March 16, 2026 Letter to Mayor and Council - Resist Voucher Funds

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Dear Mayor Bowser and Members of the DC Council,

We value public education. If you share that value, you cannot opt into Section 70411 of the OBBBA which creates a K-12 federal tax credit voucher program and allows states to opt in. Beginning in 2027, individuals can get a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit – up to $1,700 per year per person ($3400 for married couples) – for donations made to designated scholarship granting organizations (SGOs). The SGO must distribute 90% of its income to provide vouchers to students attending K–12 schools to support educational costs. The vast majority of the funding is expected to be directed to private school tuition subsidies.

We have no reason to believe that further guidance will allow the mayor to control how these funds are spent. The goal is to privatize education. These are vouchers that divert funds away from public schools. There is no cap on how much in vouchers is available. Families making up to $329,000 would be eligible. While it is allowed it is not required for any funds to be distributed to support students in public schools. Tax credits mean less money available to be spent to support public education, health, SNAP etc. Additionally, voucher expansions necessarily disenfranchise students with disabilities, who may not realize that they waive their IDEA rights if entering into private systems. Students who identify as Multilingual Learners also have no guaranteed services in private systems, and students who experience disciplinary pushout, particularly students of color, have few discrimination protections. The history of school voucher programs show clear exclusionary and racist intent, which has not been mitigated by the OBBA policy. This lack of support has a clear and immediate effect for students who might “benefit” from SGOs.

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Council Public Education Oversight Hearing

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I appreciate the opportunity to testify. 

I want to acknowledge the good work on the Advanced Technical Center especially the planned opening of the Ward 8 center in partnership with Whitman Walker.  This is an example where the DME and OSSE have come together to expand opportunities for young people and also support a community. 

At the same time as the Career and Technical Education programming has expanded with grant money and public money the State Board of Education is working on a revision to the Graduation Requirements.  The SBOE task force that is meeting is working with the need to balance a strong academic foundation with the emphasis on exposure and readiness to the workplace.  It is a strong advisory group and the elected SBOE members are working toward recommendations which will go to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education OSSE. 

Right now OSSE can choose whether to accept and work with these.  The SBOE does not have the power to amend or even propose what they have authority to vote on.  They may only vote up or down what OSSE presents.  You have a recommendation before you to change that.  I urge you in this moment where we have so little electoral power to hold a hearing and vote on their recommendation to modestly expand their ability to do well what they are tasked with.  You well understand the cost of not having control and the cost of that.  This is an area where a vote from the SBOE is required, they should absolutely be able to work together to amend if that is necessary to honor the work they have done with their constituents. 

I have appreciated the transparent and inclusive process the DME is using with COMPACT 2043.  I am concerned that we balance how to prepare a work force and prepare young people to be in that work force with providing a base of knowledge in the core areas.  There is a lot to consider with Artificial Intelligence and a rapidly changing technical world.  I have felt there is space to consider this in the process has so far pursued. 

On the Public Charter School Board, I urge the Council to exercise its oversight authority.  While you noted Chairman, that the city has chosen autonomy – these are public funds and the families in the charter schools deserve oversight and the ability to appeal to you when things are not working. 

We are heading into a more challenging era, where joint planning should be required and overseen.  Thank you

DC Council Oversight Hearing on DCPS and the Public Charter School Board

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I appreciate the opportunity to testify.  I am Cathy Reilly of the Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals and Educators for the last 28 years.  I facilitate C4DC and the Ward 4 Education Alliance. 

I have been impressed and inspired by the work in these schools despite a year of considerable challenges.  The Ward 4 schools continue to grow and thrive, families came together this fall to support the immigrant new comer population treasured here.  Ward 4 had to fight to get the two middle schools that are now thriving and collaborating.  With some additional housing going up, some of the schools have been able to gain enrollment lost as families were deported or chose to leave. However across the city and especially in wards 1 and 4 this has been a loss.

