Performance Oversight Hearing DC Public Schools March 1, 2023 Testimony of Suzanne Wells President, Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization

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Thank you for the opportunity to testify at today’s Performance Oversight hearing. My name is Suzanne Wells. I am the president of the Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization, but the testimony I am delivering today is my own.

My testimony will focus on 1) deep concerns with the planning between DCPS and the independent Public Charter School Board, and the urgent need to amend the School Reform Act, 2) the need to increase the salaries of educational aides, and 3) asking DCPS to consider a child of staff lottery preference.

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Elizabeth Corinth Testimony on School Budgets

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Hello my name is Elizabeth Corinth. I am a Ward 6 resident, the LSAT Chair for School-Within-School @ Goding where my 3 children attend, and a co-organizer of the DC LSAT Collective, which is a volunteer-run group formed to promote mutual support and sharing of best practices among DCPS Local School Advisory Team members.

I’m here today to speak specifically to the impact of the recently released budget allocations on School-Within-School @ Goding. In this second year of the implementation of DCPS’s new budget model, we have definitely experienced the “fiscal cliff” which many had warned about. Let me walk through how that came about, since many schools find themselves in a similar place right now.

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Testimony submitted to Council on WTU Contract for 2023-2-1 Hearing

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We support the Council approving the negotiated WTU contract to better support their members- the DCPS teacher corps. ……..

For now, we stand by our memo of January 12th.  We do not believe that the retroactive funds in the WTU contract allocated specifically for DCPS teachers (as described in the contract) should be disbursed to the charter LEAs. UPSFF funds going forward for both sectors will be part of the FY24 budget discussions and will thus apply to all LEAs. 

Pay and benefits in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that cover 2019 through this year are for specific individuals and were negotiated by one of 69 LEAs - the publicly managed DCPS. Whatever you decide, it has to be specific to LEA, aligned with demonstrated facts on salary, raises, and existing resources as it is for DCPS, and by teacher not enrollment.  

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Council Hearing on Literacy and the NAEP and PARCC Assessments - Mary Levy (December 7, 2022)

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As a budget and policy analyst, an education finance lawyer, and a DCPS parent, I have been collecting data and otherwise involved in DC public education for over 40 years.  My contribution on the subject of today’s hearing is to provide data on the District’s scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).

 Although the scores of DC as a whole and of DCPS are part of the agency’s standard reporting, charter sector scores are not, so I have extracted them from NAEP’s on-line data tool.  This is a lot of work, meaning that you are not likely to get these data elsewhere.  Therefore, at the end of my written testimony is a full set of graphs with the scores that I have extracted in reading and math, 4th grade and 8th grade.

 The pandemic effects, a sample of which is below, may surprise you:

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DCPS Budget Hearing 11-16-22 Cathy Reilly

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My name is Cathy Reilly and I have the privilege and opportunity to facilitate and manage the Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals and Educators,(SHAPPE) as well as the Ward 4 Ed Alliance and C4DC Coalition for DC Public Schools and Communities.

We are very pleased that enrollment is up and strongly up in 9th and 10th grade. DCPS will need to maintain high school funding as well as ensure the elementary and middle schools are invested in and stable to keep these students living in the District and enrolled in DCPS. DCPS is in a competitive environment.

These are the items that rise to the top of the list now:

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DCPS Budget Hearing 11-16-22 Suzanne Wells

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My name is Suzanne Wells, and I am the president of the Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization.

I am testifying this evening about the need to increase the salaries of DCPS Educational Aides, school-based technology, and librarians.

Based on information from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 2921, the pay scale for a new Educational Aide (EG/DS-04, Step 1) in 2021 was $16.62. The starting salary of Educational Aides is only $0.52 above the minimum wage in DC. After ten years of service, the pay of an Educational Aide rises to only $21.16; a $4.54 increase.

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Memo to Council Members on Schools First in Budgeting Act

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Coalition for DC Public Schools and Communities (C4DC) is a coalition of groups and organizations that share values and priorities essential to excellent and equitable District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).

We believe that DCPS as the publicly governed, managed and funded system for public education is a critical part of our democratic system of government. This citywide system must guarantee education rights for every school-age child — in every corner of the city.

The District of Columbia now has 69 separate local education agencies or school systems with no real limit on continued expansion regardless of thousands of excess seats in both sectors. The specter of school closings is the largest threat to stability. It will be inevitable if there is not a larger vision for stability and a willingness to take on limiting expansion with solid planning and a robust process of community engagement.

For DCPS, unlike the charter sector, the DC Council has authority through policy to oversee and support the DCPS school system. We support the intent of the Schools First in Budgeting Act B24-570 and its focus on stability. We have some concerns with unintended consequences given the baseline of this budget and some of its provisions. However as it moves forward we feel the points listed below can strengthen the intent of the bill.

After a lot of deliberation, we have consensus on the following points pertinent to Bill 24-570 The Schools First in Budgeting Amendment Act of 2022 and would like them considered for inclusion in the final draft.

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