how are dc public schools funded - is it ward property-tax dependent? it would be better if the good schools weren't concentrated in the wealthier neighborhoods, so that *all* dc kids could have a shot a decent public school education.

by AJ on Apr 13, 2009 12:39 pm • link • report

I don't think school funding is the overall determination of school success; just as important is the family and community. Ward 3 is all upper middle class professionals where there's a strong focus on education.

I have know people who are teachers in DCPS schools where parents just don't care. I've heard stories of parents cursing out teachers on the phone and telling them "when he's at school, he's your problem". I don't think DCPS can improve education in schools where the majority of students have that kind of home life.

by Adam L on Apr 13, 2009 12:43 pm • link • report

Interesting post. Do you know how many DC families send their kids to private schools? Probably way less than 10%. And how many of those families would consider sending them to DCPS Schools? Probably very few. They'd just move to MoCo.

Besides this "failing" economy isn't hurting the upper crust, very much, is it? They're just just skiing in Aspen instead of jetting off to Switzerland. I think private school education will remain pretty high on the list of priorities for these families. At least I hope it would!

by Tom A. on Apr 13, 2009 1:01 pm • link • report

Private school enrollment is dropping because people just don't have the money. If their only alternative is DCPS and they can't get into a decent school like Oyster, they move out of DC. DCPS has had decades it fix its inept bureaucracy and ineffectual administrators. I hope Rhee's reforms work, but for too many residents, it's too little too late.

Nobody in their right mind moves to DC because of the schools.

by monkeyrotica on Apr 13, 2009 1:16 pm • link • report

It will take a holistic approach to truly improve DCPS. For families committed to staying in DC, finding a good school is a major issue and not all can afford a private school and many of the charter schools are not much better. I know of one family who is rented a studio apartment in the Palisades area just to use the address to send their child to a better school in Ward 3. It makes me wonder how often this happens in DC?

by Lynda on Apr 13, 2009 1:20 pm • link • report

I would certainly classify DC Public Schools as inferior goods (pun intended).

Most of your post is based off wishful thinking..."if only ____".

Rather than shout for glee that people cannot afford private school and are forced to send their kids to crappy public schools, why not make the public schools better so that they're a competitive alternative?

[i]But MPC, how do you intend to make schools better?[/i]

The answer is out there, everyone knows what it is, but it would never fly among liberals because it would imply that unions and bureaucracy get in the way of efficiency, so I won't rehash it.

by MPC on Apr 13, 2009 2:00 pm • link • report

Improvement in DCPS will happen, and even IS happening. However, starting from such a low base, it will take 10-15 years and a "tipping point" of achieving students and families for an accelerated improvement to occur. The elephant in the room is that gentrification (in many ways, economic diversification) will be the best way to improve schools. An increasing tax base, a more active group of parents, a louder cry for improvement, and students without as many "home issues", etc. The first stage, which is happening before our very eyes now and throughout the next 5 years, is the top to bottom reconstruction of all DC Public schools. A few have been completed, many more are in process, and lots more yet are on the docket. Like most things, it's not a silver bullet because facility quality does not equate to student/teacher quality, BUT it will bring the schools up to 21st century learning standards, allow kids to take pride in their surroundings, and attract those who might not ordinarily consider public schools to reconsider. The next step, which hopefully Rhee is succeeding with, is staffing these schools with successful, movitated teachers who have a proper support network and above-market compensation.

I also believe we should be rooting wholeheartedly for the success of the charter schools. From a parent's perspective, it allows you to send your kid to a school you choose regardless of where you live in the city. There are no geographic qualifiers. If there are enough "premier" charter schools, parents can raise kids in areas where the public schools may be weak but still be able to be confident that the children are receiving a good (free) education at a charter school. Competition breeds success, and will force DCPS to improve or continue to languish.

by SG on Apr 13, 2009 2:00 pm • link • report

DCPS is a "high spending" (>$14k/student/year) system. However, while it is the highest among urban schools in spending on "central admin", is among the lowest in terms of funding reaching the classroom! Not good. You do have to wonder why elected local representatives have put up with this and supported a dysfunctional system for so, so, so very long. I believe Rhee/Fenty are trying to make change/improvement happen and that most teachers are quite good. But there needs to be an effort to remove poor teaching teachers and to reward the very hard working, effective ones.

by Rhonda on Apr 13, 2009 3:01 pm • link • report

This post is a bit confusing because it fails to remind readers that charter schools are public and are free. Thus it should consider the public sector (DCPS + charters) and private sector (the small number of school age children who attend Catholic and other private schools).

The biggest recent enrollment shift resulted when a group of Catholic schools became charter schools, so the movement was not one of children but of schools. Thus to say that the Catholic schools lost "at least a thousand students last year" is a bit naive (or misleading).