As you work to amend Schools First and respond to a changing landscape, I appreciate having ways to take into account things that are outside the control of schools and keep in mind the importance of maintaining and growing the DCPS public system of right and of choices. Among these is the need for a DCPS central office to have the capacity to address the HB1 Visa and green cards the international teachers require.  Everything cannot be passed to schools and the advantage of a system is that cost can be distributed and equity attended to.  This also applies to the Connected Schools program and community schools. 

SHAPPE has been meeting for 28 years this month.  There have been many changes but all of the DCPS high school communities have continued to work to keep students engaged and safe. 

Enrollment continues to fluctuate with expanding inventory beyond capacity.  We no longer have the financial cushion we once had, the financial plan is not fully funded. There have been substantial cuts to healthcare already which will have a wide ranging effect. 

As a city we have tolerated and funded inefficiency in the way we plan, and fund public education. I hope we can proceed with a larger and longer view.  The decision to move 32m in fixed costs out of DCPS and into DGS as the city agency responsible for paying those bills follows decisions over years to fund facilities outside of the UPSFF including with the Charter School Facilities Allowance and the Capital plan.  Recommendations are in the 2023 Boundary Plan as well as here.  I would like to be part of wrestling with this inefficiency and needed policy. 

Some additional needs that can be addressed in this budget process include:

·       the needs of the New Heights Program.  Not funding the needs of students expecting children does not mean those needs go away.  How can these needs continue to be met.

·       the need for flexibility from the executive in the ability to access funds for school specific needs and this could be true for central staff as well–

·       Funding accessibility includes the issues with buses for field trips and international school to school exchange trips.  Risk management in the executive makes the final decisions.  There should be an appeal process and a more competitive contracting for buses.

Thank you

Letter to Council Members regarding the nomination of Ms. Marino to PCSB

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We are writing to express our concern over the nomination of Maura Marino for the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB) and ask that Ms. Marino’s nomination be tabled and not voted on. 

As both authorizer and regulator, the PCSB must maintain neutrality in all its decision making. The council allocates the authority to oversee and regulate the charter sector to the PCSB and provides $1 billion dollars in public money annually to fund it. 

Ms. Marino has extensive professional involvement in expanding the charter sector in DC and directing philanthropic dollars to individual DC charter schools, including ones that have struggled with performance and finances. The question for all of us is: Does Ms. Marino’s close connection to charter school expansion in DC and philanthropic funding to the charter sector compromise her ability to be neutral and objective in the decisions the PCSB makes on everything from charter school accountability to mergers and acquisitions and whether a school opens or closes?

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Attendance and Truancy

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The most concerning numbers are the schools with high percentages of students with over 21 unexcused absences.  These are largely in our neighborhood high schools and in areas of the city where there is more concentrated poverty.  The numbers are staggering and beg for a deeper understanding at each of the sites. 

Continuing to address food and housing challenges and the reductions in health care access are critical as a start.

Either students and families are not safe or do not feel safe attending. Or we do not have the agreement of these young people and or their families that it matters if they attend, not because of the threats of failure or punishment, but because it will benefit them and give them a future.  Or they are missing school for significant reasons and this is not being captured in the excused or unexcused data process for us to attend to.  Or the students are in school but missing 40% of their classes.  With failure due to absence, once a student has missed class 30 times in the course of a year, they have failed.  Once a student is absent 20 consecutive days and all required interventions have been performed, they can be withdrawn.  While these are reasonable requirements, it does mean that there is no point in attending after these thresholds have been reached.  These may not be all of the reasons but they are a good start.

Along with housing, food and health care – safety.  Right now, primarily in wards 1 and 4 it is not safe for parents to take their children to school if they can be profiled as Hispanic or are their legal status is not secure.  Children see adults detained by masked men coming from unidentified cars and often accompanied by MPD.  If students are over 18, they can also be hassled, detained and deported even if they are picking up younger siblings.  There are multiple examples cited here in this letter.  Trauma, losing a parent, watching adults have to stand by while a loved one is taken away in this manner has severely undermined the trust in the city, the schools both charter and DCPS, and above all that the police are concerned with keeping everyone safe.  The African American communities in parts of our city have confronted threats to their safety for decades as well. 

