D.C. Wire Archive by Category

Judge To Rule Next Week On Teacher Layoffs

After listening to more than six hours of testimony and argument Thursday, D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff said she would rule "sometime next week" on the Washington Teachers' Union's (WTU) bid to roll back the layoffs of 266 DCPS teachers and staff. WTU is seeking an injunction that...

By Bill Turque | November 5, 2009; 07:36 PM ET | Comments (5)

Answers to Fifteen Questions for Chancellor Rhee

On Oct. 14, we posted 15 questions for Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee regarding recent budget cuts and layoffs of 388 school employees, including 229 teachers and 37 support staff. The questions were posed before last Thursday's D.C. Council hearing, when Rhee disclosed that she decided to save $9 million...

By Bill Turque | November 4, 2009; 04:41 PM ET | Comments (3)

No TRO For WTU, Yet

The Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) failed today in its bid to secure a court order barring the District from formally discharging the 266 public school instructors and staff it laid off Oct. 2. But a D.C. Superior Court judge left the door open to taking action next week. The educators...

By Bill Turque | October 28, 2009; 06:46 PM ET | Comments (6)

Fired DC principals go to court again

District teachers are not the only ex-school employees turning to the courts for redress. Last week a group of principals and assistant principals dismissed by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee in 2008 refiled an $84 million lawsuit alleging, among other things, age and race discrimination, defamation and civil conspiracy. The plaintiffs...

By Bill Turque | October 27, 2009; 02:46 PM ET | Comments (73)

WTU asks for Wednesday hearing to stay layoffs

With laid off teachers scheduled to be dropped from the District payroll on Nov. 2, the Washington Teachers' Union asked a D.C. Superior Court Monday for a temporary restraining order to keep them in place until legal issues can be sorted out. The 266 teachers and support staff represented...

By Bill Turque | October 26, 2009; 07:16 PM ET | Comments (5)

New Haven teachers pact: message to Rhee?

Education Secretary Arne Duncan and American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten have been pounding the blackboard in praise of the recently completed New Haven teachers contract, hailing it as a model for what's possible when unions and elected officials collaborate in good faith. The agreement calls for teacher evaluations...

By Bill Turque | October 26, 2009; 07:04 PM ET | Comments (14)

Rhee: Not All Laid Off Teachers "Poor Educators"

When Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee first announced plans for teacher layoffs last month, she made clear that she was using what she described as a $43.9 million budget shortfall as an opportunity to rid the system of ineffective teachers. "As we are having to downsize staff are we [looking...

By Bill Turque | October 26, 2009; 12:40 PM ET | Comments (43)

Gray: Ed Data Project "A Sordid Mess"

The D.C. Council spent a couple of hours hammering two senior District officials Friday afternoon about the collapse of the $12 million educational data warehouse it voted to fund more than a year ago. On Sept. 9, the District dumped Williams, Adley & Co., the lead contractor on the Statewide...

By Bill Turque | October 23, 2009; 07:03 PM ET | Comments (11)

WTU amends lawsuit, Nickles says 'baloney'

The District was expected Friday to answer the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) lawsuit challenging the Oct. 2 layoffs of 266 instructors and staff, but will hold off because WTU tweaked its complaint late Thursday. The union is asking for an injunction to stop the firings until an arbitrator can determine...

By Bill Turque | October 23, 2009; 12:48 PM ET | Comments (35)

Low-income schools take brunt of cuts

The Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) has extracted some interesting details from DCPS on the Oct. 2 layoffs. Turns out that nearly 70 percent of the staff reductions came from its highest-need schools. Based on data supplied by DCPS, the union found that 24.3 percent of the 267 layoffs (64 teachers...

By Bill Turque | October 22, 2009; 12:44 PM ET | Comments (30)

Some D.C. teachers go back to work

In the next few days, District lawyers are expected to respond to the Washington Teachers' Union lawsuit, explaining why DCPS was within its rights to lay off 266 teachers and staff. At the same time, the school system has quietly reinstated 25 teachers terminated last summer under the so-called "90-day...

By Bill Turque | October 21, 2009; 05:03 PM ET | Comments (13)

Lessons From Laid Off Teachers

There may never be another D.C. Council hearing quite like the 18-hour epic last Friday/Saturday that saw more than 40 public school teachers, most of them among the 266 laid off on Oct. 2, come to the witness table. Whatever level of skill each possessed as an educator-- asked by...

By Bill Turque | October 21, 2009; 11:15 AM ET | Comments (6)

Coming Next: Michelle of Arc?

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, who is still living down her broom-wielding Time cover, appears in the new edition of Education Next as "D.C.'s Braveheart." This one, however is clearly a photoshop job, with her head plunked on top of a suit of armor. The accompanying story by June Kronholz...