Apart from that movement, the general trend has been movement from DCPS into (public, free) charters. So "Go public" is a strange campaign. The stiffest competition for DCPS is the charter schools and the neighboring suburbs.

And yes, Monkeyrotica, people DO move to DC for the schools, at least in the case of charters. For example, DC is the only place you can get free Chinese immersion (Washington Yu Ying PCS).

by Ward 1 Guy on Apr 13, 2009 3:09 pm • link • report

Rhonda: DCPS is a "high spending" (>$14k/student/year) system. However, while it is the highest among urban schools in spending on "central admin", is among the lowest in terms of funding reaching the classroom!

While DCPS does have high central administration costs, what most people forget is that DCPS covers both the local and "state" costs of education. When researchers calculate the per student cost of New York City Public Schools, for example, they often leave out the fixed costs paid for by the state government in Albany and only focus on the per-student cost paid by the local city government. The costs are undoubtedly higher when the cost of running the states' school systems are included in per capita spending.

by Adam L on Apr 13, 2009 5:45 pm • link • report

Adam

But by that logic, doesn't the DC government get local and 'state' revenues?

by MPC on Apr 13, 2009 5:54 pm • link • report

Adam L -- you are partly right, but recently DC has moved many if not all of the state functions out of DCPS, to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE). Thus, per pupil expenditures this year and going forward should reflect only district expenses, not state. Historical data might have the two combined.

I think the real reason DC public education costs may appear high is that very expensive special education drives the average per-pupil figure way up. If you get beat up in the courts until you are forced to pay for private facilities including residential programs for even 5 percent of your population, then you will appear to be over-spending per pupil. I bet the actual costs per student included in the regular testing regime are in line with most cities with similar demographics.

by Ward 1 Guy on Apr 13, 2009 5:54 pm • link • report

MPC -- You asked: doesn't the DC government get local and 'state' revenues?

The answer is basically no. It does have to charge high income taxes because 45% of the land is non-taxable (federal government, embassies, nonprofits, and religious institutions).

by Ward 1 Guy on Apr 13, 2009 5:59 pm • link • report

@Ward 1 Guy. On the other hand, it gets a lot of funding from the federal government.

DC's basic problem is that it's urban and has a high demand for social services because it's not very wealthy. Most states have a much higher ratio of richer (or less poor) areas without the high demand for these services, so the costs can be spread more broadly.

by ah on Apr 13, 2009 6:04 pm • link • report

Our two kids went to DCPS the whole way, starting in the Capitol Hill Cluster and finishing at Wilson SHS. One is now at the University of Michigan; the other has been accepted to all eight colleges she's applied to and is trying to decide which she will attend. We're quite happy with these results.

The house we found when we needed more space for our then preschoolers turned out to be in boundary for the Cluster. A decade or so later both girls were accepted into one of Wilson's citywide "academies" (which comprise about half the student body, the other half being in-boundary).

This all took a great deal of involvement on our part, occasionally quite stressful. At one point we were even considering the stratagem mentioned upthread, one of us taking an apartment in-boundary for Wilson. Fortunately this was not necessary.

In addition to satisfactory academics, the public schools had other important things to offer, particularly the great diversity of the students (especially at Wilson) and of the city itself, which the girls experienced directly by commuting across it by public transit (as I similarly did many years ago in Chicago). Moving to the suburbs might have made the quest for academic quality somewhat easier, but it would have produced a far less rich total experience.

We have no interest in the charter schools. Congress forces the District to give public school funding to any clown who can convince students to show up now and then; only a few of the most egregiously mismanaged operations have been shut down, and the overall quality is no better (objectively, probably worse) than the DCPS. Still, it is probably possible, with at least as much work as we expended, to find a sequence of reasonable charters.

My overall point: It is challenging but quite possible to extract good education from the DCPS. I think it may well be becoming more workable than it was when we did it, as the quantity and geographical distribution of demand for responsive, effective public education increases.

Still, I'm glad we're about to be done with this particular phase of our lives.

by david on Apr 13, 2009 6:55 pm • link • report

Ward 1 Guy - Yes, I know that the data will change in the future, but most people point to historical figures when making such comparisons. Additionally, I have seen researchers take the total amount the city budget grants to education (which includes DCPS, OSSE, and charters) and then divide that amount by the total number of students enrolled.

For sure, the special education costs are certainly much higher in the District than other jurisdictions, as are the costs associated with maintaining rundown facilities in the District versus the new schools constructed in the suburbs. Plus, the fact that expenditures on education do not decrease as quickly as the number of enrolled students also artificially inflates the per capita cost of education in the District.

