesman for Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) in the District, also participated, noting that his organization has been an advocate since 1996 of the city's public charter schools.

"Friendship Collegiate recognizes this need and has committed to giving its students the opportunity to learn about and prepare for a career in the health care field," said Townsend.

The Current
D.C. charter advocate hails movement's achievements
Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Charter school advocate Malcolm Peabody - whom some D.C. officials have called the "godfather" of local charter schools - recently touted the independent schools' role in the city at a Rotary Club of Washington meeting.

At the Rotarians' March 31 meeting, Peabody explained that public charter schools got their start with congressional legislation in 1996. Two charters opened in Washington that year. This school year, there are 57 charters with 99 campuses and more than 27,000 students - accounting for about 38 percent of the population of publicly funded schools.

Peabody said the charters' independence makes them stronger than traditional public schools. They have full control of staffing and budgeting, with principals and leaders making the decisions on hiring and firing. The result, he said, "is a much better experience than you will get in a regular school."

Each charter receives public funds based on the same per-student allowance provided to traditional public schools, though staff pensions at traditional schools are funded separately, while those at charters must come out of the general allocation, Peabody said.

In addition, separate funds maintain and construct traditional public schools buildings - which is not the case for charters. Charter schools typically engage in fundraising to supplement their tax dollars.

The night before the Rotary meeting, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent Gray joined Peabody at the awards ceremony at the Carnegie Institution of Washington for the Friends of Choice in Urban Schools, which Peabody founded. Gray praised charters for doing "a fantastic job of opening new classrooms" despite receiving less in facilities funding than traditional schools do. "It should be the same investment for both," he said.

Several charter schools won honors at the ceremony. KIPP: Key Academy - one of three Knowledge Is Power Program middle schools in D.C. - won an award for outstanding performance for its middle school campus. The Southeast school, where 78 percent of students come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, has the highest test scores among D.C. public middle schools. In 2009, 77.3 percent of students tested proficient or better on the city's reading assessment, and 94.2 percent tested proficient or better in math.

Northwest's Meridian Public Charter School, where 84 percent of students are economically disadvantaged, won the elementary school award, having logged major gains in test scores. The percentage of students testing proficient or better in reading leapt from 28.7 per- cent in 2006 to 66.4 percent in 2009. The jump in math was even bigger: from 22.3 percent in 2006 to 72.0 percent in 2009.

Peabody noted that traditional public schools have seen increased scores, but he said that if the share of disadvantaged students is accounted for, charters are doing better.

He said that data on students from traditional and charter schools who tested proficient and above is now available at focusdc.org. "This will be powerful in holding schools accountable as we track their progress," he said.