By Bill Turque | October 15, 2009; 10:50 AM ET | Comments (12)

Charter School Enrollment Up

Public charter school enrollment continues its steady growth, increasing nine percent over last year, according to an unaudited count for the 2009-2010 academic year, officials announced Wednesday. The D.C. Public Charter School Board said the student population, in 60 schools across 90 campuses, is 27,953, just shy of the projected...

By Bill Turque | October 14, 2009; 06:19 PM ET | Comments (5)

Honored in February, Sacked in October

Certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBCT) is a signal achievement in the education world. It means that a teacher has completed between one and three years of rigorous study and self-appraisal that includes a portfolio of student work, classroom videotapes and tests of content knowledge. In...

By Bill Turque | October 12, 2009; 04:01 PM ET | Comments (27)

Rhee Challenges Council's Math

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee continues trying to flesh out her side of the DCPS budget shortfall/layoffs imbroglio. On "The Kojo Nnamdi Show" this afternoon, she challenged D.C. Council President Vincent C. Gray's contention that DCPS has more money this year to spend on fewer students. Gray says the $43.9 million...

By Bill Turque | October 8, 2009; 03:48 PM ET | Comments (11)

Union: Rhee 'Packing the Bargaining Unit'

The Washington Teachers' Union lawsuit to block last week's layoffs of 266 instructors and staff addresses one of the most bewildering aspects of DCPS' alleged budget shortfall: Why did Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee make 934 new hires in the spring and summer for a school system in which enrollment was...

By Bill Turque | October 8, 2009; 02:10 PM ET | Comments (5)

District Teachers Lawyer Up

While the Washington Teachers' Union has gone to court to block the District from laying off 266 teachers and staff, other D.C. educators are taking action on their own. Among the first of what is likely to be a wave of wrongful termination suits landed in D.C. Superior Court Wednesday....

By Bill Turque | October 7, 2009; 08:05 PM ET | Comments (16)

Teachers Sue District Over Layoffs

The Washington Teachers Union sued today to block last week's teacher layoffs, charging that District public school principals improperly targeted educators for dismissal on the basis of age or their willingness to speak out against administrators, union president George Parker said late this afternoon. Parker said the suit, filed in...

By Bill Turque | October 7, 2009; 05:08 PM ET | Comments (10)

Rhee: Younger Teachers Got More of the Ax

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, going on the offensive against critics of last week's teacher layoffs, said younger instructors were "more likely" to have been shown the door than DCPS veterans. In an interview on WAMU this morning, Rhee said: "If you look at the reality of years of service, brand...

By Bill Turque | October 7, 2009; 12:37 PM ET | Comments (13)

Rhee Gets Pushback at Alma Mater

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee didn't leave student protests over teacher layoffs and budget cuts completely behind her while she was at Cornell University Monday for a lecture. According to The Cornell Daily Sun, a group called the Cornell Organization for Labor Action (COLA) distributed cards at the site of Rhee's...

By Bill Turque | October 6, 2009; 01:48 PM ET | Comments (24)

Wild Times at Woodson

McKinley Technical, site of an afterschool confrontation Friday between students and police, wasn't the only high school that had problems when Hawk One, the District's school security contractor, went belly up. Multiple sources report that H.D. Woodson, temporarily housed at the former Fletcher-Johnson Education Center on Benning Rd. SE, was...

By Bill Turque | October 5, 2009; 07:08 PM ET | Comments (9)

School Ombudsman's Office Closes

The District's office of the Ombudsman for Public Education is officially kaput, a victim of the recent budget cutbacks. It winked out of existence Wednesday, the last day of Fiscal Year 2009. Established as part of the mayoral takeover of the public school system, it was envisioned an an independent...

By Bill Turque | October 1, 2009; 12:12 PM ET | Comments (5)

Michael Kelly Moving on to Bigger Things

Michael Kelly, who recently announced his resignation from the D.C. Housing Authority after nearly a decade, has landed on his feet in a big way: general manager of the New York City Housing Authority. "Seldom do you find someone as qualified as Mike Kelly to assume a position as important...

By Gene Fynes | October 1, 2009; 11:23 AM ET | Comments (1)

Roast Teacher, with a Budget Reduction?

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, perhaps trying to prove that she can take the heat and stay in the kitchen, will join star chefs Carla Hall and Delilah Winder for the TrueFlavors Celebrity Cook-Off on Nov. 12 at CulinAerie, a cooking school in Northwest. She'll be part of a team that...

By Bill Turque | September 29, 2009; 11:27 AM ET | Comments (4)

D.C. Principals' Union Rips Layoffs

The president of the union that represents DCPS principals accused Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee Friday of unfairly leaving school administrators to take the heat for the upcoming round of teacher layoffs, creating "the very real potential of subjecting our members to physical harm and unsafe working conditions." Aona H. Jefferson,...

