By Sarah Livingston, on April 29th, 2016 Cross-posted from the April Edition of the Citizen Reader.
Every year, as part of the Council’s oversight responsibilities, the various committees send out a list of questions to each of the agencies within their purview. The questions and agencies’ responses are then posted on the Council’s Home Page under Agency Responses providing the public with a wealth of information rarely seen elsewhere.
Because of Mayor Bowser’s changes in the office of the Deputy Mayor for Education (DME) when she took office last year, such as moving the DCPS chancellor and the Department of Parks and Recreation into the DME’s responsibilities, and because of the DME’s description of its mission, which says in part, “…responsibility for developing and implementing the Mayor’s vision for academic excellence and creating a high quality education…”, and because, though she has made numerous announcements of particular initiatives, the Mayor has not yet presented her own vision or over-all plan for education in DC to the public, it seems worthwhile to the Citizen Reader to give some attention to a few of the Committee on Education’s oversight questions of the DME’s office.
The Committee asked 49 questions which, together with the responses, take up 44 pages not including the many appendixes. Below are some of the questions in their original words in bold italics. The responses are summarized in regular type.
Q1. Discuss each of the programmatic and policy initiatives the DME has worked on in FY15 and FY16 to date. Please include details about a long-term strategic plan if there is one being developed.
The response lists and describes in detail the following: My School DC, (Supply, Demand, Need data), LEA Payment initiative, Equity Reports, since 2013, Truancy Task Force, Request for Offer (RFO), Transportation Working Group (TWG), Cross Sector Task Force, and ReEngagement Center evaluation.
The response does not mention a long-term strategic plan, but the details offered on the LEA Payment initiative say that the way that money is allocated to DCPS and the Charter Schools will change so that, beginning in SY16-17, both receive funds based on their audited enrollment rather than the Charters by audited and DCPS by projected enrollment.
Q4. In June, the National Academy of Sciences released it five-year evaluation of public education in the District of Columbia under mayoral control. Discuss and provide plans for how the DME intends to address each of the following three recommendations from the study:
– Recommendation 1: The District of Columbia should have a comprehensive data warehouse that makes basic information about the school system available in one place that is readily accessible online to parents, the community, and researchers.
The response mentions the Office of State Superintendent’s LearnDC website that provides “school level information on the metrics of federal accountability measures including assessments (report card tab), student enrollment, college-readiness, and growth in student achievement (profile tab), and how well schools equitably serve students including suspensions and expulsions and enrollment mobility and detailed subgroup presentation (equity reports tab).”
It also says that OSSE has requested $15 million for a 5-year capital investment, beginning in FY2017, and that OSSE’s staff and developers are meeting weekly to identify all the authoritative data that will be housed in the new data warehouse.
– Recommendation 2: The District of Columbia should establish institutional arrangements that will support ongoing independent evaluation of its public education system.
The response says the DME has met with various entities to discuss the best way to support ongoing evaluation including with the DC auditor and that the DME is also exploring best practice models from other jurisdictions.
– Recommendation 3: The District of Columbia’s primary objective for its public schools should be to address the serious and persistent disparities in learning opportunities and academic progress that are evident across student groups and neighborhoods, with equal attention to DCPS and public charter schools. To that end, the NRC Committee recommends that the city attend to:
Continue reading Questions for D.C.’s Deputy Mayor for Education
By Grassroots DC, on March 31st, 2016
DC “State” Board of Education has proposed changing the rules for District of Columbia Graduates. Rather than taking all the courses required to get their degree, students could simply pass the right tests and get their degree. With the exception of testing out of math and language courses, many educators think this is a bad idea. The following two articles, taken from the March Citizen Reader, published by Living View Communications, highlight the details.
Update on Proposed Rules
by Sarah Livingston
As reported last month, the State Board of Education and the State Superintendent of Education proposed a set of rules on January 22 that would radically alter high school by allowing students to acquire credit by passing OSSE approved tests, among other provisions.
According to a memo from the Superintendent to the Board dated February 26, 2016, twenty-five comments were received. After reviewing them, the superintendent made “certain clarifying technical amendments” which were determined by the Attorney General to not constitute substantial changes. However, the memo continues, the comments raised enough questions about subsection 2203.7 that the “OSSE believes further discussion on this topic would be beneficial,” and proposes to put that section in “reserve.” Meanwhile, she is requesting that the Board give final approval to the remainder of the rules as amended.
The Board is scheduled to vote on the matter at its meeting on March 16 in the Old Council Chambers at 441 4th St. NW. The meeting begins at 5:30 pm and the agenda includes time for public comments. See www.sboe.dc.gov for the full agenda.
Citizens Petition Against Proposed Rules
by Sarah Livingston
Shortly after the Citizen Reader came out last month, Cathy Reilly, Executive Director of the Senior High Alliance for Parents, Principles and Educators (SHAPPE) posted a petition against the proposed rules on-line. To date, it has been signed by close to 300 people. The preamble to the petition gives a
By Malik Thompson, on February 27th, 2016
 Too often, Black History Month is presented as the actions of a small number of extremely charismatic, often male, leaders from the Civil Rights era. In reality, Black people have participated in every social circle within the United States since this nation’s founding. Architects, artists, engineers, scientists, and countless others from the archives of Black history are either ignored, represented in isolation from one another, or the significance of their accomplishments are ludicrously diminished.
Regarding the Civil Rights Movement specifically, most people have heard nothing of that era’s essential Black women leaders such as Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, and Dr. Dorothy Height. Meanwhile, the labor of Rosa Parks is often flippantly reduced to simply having “sat her a** down”, erasing her twelve year involvement with the NAACP prior to being arrested for refusing to relinquish her seat to a white man in 1955. More frustratingly, most people have no idea that Bayard Rustin, an openly gay Black man, was the lead organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, despite being subjected to homophobia from other Civil Rights movement leaders. 