And MPC: Of the $1.7 billion DC education budget, the federal government appropriated approximately $40 million in education grants to the city. Of course, that was out of the $40 billion that the federal government provided to K-12 school districts around the country in FY09.

by Adam L on Apr 13, 2009 7:21 pm • link • report

Right, public schooling in DC is problematic because of concentrated multigenerational poverty. Of course, the solutions to that are complex and multi-faceted. One of those solutions is the natural process where the economic demographics continue to diversify (i.e. gentrification).

Since the alternative to facing that reality is the Manichean & comforting belief that "black folks are stupid, and therefore DC government is intrinsically inept", that's the one that most conservatives cling to.

by ibc on Apr 13, 2009 7:42 pm • link • report

Charter schools ARE public schools in DC. This article is well below GGW standards for makingsensefulness.

Nonetheless, it is interesting that DCPS, the non-charter arm of the public schools, is advertising on WPGC, presumably to poach kids from the public charter schools: Sidwell Friends parents, after all, aren't the WPGC type. Wouldn't a wiser use of the air time be to encourage parents to avoid getting their kid classified as special ed?

by Turnip on Apr 13, 2009 7:47 pm • link • report

Turnip - I am fully aware that charter schools are public, but in this post I wanted to focus on DC public schools, speculation about ways DCPS could benefit from an economic downturn, and if parents find ways around the system (other than using a charter school). The charter school vs. public schools is different debate and would require its own post.

by Lynda on Apr 13, 2009 8:03 pm • link • report

Have known people who've raised kids in DC, Chicago, and New York. None lived in chi-chi neighborhoods. By knowing the optional attendance zones (many in DC, btw) and other tricks, they've been satisfied with teh results. I've taught and employed products of the various suburban districts and have had colleagues who grew-up in an earlier era. My overall impression is that DC probably falls short in some areas, esp. rigorous writing, but the suburban kids often have an undeserved chip on their shoulder, even in less regarded parts of MoCo or Fairfax. The process of improving schools is tougher than letting them slip. DC has slowly been moving in the right direction for the past decade. In small steps, schools like Oyster have gone from an immigrant's school to one that figures into house purchases. It will take a long time for this to filter beyond the Anacostia, but better management of the schools will move things more quickly.

by Rich on Apr 13, 2009 10:28 pm • link • report

Your statement "Catholic schools in the District have been particularly hard hit, losing at least a thousand students in the last year" is monumentally ill-informed, as Ward 1 Guy has already pointed out. The Archdiocese closed 7 schools and turned them into a single 7-school charter operated by the same knuckleheads who drove those 7 schools off the cliff as administrators of the Archdiocese Consortium of Inner-City Schools.

What not enough people know is that that Archdiocese then engaged in "tough negotiations" about rent for the school buildings with this phony public charter entity comprised of the Archbishop's former employees, and guess what? Rent was set so high that after 55% of the rent payment goes to the parish where the school is located or the Archdiocese, the other 45% goes directly to the 4 schools that continue to operate as Catholic schools. That's over $650,000 of DC taxpayer money going to subsidize 4 Catholic schools!

Imagine if the Archbishop'a lobbyist had come to the DC Council with a request for a $650,000 annual subsidy for 4 Catholic schools. They'd have been laughed out of the chamber.

This sleazy "public charter" of 7 former Catholic schools is exactly the same as a direct subsidy payment to the 4 schools that continue to operate as Catholic schools. I wonder why the Washington Post or the DC Examiner are too lame to investigate that.

by Trulee Pist on Apr 14, 2009 11:19 am • link • report

+ 1 to everything David said @6:55 pm.

I have two kids who traversed Capitol Hill Cluster School, one now at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, the other at School Without Walls. Kids like my kids come out of DCPS extremely well-prepared for higher education.

Like David, I have no use for charters. Better that parents like David commit to DCPS, get involved, and fight for the right of kids to learn. It worked for David, and it worked for me.

Move to the suburbs when the little dumpling darlings get old enough for pre-K? That's so last century.

by Trulee Pist on Apr 14, 2009 11:24 am • link • report

This is a great posting and there are some great comments. This is a fundamental discussion to have and be read by regular readers of this site. I look forward to going through it all.

Lynda, do you have a bio somewhere?

by Jazzy on Apr 14, 2009 3:12 pm • link • report

Jazzy - thanks! I not much of a transportation expert, so I see it as my job to inform and spark conversation about other social and economic issues that are important for creating and maintaining sustainable urban communities. I plan to write lots more about education. Let me know if there are other issues I should tackle! My bio on the "about us" page.

by Lynda on Apr 14, 2009 3:52 pm • link • report

 

I am a veteran teacher in Houston seeking a dialogue with Teach for America teachers nationally regarding policy positions taken by former Teach for American staffers who have become leaders in school district administrations and on school boards. I first became aware of a pattern when an ex-TFA staffer, now a school board member for Houston ISD, recommended improving student performance by firing teachers whose students did poorly on standardized tests. Then the same board member led opposition to allowing us to select, by majority vote, a single union to represent us.

