By Liane Scott, on May 8th, 2013 
For those of us who follow the debate over school reform/school closings in the District of Columbia, the story of River Terrace Elementary School is not unfamiliar. In December of 2010, Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson proposed that the school be closed due to under-enrollment. In January, a meeting was held at River Terrace Elementary to discuss the concerns of the community. Residents were angry about the decision to close the school and the lack of input from the community during the decision-making process. As you can see from the video below, many legitimate questions were raised; none of them have been answered.
River Terrace Elementary School is just one of the many Washington, DC public schools closed or threatened with closure since the reign of Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Despite overwhelming community support, River Terrace was shut down. But the tide is turning. Although Rhee and her policies were in favor during the Administration of Mayor Adrian Fenty, the lack of improvement in test scores and the disruption to communities is causing many to think twice about reforming schools by closing them down.
The latest effort to stop DC public school closures is a lawsuit brought by Empower DC against the city to stop the latest round of school closings. The following excerpt from the Empower DC’s complaint explains their argument:
“The 2013-2014 ‘DCPS Consolidation and Reorganization Plan’ will have a startlingly disparate impact on students of color, special education students and students who live in low-income communities; and that disparate impact violates the United States Constitution, the D.C. Human Rights Law and applicable federal laws. There is a striking juxtaposition between how the Plan treats students “East of the Park,” those in predominantly minority, low-income communities, and yet spares students “West of the Park,” those in predominantly caucasian, affluent communities. The same is true with respect to how the Plan treats schools housing special education students. School closures are not immune to judicial scrutiny.”
Empower DC has their first day in court this Friday, May 10, 2013. Join them and the plaintiff’s in the case for a rally on the courthouse steps. Details follow:
Show Your Support for the Lawsuit To STOP DC PUBLIC SCHOOL CLOSURES Friday, May 10, 2013 US District Court, 333 Constitution Avenue, NW Rally @ 9:30 AM / Hearing @ 11:00 AM Pack the Hearing Room #19 For more information about Empower DC’s Public Education Campaign, contact daniel@empowerdc.org.
By Guest Contributor, on January 28th, 2013 
Last week, the DC City Council’s new Education Committee met for the first time. Inside the hearing room, Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson was defensive, while outside Empower DC announces a lawsuit that would block Henderson’s plan to close 15 DC public schools. Below is a brief round up of the news from that day. It includes two videos from the local news and one article from the Examiner. Enjoy!
View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.
DCPS Chancellor Faces Lawsuit, Angry City Council
Cross-Posted From The Examiner Written by Jane Kreisman
Shortly before embattled DC Public Schools (DCPS) Chancellor Kaya Henderson met with the DC City Council’s new Education Committee inside the John A. Wilson Building today, Empower DC and attorney Johnny Barnes announced a legal injunction to block her plan to close 15 city public schools from the freezing steps of the same building.
Protesters brought many of their colorful and provocative signs inside and filled seats at the City Council committee hearing. The proceedings indoors aired live on City Cable TV 13 and DC Council member David A. Catania kept other citizens apprised of developments by tweeting live on Twitter.
D.C. Council members finally had their chance to question Chancellor Kaya Henderson in person and in public about her latest school consolidation plan.
David Catania, the Independent At-Large Council member who is Chair of the new Education Committee has said that one of his top priorities is improving the school system’s budget transparency and ”understanding how every dollar is spent.”
Catania said that DC education committees have been ”missing in action for six years,” and that lack of oversight has detrimentally affected DCPS.
For example, the closure of 23 D.C. schools in 2008 cost nearly $18 million, according to an audit released in August, nearly double the $9.7 million originally reported by the school system.
Catania has already introduced three bills this year for city reform, most notably one for DC CFO budget transparency.
Council and Committee member Yvette Alexander represents Ward 7, where four of the Chancellor’s 15 schools are slated to be closed. She demands that any savings from the closures of those four schools, Ron Brown Middle, Kenilworth Elementary, Davis Elementary and Winston Education Campus, must remain in Ward 7.
While Alexander made a visible effort and succeeded in remaining civil and constructive throughout the meeting, the Chancellor did neither.
The most notable comments about her contentiousness came from Marion Barry, Council member for Ward 8 and former DC Mayor, who criticized the Chancellor for giving the council a ”facetious” answer to their questions. He also took her to task for interrupting him and for ”cutting (him) off’.”
At one point, Henderson lost her composure and raised her voice over soft-spoken Barry.
”Why the hostility?” he asked.
Half-way through the Chancellor’s answer to his next question, he retracted it, complaining, ”No, I don’t want your answer.”
He ended his attempt at a civil discourse with the Chancellor with a statement of disgust, insisting, ”You’re not telling the truth!”
Instead of releasing the anticipated data of studies already conducted to support her case, Henderson was mostly on the defensive today.
Although Henderson again promised ”more robust” programs across the city, she was reminded how she has orchestrated a systematic downsizing and ”excessing” of Art, Music and other ‘special subjects’ programs and teachers during her tenure.
