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

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?

Ms. Marino’s deep connections to private money in the charter sector could lead to conflict of interest issues or the appearance of conflict of interest should she serve on the PCSB. She is the founder of Education Forward, an organization focused on expanding the charter sector in DC. She is currently a partner at the City Fund, which works nationally to expand the charter sector and direct funds to charter schools as well as local organizations that fund DC charters outside the funding formula you oversee. 

Among the local organizations City Fund supports are the DC Charter Alliance and Education Forward DC. This year, the charter board used money from Education Forward to pay for a Bellwether study on mergers and acquisitions. Notably, that study included feedback from 16 charter schools, of which almost half received money directly from Education Forward. Also notably, that study included no parent, teacher, or student feedback. Education Forward has also granted money to a variety of DC charter schools with less-than-stellar performance records, including several that have recently ceased operation. 

DC code and regulations do not adequately protect the public against such potential conflicts. The council’s and mayor’s legal counsels signed off on the legal sufficiency of this nomination, but it is unclear if the issues raised by us here were considered. Both legal counsel offices rely on DC code (specifically, https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/38-1802.14) to determine conflict of interest for PCSB board members, but that code is silent on these issues. The charter board’s own bylaws (https://dcpcsb.egnyte.com/dl/hrS8FjBqYk/) outline recusal scenarios. Given Ms. Marino’s extensive policy and fiscal ties to DC’s charter sector, she may well be unable to vote on many issues presented to the board if these bylaws and recusal scenarios are followed.

Because it is unclear whether this candidate and the conditions for this position ensure the objectivity needed to oversee, authorize, and regulate DC's charter sector, we respectively ask that Ms. Marino's nomination be tabled and not voted on. Thank you.

Cathy Reilly, DC resident, C4DC leader

Suzanne Wells, DC resident, C4DC member

Valerie Jablow, DC resident, C4DC member

202-997-1563 (Valerie)