Having won school board elections in several cities, and securing the Washington D.C Superintendent's job for Michelle Rhee, Wendy Kopp's friends are pursuing an approach to school reform based on a false premise: that teachers are the cause of sub-par academic performance in urban schools, They disregard major factors like the degree of parent commitment, students habits and economic inequality. 

The corporate-TFA nexus began when Union Carbide initially sponsored Wendy Kopp's efforts to create Teach for America. A few years before, Union Carbide's negligence had caused the worst industrial accident in history, in Bhopal, India. The number of casualties was as large as 100,000, and Union Carbide did everything possible to minimize its responsibility at the time it embraced Ms. Kopp. TFA recently started Teach for India. Are Teach for India enrollees, who presumably love their country and its people, aware of the the Union Carbide/TFA relationship?

When TFA encountered a financial crisis, Ms. Kopp  nearly went to work for the Edison Project, and was all but saved by their managerial assistance. The Edison Project sought to replace public schools with for-profit corporate schools funded by our tax money. Think Haliburton in your neighborhood. Ms. Kopp's husband, Richard Barth, was an Edison executive before taking over as CEO of KIPP's national foundation, where he has sought to decertify its New York City unions.

In 2000, two brilliant TFA alumni, the founders of KIPP Academy, joined the Bush's at the Republican National Convention in 2000. This gave pivotal cover for Bush, since as Governor he had no genuine educational achievements, and he needed the education issue to campaign as a moderate and reach out to the female vote. KIPP charter schools provide a quality education, but they start with families committed to education. They claim to be improving public schools by offering competition in the education market-place, but they take the best and leave the rest.

D.C. Superintendent Michelle Rhee's school reform recipe includes three ingredients: close schools rather than improve them; fire teachers rather than inspire them; and sprinkle on a lot of media-thrilling hype. Appearing on the cover of Time, she stood sternly with a broom in hand, which she was using to sweep trash, the trash being a metaphor for  my urban teacher colleagues. MS RHEE, MY COLLEAGUES WHO WORK IN SOME OF THE TOUGHEST SCHOOLS IN THE NATION ARE NOT TRASH.  They are American heroes!  

TFA teachers are highly effective educators, but when TFA's leadership argue that schools, and not inequality and bad habits, are the cause of the achievement gap, they are not only intellectually dishonest, they feed the the corporate influence which has blocked social changes we need to bolster our middle class, they aid the people who say the public sector can do nothing right, and thus should never regulate businesses or provide national health insurance or protect a workers right to organize. Our society has failed schools by permitting the middle class to shrink.

It's not the other way around. Economic inequality and insecurity produces ineffective public schools. It's not the other way around. Ms. Kopp claims TFA carries the civil rights torch for today, but Martin Luther King was the voice of unions on strike, not the other way around. His last book, Where do we go from here?, argued for some measure of wealth distribution, because opportunity would never be enough in a survival of the fittest society to allow most of the under-privileged to enter the middle class. My e-mail is JesseAlred@yahoo.com.

by JesseAlred on Apr 14, 2009 7:26 pm • link • report

If we recall Lynda's comments regarding the 14% growth of charter schools in DC and some of the other comments regarding the seeming concentration of quality schools in certain wards, then Tommy Wells may be trying to help balance that disproportion. He has introduced legislation that seeks to make public charter schools more accessible to the students of the neighborhoods they operate in, helping to create access to high quality charter schools that can become positive centers of a community.

by fyi on Apr 17, 2009 12:56 am • link • report

Or maybe Councilmember Wells has come to recognize that flirting with charter schools at the expense of traditional public schools led to some pretty awful results in Ward 6 that are in large part his fault.

There is no High School accepting students in Ward 6. he ignored the hundreds of hours of effort of Friends of Eastern and Eastern's PTA President to develop a new academy at Eastern, and told 8th graders planning to attend Eastern ON MAY 15 that they would have to find some other alternative next August. Classy!

He cooperated over many years in the secret negotiations to close Hine Jr. High, and he was acting on orders from his developer overseers to do so. Now kids in the neighborhood have no no Jr. High and no High School. He doesn't care. His developer pals are happy. One Term Tommy.

Not to mention his cooperation in throwing a homeless organization, Holy Comforter-Saint Cyprian CAG, out of the Carriage House it has rented as its headquarters for administrative staff for 18 years because the developers want to put a family-friendly cafe there. As if what Ward 6 lacks most are coffee shops and restaurants.

And to endear himself to the regulars at this blog, he is pushing with all his might to ensure that the Hine lot gets two stories of underground parking covering 100% of the site. No doubt a livable, walkable parking lot.

by Trulee Pist on Apr 17, 2009 3:40 am • link • report