Council member Alexander stated, ”I want to see Art , Music and P.E. in every school in Ward 7. I want to see language offerings in Ward 7, modern libraries in Ward 7, and a STEM focus in every school in Ward 7.”
As the end of the meeting approached, Chairperson Catania gave his ”recap,”
‘We are hoping to embark on a new era of collective responsibility, giving out honest information, so that the public can make informed decisions.’
The Chancellor was allowed the final word:
”This is complex, frustrating and difficult,” she said, but she agreed to ”work on these budget issues.”
Notably, this is how the Chancellor chose to end the nearly 3-hour meeting.
Dripping in flashy, bulky gold jewelry, the Chancellor bragged about all her other standing job offers and implied that she could be making a lot more money ”without all of this,” gesturing with both arms at the City Council and the cameras.
. . . → Read More: News Round Up: School Closings Lawsuit
By Guest Contributor, on December 20th, 2012 
Cross-Posted from The Washington Informer Written by Dorothy Rowley
A cadre of parents, teachers and community leaders recently gathered on the grounds of a Southeast elementary school to protest a controversial proposal by D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson to shutter several neighborhood schools.
During a Dec. 13 rally at Malcolm X Elementary School in Anacostia, the fired-up group of more than 100 Ward 8 residents who vehemently oppose the 20 school closings – the majority of which are located in their neighborhoods – loudly proclaimed along with newly-elected D.C. Ward 8 School Board representative Trayon White, that “enough is enough.”
Cynthia McFarland, 48, said that Henderson has lost touch with the needs of her community. “My grandchildren live in Ward 8,” the Alabama Avenue resident said. “They go to school at Hart [Middle] and Malcolm X. I was raised in the public school system and walked to school. So did my children. Ms. Henderson needs to stop playing games and do what’s not only right but necessary.”
McFarland also stressed that given the large number of children who live in Ward 8, it’s essential that all of the area’s neighborhood school doors remain open.
According to a statement issued prior to the rally by organizers, many of those in opposition represent Ferebee Hope and M.C. Terrell/McGogney Elementary and Johnson Middle schools. “Parental, school and student choice are no longer a part of the equation in accordance with decisions regarding neighborhood school closings,” a portion of the statement read.
Four years ago, at the behest of Henderson’s predecessor, two dozen schools were closed throughout the District in an attempt at school reform. But Henderson, 42, admitted recently that those closings only proved costly and ineffective: while student test scores remained stagnant, DCPS enrollment figures dipped from 47,000 students to less than 45,000, and paved the way for public charter schools to gain leverage as the preferred education model.
White, who helped organize the Malcolm X rally, said it doesn’t make sense to close any of the community’s schools.
“We don’t need less educational resources, but more educational resources,” the outspoken 28-year-old protégé of Ward 8 Council member Marion Barry, said. “A lot of factors have to weigh in on the closings, and so far, the chancellor hasn’t [stepped up to the plate] with an adequate explanation. Dropout and truancy rates are already high in the area, and if she closes our schools, those rates will only increase.”
White added that a major concern of parents has been plans to merge low-performing DCPS buildings with high-performing charter schools.
White said that in talks with Barry, he expressed that there’s no guarantee DCPS will be more successful in its attempt at school reform.
“History has proven, especially since 2008, that if we continue to go down this road, we will be right back here again discussing another round of school closures,” White said.
Henderson’s plan – currently being studied by members of her administration – calls largely for the closings of under-enrolled and under-performing schools.
After her staff makes adjustments to the proposal, Henderson will confer with Mayor Vincent Gray, 70, and together in January, they will announce their final decision about which of the 20 schools will be closed.
Kim Harrison, 49, who works with Concerned Parents for Action Coalition, a citywide organization that advocates on behalf of public schools, drummed up support for the for the rally.
She said word of the closings have been exacerbated in the aftermath of a series of public meetings where Henderson shared reasons behind her proposal.
“We can’t be quiet, as this is a bigger issue than we think,” said Harrison, who lives in Southeast. “It’s just awful, all this talk about closing our schools. Our children need a school that’s in walkable distance – and they clearly need to be D.C. schools, and not charter schools,” she said.
“In order for reforms to work, they’re supposed to engage community stakeholders, parents, teachers and students, and Henderson’s proposal has failed to include [that kind of input].”
By Liane Scott, on December 11th, 2012 
As DC public school advocates predicted, the school closings of 2008 didn’t improve test scores or student achievement and have negatively impacted community after community throughout the city. So here we are at the end of 2012, poised to take another dive off the school closings precipice, this time at the behest of Mayor Gray and Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson. I’m betting that you have had enough. I know I have. No one who cares about children wants to hear any more stories like the one Empower DC member Marybeth Tinker recorded in the video below. In it two young students from Thurgood Marshall Elementary tell us why the proposal to close their school is just plain WRONG!