To avoid becoming, as Toni Morrison calls it, mere “reaction to white presence”, it is also important to explore Black history outside of direct resistance to racial injustice. Marie Maynard Daly was the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D, obtaining a doctorate in chemistry. Black people have been successful classical musicians, while others have invented appliances essential to the maintenance of modern society.
In recent times, Black cultural producers have preserved Black history in increasingly imaginative and creative ways. Poet Marilyn Nelson wrote the poetry collection Carver: A Life in Poems to capture and convey the often overlooked complexities of George Washington Carver’s life, who was a teacher and musician as well as an innovative scientist. Filmmaker Shola Lynch directed the documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners to well-roundedly tell the story of Angela Davis, an icon of the Black Power Movement whose legacy often goes enshrouded in idol worship and myth. Finally, while comedic in tone, cultural critic Crissle West’s overview of Harriet Tubman’s involvement in the Civil War gives the Union military strategist and spy overdue credit for her war contributions.
 The half has never been told about Black history. Layers of depth lie beneath popularly accepted and articulated narratives, and countless numbers of others have been ignored or unspoken. Taking Black history seriously requires we scour all eras of the past and, like those mentioned above, develop compelling methods for disseminating these revitalized narratives to the masses.
The devaluation of Black history is no coincidence; if Black history were taken seriously, the myth of Black inferiority, a foundational pillar of white supremacy, would be incapable of justifying itself. If Black history were taken seriously, more Black people would understand the significance of our impact upon this nation—and would, hopefully, utilize the blueprints left by our predecessors to continue working toward a just, equitable society. As the struggle for liberation from systems of domination continues, we must remember that a liberated future is improbable if we fail to reclaim the infinite riches of our past.
By Guest Contributor, on February 21st, 2016 Cross-Posted from Huff Post Black Voices
Written by Rebecca Klein
 American schools are hotbeds for racial discrimination, according to a preliminary report from a group of United Nations experts.
The U.N.’s Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent traveled around the U.S. last month to learn more about the various structural barriers and challenges African-American face. The group, which plans to release its full report in September, has given the media its preliminary findings, including several recommendations about reducing inequality in the U.S. education system.
The overall findings — which touch on topics of police brutality, school curriculum and mass incarceration — are bleak. African-Americans tend to have lower levels of income, education and food security than other Americans. This reflects “the level of structural discrimination that creates de facto barriers for people of African descent to fully exercise their human rights,” says the group’s statement.
Such gaps start early in life, the U.N. notes. Students of color are more likely than white children to face harsh punishments, such as suspension, expulsion and even school-based arrests. These disciplinary actions can lead to a phenomenon called the “school-to-prison pipeline,” by which children get pushed out of the education system and into the criminal justice system.
The U.N. experts also expressed concern about mass school closures, which typically target predominantly black neighborhoods, as has been the case in cities like Chicago and Philadelphia. Experts note high levels of school segregation, which “appears to be nurtured by a culture of insufficient acknowledgement of the history of enslavement and the Jim Crow Law.”
Continue reading U.N. Experts Seem Horrified By How American Schools Treat Black Children
By Sarah Livingston, on February 17th, 2016
The following is taken from the February edition of the Citizen Reader, a newsletter published by Grassroots DC Education Contributor Sarah Livingston. Sarah Livingston is a native of Mississippi who ardently believes that democracy is the best thing we have going for us in America and that good, helpful information is essential to the most inclusive and most equal participation of *all* citizens in it. From that belief, Livingview Communications–A Citizens Information Service was born. *Citizen Reader* is LVC’s third project since 2004.
State Superintendent proposes dramatic changes to graduation requirements
In recent years, both the State Board of Education and the Office of the State Superintendent of Education have discussed alternate ways of awarding credit for courses taken toward high school graduation. Much of the discussion has centered on “competency-based” learning or CBL. The current method awards credit in Carnegie units that are based on time in class. CBL awards credit for demonstrated mastery of a subject regardless of time.
Last summer, the Board convened a task force to study “high school credit flexibility” and at its December 16, 2015 public meeting, unanimously adopted a Resolution approving four recommendations, based on the study, to change how credits toward graduation are awarded. It advised the State Superintendent “to initiate rulemaking to implement the recommendations endorsed in this resolution.” Below are the recommendations as stated in that resolution:
1. Create a waiver process for schools wishing to pursue competency-based learning;
2. Allow students to receive credit for demonstrated knowledge in world languages and mathematics;
3. Maintain Carnegie units as the default means for earning credit where neither of the two above conditions apply;
4. Consistent with the benefits of student self-based learning associated with competency-based models, remove the requirement that students enroll in Algebra 1 by 9th grade.
When OSSE published its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking in the DC Register of January 22, 2016 for the thirty-day public comment period, numbers 2 and 4 of the recommendations had been altered extensively from their original wording in the Resolution. The proposed rules would radically change the way students would be educated in the city’s high schools. The comment period, which closes on February 20, 2016, is the time for citizens to consider the proposed rules, what they would mean, and to have their say about them. • To find the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and submit comments online go to:
http://www.dcregs.dc.gov/Gateway/NoticeHome.aspx?noticeid=5833888
OR
• Pick up copies and mail or hand deliver comments to the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), 810 First St. NE 9th Floor, WDC 20002 Attn: Jamai Deuberry re: Graduation Requirements and Diplomas or email: ossecomments.proposedregulations@dc.gov
Continue reading State Superintendent Proposes Dramatic Changes to DCPS Graduation Requirements
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