Mayor Gray Plans to Close More Schools!

MAYOR GRAY PLANS

TO CLOSE MORE SCHOOLS!

YOUR SCHOOL MAY BE AT RISK!

DC commissioned a study of our public schools by a Chicago organization called IFF, that was funded by private money from the Walton Foundation (Walmart).

The study ranks all schools into 4 Tiers by Test scores (Tier 1 being the highest performing and Tier 4 being the lowest performing).  The study recommends that all Tier 4 and some Tier 3 schools be Closed or undergo a Turnaround

38 SCHOOLS HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED FOR CLOSURE

 OR TURNAROUND/TURN OVER TO A CHARTER OPERATOR

JOIN EMPOWER DC FOR A MEETING ON

 SATURDAY MARCH 10TH FROM NOON-1:30 PM

 AT THE BENNING LIBRARY (3935 Benning Rd, NE)

 TO FIGHT SCHOOL CLOSURES!

Hope to see you there!

A Call To Action: Save DC's Schools!

By Candi Peterson

In the midst of upcoming contract negotiations, there are big plans ahead to close our traditional public schools. Never in our history has been there been a greater need for teachers and school personnel to have an effective union. Our very future as educators and the future of our students will be determined by how vigorously we, alongside parents and community members are willing to fight to save our schools.

I invite all Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) members to come out and get involved in our WTU Representative Assembly to be held Tuesday, November 8 from 4:30-6:30 pm. at McKinley Technology Senior High School @ 151 T Street NE. Washington, DC. Let's do more than just give lip service to save our schools.

Earlier this week, The Washington Teacher blog featured an article about future plans to close additional public schools. Below for your perusal I have included an excerpt from the 21st Century School Fund newsletter which outlines the purpose of the Illinois Facility Fund (IFF) study which was commissioned by Deputy Mayor of Education, De'Shawn Wright and is expected to be completed at the end of November. As indicated in the 21st Century School Fund September/October newsletter (below), IFF's analysis is being conducted with plans to right size DC public schools and could lead to reconstitution of our public schools and/or replacement with school management operations. The loss of our public schools is a disinvestment in our school communities and may lead to fewer jobs, higher classrooms sizes, further declining enrollment and extinction of traditional public schools.

Independent public schools budget analyst, Mary Levy has applied IFF's  methods to DCPS and public charter school data. Ms. Levy's analysis has found that schools located in wards with higher socio- economic status are considered to be "performing" while schools in wards with lower socio-economic means are considered to be "non-performing". It is a no brainer, that schools in our poorest wards would likely be faced with closure of traditional public schools while schools in affluent wards like ward 3 would go unscathed. (see map below)

Empower DC, a grassroots community based organization is continuing to hold strategic planning meetings to fight school closures across the city and encourages all to become involved. Their next scheduled meeting will be held on Thursday, November 17 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. @ the Deanwood Recreation Center located at 1350 49th St., NE. For additional information, contact Daniel @ daniel@empowerdc.org or call 202-234-9119 ext. 104. Please encourage your school community to get involved now before it's too late. Additional meetings will be held throughout the city at later dates.

Study for "Right-Sizing" D.C. Schools Anticipated

"The Deputy Mayor for Education, with a 100,000 dollar grant from the Walton Family Foundation, engaged IFF (Illinois Facility Fund) to study the capacity and performance of DCPS and public charter schools. IFF has authored reports in Denver, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Louis, using a defined method to determine what they term "performing" or "non-performing" seats.  This analysis is being done with an eye to "rightsizing" district schools which beyond consolidation could include reconstitution and replacement with school management organizations.  Mary Levy, independent public school analyst, applied IFF methods to DCPS and public charter school data and found that where "performing seats" are located correlates with household wealth and family income of students.  So that ALL schools in high wealth neighborhoods are "performing" and those in low wealth neighborhoods and with large numbers of children from low income families are "non-performing" with a very few exceptions, as illustrated in a map and data-tables.   The IFF findings are expected to be issued at the end of November.  There has been no public input or discussion solicited on the methods, criteria, or purpose of this study. *Click on the underlined word map to enlarge the DC Wards map.

No WTU Executive Board Meeting For You !

No WTU Representative Assembly Meeting For You !

On Tuesday, January 26- Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) Building Representatives went to a WTU representative assembly meeting only to find that our union meeting had been cancelled on several hours notice by WTU President George Parker. With gas at almost $3.00 per gallon- McKinley Senior High School is a long way to commute only to find out that a meeting has been cancelled. Fran Robertson, WTU Building Representative for Leckie Elementary school said "I made the long hike to McKinley only to find no one there." Here's why the union meeting was cancelled:

Dear Members,

"The Representative Assembly Meeting will be postponed today due to unforeseen circumstances.We do apologize for this abrupt notice, and will keep you informed for the next meeting."

In addition, Thursday's (January 28) WTU Executive Board meeting has been cancelled again by WTU President George Parker during these critical times. I shudder to think who is conducting the business of our union. Certainly it is not the WTU representative assembly members nor is it our WTU Executive Board. Unfortunately, while DC's teachers are dealing with unfair IMPACT evaluations, defamation of character and slanderous comments by Chancellor Rhee- our union president is asleep at the wheel. Well here's the reasons why our union meetings have been cancelled by WTU Prez ' Parker again this month:

"We regret to inform you that due to President Parker’s out of town travel commitment, the WTU Executive Board meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m., Thursday, January 28, 2010, has been postponed. The board meeting will be rescheduled and you will be promptly notified about the new meeting date. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may present. Thank you."

Posted by The Washington Teacher featuring Candi Peterson, blogger in residence.