EmpowerEd Testimony School Budget Bills Hearing

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Good Afternoon Chairperson and Council Members. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today on the Schools Full Budgeting Amendment Act and the Schools First in Budgeting Amendment Act. We approach this conversation with two important guideposts- how do we provide our schools the stability they need and how do we ensure equitable budgets that truly provide each school community with what that specific community needs. Both of these bills are aimed at the first objective, providing schools more stability, but do not address how to make budgeting more equitable. I must say upfront the timing of this hearing provides a difficult context. DCPS is currently undergoing a process to modify their longstanding budgetary approach with a mixed formula approach that in theory will center equity- but for which we have not yet seen simulations with actual schools. Without that context, it becomes difficult to judge how these separate efforts would interplay with a new budget model and what the ultimate results would be for school communities.

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Alpert Ward 2 Ed Council Testimony on B24-0570 and B24-0571

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As a general supporter of executive discretion, in theory, I think budgets should be formed by DCPS with input from principals and parents. But the way schools cower in fear of sudden cuts even during flush times for this city does not work for our schools. Further, the process of rolling out a new budget model over the last year and beyond is so egregious in its secrecy and contempt for the council and for parents that the council must act.

I’d much prefer to work on issues collaboratively with city officials, as opposed to in opposition. That was my strategy for transportation and planning advocacy in the past, and I found it to be an effective one. We want the same things - successful and equitable public education serving the children of DC.

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DC SHAPPE: Council Hearing on the Schools First Budgeting Amendment Act and the Schools Full Budgeting Amendment Act of 2021

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support the intent to ensure that DCPS schools are stable, able to expand programming and meet the needs of their students and families. I acknowledge the Council is working to solve a problem that has been persistent.

The first issue before the Council, not dealt with yet, is the way we fund public education effective, efficient and fair? We have policy that does not limit the number of schools, incentivizes families to exit rather than invest and in the name of neutrality does not prioritize its own DCPS system of right.

Today, considering the Schools First Budgeting Amendment Act, It is premature for us to recommend changes of the magnitude recommended without knowing more about the DCPS budgets for this year and thus as proposed in these bills for perpetuity.

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Laura Fuchs Council Testimony Bill 24-570 “Schools First in Budgeting Amendment Act of 2021” and Bill 24-571 “Schools Full Budgeting Amendment Act of 2021”

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We have said it before and clearly we will have to say it again: Budgets are moral documents and are the foundation upon which our education programming is built. It is simply not possible to achieve our ambitious and important equity goals without equitable funding. And as we have seen time and time again, equity cannot be achieved if left up solely to a Mayor and their central office team – it must be inclusive of the stakeholders and those who are actually implementing the policy – and we cannot operate in the dark.

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A DCPS Teacher Who Helped Create RCTs Speaks Out

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Ed. Note: What follows is an edited interview between DCPS parent Betsy Wolf and a DCPS teacher who helped create RCTs (required curricular tasks) for DCPS. As a condition of this interview, the teacher’s identity remains confidential. DCPS is currently using RCTs as a means of student assessment this school year. But RCTs were created last school year by DCPS specifically to help teachers with virtual instruction, aligned with the use of Canvas. The idea then was to help make online curriculum engaging in a virtual setting. Now, teachers are reporting that RCTs are unhelpful to them, because they do not provide usable feedback and are poorly designed as summative assessments. RCTs also take important instruction time away because DCPS has many other required assessments. Digital inequity just exacerbates these problems: As most DCPS schools do not have a 1:1 student device ratio, many teachers can give RCTs only on paper, then enter the data manually into Canvas. Yet, according to another DCPS teacher who testified during the DCPS budget hearing on November 9, DCPS has spent more than $10 million on the company and electronic system that RCTs use. Read on for a fuller accounting of the steep price of RCTs in our schools.]

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DCFPI Update on School Based Mental Health Ask

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$841K in local, recurring dollars:

o The Mayor’s proposed budget includes $5.8 million in DBH’s budget for SBMH - this is enough to fund 83 schools at a lower grant level (83 schools x ~$70,000 = ~$5.8 million)

o CBO grants should be closer to ~$80,000. The ~$80,000 reflects a roughly $10,000 supplement DBH gave to CBOs for Cohorts 1-3 to cover increased costs in FY 2021. This enhancement was made possible by $1.5M in ESSER GEERS funding that the DME gave to DBH.

o We are asking for an additional $841,000 to get CBO grants for Cohort 4 to the right size of ~$80,000 (83 schools x ~$10,000 = ~$841,000)

· $1.5 million in one-time federal dollars:

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Mayor’s FY22 Budget Compared to Digital Equity in DC Education’s Asks

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June 2021 Mayor Bowser’s FY22 budget makes significant investments in DCPS for student and teacher devices, as well as technology support and school IT infrastructure. However, there is no mention of a citywide vision or plan to close the digital divide and ensure all residents have access to reliable, high quality internet.

Below we compare the mayor’s proposed budget to our January 2021 recommendations to the mayor.

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WRITTEN STATEMENT OF MARY FILARDO, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, 21ST CENTURY SCHOOL FUND, WASHINGTON DC BEFORE THE HOUSE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR ON APRIL 28, 2021

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I will address the following three questions in my written testimony:

1. Does our country need a federal program that invests in rebuilding our elementary and secondary public school buildings and grounds?

2. Is the Reopen and Rebuild America’s School Act (RRASA) the right federal program to address these issues?

3. Does the Reopen and Rebuild America’s School Act belong in a major infrastructure package with roads, highways, and bridges and other major public works sectors?

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