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PCSB Council Budget Hearing May 30, 2025 Valerie Jablow

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I am Valerie Jablow, a DC resident and education analyst, commenting on the mayor’s proposed budget with respect to charter facilities funds.

In the face of cuts to essential social services in DC in the proposed budget, it is imperative that DC ends the blank check that is annual per pupil facilities payments to DC charter schools. Over the last decade, DC has sent more than $1 billion in per pupil facilities payments to the dozens of nonprofits running DC charter schools.

Importantly, DC has no clear accounting of what that >$1 billion in facilities money was actually used for.

Below I have outlined the many expensive problems associated with such faith-based oversight of DC charter facilities payments—and offer some concrete solutions.

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2025-5-30 PCSB Council Budget Oversight Testimony

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I appreciate this opportunity to testify on the Public Charter School Board.  The Council has the power to put in place policies that are fiscally sound and will better protect families and provide greater stability. 

Here are three recommendations

Ø  First: There should be a policy put in place by the Council regardless of any voluntary shift in practice by the PCSB that requires notification by the PCSB of financial monitoring or citations of concern after the Oct. 5th student count and before the Dec 16th opening of the lottery. 

Because: Last summer Eagle Academy Public Charter School closed in August forcing those families to find a school on the eve of the start of a new school year.  This spring families at I Dream and Hope PCS find themselves post lottery looking for space for their children. A few of these families are the same families displaced by the Eagle closing.  We have a system that incentivizes mobility and instability prioritizing operators and often to the disadvantage of families. Charter schools or even the PCSB make decisions that effect whether a school will remain open after the lottery has closed.

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New U Early College Public Charter School,

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This is a school for 11th and 12th graders, so it is dependent on students leaving their current high school.  The Boundary and Student Assignment Study completed in 2024 included a strong recommendation on planning both within the charter sector and between DCPS and the charter schools.  This application does not address the ramifications for schools that will be affected by the exodus of students after 10th grade.  It is a very limited cohort starting with 33 students and going to 144.  While it is all about doing college in high school and compressing the experience to make it more economical, it does not adequately address quality or what might be a full educational experience for 16- to 18-year-olds.

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Board of Trustees Training Amendment Act of 2025 3-26-2025 Hearing

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I am Cathy Reilly, director of the Senior Alliance of Parents, Principals and Educators and facilitator for the Ward 4 Education Alliance and the Coalition for DCPS and Communities. I am submitting testimony on the Board of Trustees Training Amendment Act of 2025 which requires the Public Charter School Board (PCSB) in coordination with the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to offer a school governance mandatory training for members of a Board of Trustees of a public charter school.

This act is the sole legislation proposed in response to the closing of Eagle Academy Public Charter School in August of 2024 causing significant disruption for these families as well as for the entire system as it worked to place these students in schools.  It is inadequate.

As the Council steps into greater oversight of the PCSB due to the exposure of issues apparent in the December 5th hearing on the closing of Eagle, what is the larger plan to protect the institution of public education in DC? I suggest that you consider the following:

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Jablow testimony, board training bill 3/26/25

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I am Valerie Jablow, a DC education analyst.

The bill that is the subject of this hearing--to provide training to board members of DC charter schools--came about in the wake of the rather dramatic collapse of Eagle Academy, which included the equally dramatic step of its board to close the school a week before the start of this school year.

It is tempting to believe that better board training would have prevented that--or at least minimized the damage.

Unfortunately, that is not the case—and this legislation doesn’t prevent it from happening again. That is because this legislation would not prevent a head of school from keeping important fiscal matters away from its board; not representing fiscal matters directly to the board; and/or repeatedly misrepresenting this to the council and charter board without any check by either body.

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