No one who cares about DC’s children and DC’s communities wants to hear any more stories like the one you’ll hear in the podcast below produced by La Palabra. Break It Down: School Closures in Washington DC
Michelle Powell walks her granddaughter to Ferebee-Hope Elementary every day. Her family has already dealt with 3 school closures in Ward 8 and is now faced with a fourth school being closed (Ferebee-Hope). Listen to Mrs. Powell’s story and understand why school closures hurt our communities and our children.
To hear her story, follow this link – http://lapalabradc.tumblr.com/post/37667510236/break-it-down-school-closures-in-washington
Which is why you’ve decided to join the fight to stop school closings in the District of Columbia. You’ve been looking for a chance to take a stand. Here it is:
JOIN DC PUBLIC SCHOOL PARENTS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS FROM WARD 8 @ THE SAVE OUR SCHOOLS RALLY & MARCH Thursday, December 13, 2012 – 4:30 PM RALLY at Malcolm X Elementary School 1351 Alabama Avenue SE (Near Congress Heights Metro on the Green Line) then MARCH to the home of MAYOR VINCENT GRAY Branch Avenue SE
Ward 8’s Malcolm X Elementary, Ferebee Hope Elementary, MC Terrell Elementary and Johnson Middle School are all on the list of schools to be closed. Your school may not be on the list this year, but it might be next. It’s time to take a STAND! For more information, contact Trayon White, Ward 8 Representative to the State Board of Education at 202-316-7593.
By Guest Contributor, on December 9th, 2012 
Cross-Posted From The Washington Teacher
Written By Candi Peterson
Plans to consolidate twenty DC Public Schools were announced on November 13, 2012 followed by a rush of public hearings and neighborhood stakeholder discussions that gave precious little time for parents, teachers and administrators to respond. The edict sounded all too familiar to those of us who were around for the first round of closures in 2008.
In a nutshell, DC’s Chancellor Kaya Henderson proposes to close twenty public schools because they are under enrolled and in DCPS’s opinion are too costly to operate. The list of school closures includes 8 elementary schools, 3 special education schools, 4 middle schools, 2 education campuses, the Choice program, 1 High School STAY program (School To Aid Youth) and 1 high school.
Two days of City Council hearings that lasted until nearly midnight with over 50 witnesses followed the school closure announcement to allow for testimony from education stakeholders. Community stakeholder meetings were subsequently scheduled to get feedback at four ward-based meetings commencing November 27 at Savoy elementary school in Ward 8, a second meeting at Sousa middle school in Ward 7 on November 28 and a third meeting at McKinley senior high on November 29 in Ward 5. The last meeting will be held at Brightwood education campus on December 5. This meeting will represent multiple wards of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6.
Unlike the meetings of 2008 when stakeholders were escorted off to individual classrooms for private discussion, this year’s format for ward based meetings included small table group discussions in an open meeting space like the school gymnasium. The discussions were facilitated by a DCPS staffer leading the dialogue around three main questions: [1] What has DCPS not thought about; [2] What can be done to strengthen the proposal; and [3] What could make the transition smoother. Participants reported back to the larger audience sharing their tables’ response.
We need a moratorium on public school closings and charter school openings was a common recommendation expressed at the Ward 5 and 8 stakeholder meetings. When I attended the community meeting at McKinley, I couldn’t help but feel the participants frustration and distrust that DCPS has already made its mind made up about going forward with the school closures .Robert Vinson Brannum, VP of Ward 5 Council on Education questioned the school districts intentions. “The root question is are we working on the premise that the proposal is going forward. If at the end of everything, we say don’t do it (close schools), are you going to go forward anyway”, Brannum said.
Comments from the McKinley audience ended with an obtrusive presence- none other than Ward 5 ANC commissioner Bob King. King who lives in the Fort Lincoln neighborhood has been a long time commissioner for 30 plus years and a community advocate as well as supporter of Thurgood Marshall elementary school. Commissioner King left a memorable impression when he spoke directly to Chancellor Henderson about Marshall’s rich history, community support and the corporate sponsorships he garnered from Costco on behalf of the school.”I have a written contract for $10,000 yearly from Costco, backpacks for all the students in Ward 5 and I personally delivered 68 computers, 10 smart boards and 1 projector to Marshall. You might be gone and the mayor might be gone, so please right your proposal to keep Marshall open,” King said.
The ward 7 meeting at Sousa was markedly different than either of those in Wards 5 or 8. The Ward 7 education council took ownership of their meeting, decided not to entertain DCPS’ questions and presented a proposal of their own to keep schools open. Daniel del Pielago, education organizer of Empower DC said of the plan, “it reflected the concerns of parents and community and ultimately the plan said let’s work to save and make our schools better instead of let’s close more schools and see what happens as DCPS is saying.”
Through two weeks of excruciating meetings the majority of community voices clearly oppose the closures, with only a promise from Chancellor Kaya Henderson to take the community’s recommendations into consideration before she makes a final verdict in January of 2013. A visceral lack of trust in the process exists at the community level, as DCPS and local council representatives appear to be hell bent on closing 20 schools regardless of community input, while ignoring loud persistent cries from the community to stop the madness and consider a moratorium.
. . . → Read More: Deja Vu All over Again-DC Public School Closures
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