By Bill Turque | September 25, 2009; 04:44 PM ET | Comments (12)

Compromise Hammered Out on School Board Hires

The State Board of Education will have the authority to hire three staffers selected from a list given to members by the superintendent under a compromise hammered out by D.C. Council members Monday. The education board, stripped of most of its power after the mayoral takeover in 2007, would have...

By Gene Fynes | September 21, 2009; 06:27 PM ET | Comments (8)

Cut First, Ask Questions Later at DCPS

When Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee announced last Wednesday in front of D.C. school headquarters that the District will lay off teachers as part of up to $40 million in budget reductions, they said the public would have at least some voice in the process of...

By Bill Turque | September 21, 2009; 04:48 PM ET | Comments (31)

Council Open to Compromise on Ed Board Funding

The D.C. Council appears to be backing away from its plans to attempt an override of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's veto of funding to the State Board of Education. At a press conference this morning, Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said members will work with the administration today to...

By Anne Bartlett | September 21, 2009; 12:51 PM ET | Comments (3)

Fenty Gears Up for Fight With Gray Over School Board Funding

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty said he and schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee are lobbying D.C. Council members to prevent council Chairman Vincent C. Gray's effort to override his veto of funding to the State Board of Education. The council approved $950,000 in the fiscal 2010 budget -- a move that...

By Gene Fynes | September 18, 2009; 03:30 PM ET | Comments (11)

At Cleveland Elementary, "SWBAT" Is The Word

Walk into just about any classroom in this handsomely restored, 98-year-old Shaw neighborhood school and you find signs of the Michelle Rhee era writ large. Virtually every available wall or board space is thick with directives from the "Teaching and Learning Framework" she introduced to District educators last month. The...

By Bill Turque | September 16, 2009; 12:52 PM ET | Comments (13)

DCPS Report: Little Opening Day Drama

Compared to the fiascoes of year's past, most of D.C.'s 127 public schools had uncommonly quiet openings last month, according to a report released this evening by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's office. There were no major scheduling snafus and just a smattering of teacher vacancies when classes began on Aug....

By Bill Turque | September 14, 2009; 07:40 PM ET | Comments (10)

Nickles Says Erasure Analysis Wasn't Erased

Last Friday, after spending three months considering the matter, District officials finally responded to a Freedom of Information Act request for an analysis of answer sheet erasures on the 2008 DC-CAS standardized tests. Former D.C. State Superintendent of Education Deborah A. Gist asked the test's publisher, CTB McGraw-Hill, to run...

By Bill Turque | September 8, 2009; 03:45 PM ET | Comments (10)

Green Dot's Barr: Unions Part of Solution

With contract talks between the District and the Washington Teachers' Union closing in on their second anniversary this fall, it's interesting to listen to Green Dot charter schools founder Steve Barr discuss his reasons for using unionized teachers in his attempted turnaround of L.A.'s Locke High School. Barr, who has...

By Bill Turque | September 8, 2009; 01:27 PM ET | Comments (6)

(Not) Getting Arrested for D.C. Vouchers

With President Obama's back-to-school speech as their news hook, supporters of the federal D.C. school voucher program converged on Education Department headquarters this morning for a curious exercise in civil disobedience that produced lots of chanting but no arrests. Some background: Congressional Democrats, backed by the Obama administration, are phasing...

By Washington Post editors | September 8, 2009; 12:10 PM ET | Comments (2)

Special Ed Kids Miss The Bus

While the biggest back-to-school problems seem to be in Prince George's County this year, the District hasn't been glitch free. For the last week, about 100 special education students have not been picked up by their buses because of issues with a new computerized routing system. Parents who have spoken...

By Bill Turque | September 1, 2009; 05:00 PM ET | Comments (5)

Fenty Vetoes Funds for State Ed. Board Again

For the second time in two months, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty has vetoed a $950,000 provision in the 2010 budget that would allow the D.C. State Board of Education more autonomy. The board's nine members are elected but have no authority over day-to-day school operations. That power rests solely with...

By Bill Turque | August 31, 2009; 05:38 PM ET | Comments (6)

Woodrow Wilson Principal Hospitalized

Wilson High School principal Peter Cahall was taken to the hospital for observation earlier today after complaining of chest pains. Deputy D.C. Fire Chief Kenneth Crosswhite said the pains developed while Cahall was breaking up a fight at the Northwest D.C. school. DCPS spokeswoman Jennifer Calloway confirmed that Cahall was...

By Bill Turque | August 28, 2009; 05:22 PM ET | Comments (6)

AP Scores Up, SATs Down in D.C.

D.C. public high school students improved their showing on Advanced Placement exams this past year, District officials report. The number of students scoring a 3, 4 or 5 on at least one AP exam increased by 26.5 percent, with 166 more students passing an exam in 2008-2009 than in 2007-2008,...

By Bill Turque | August 27, 2009; 12:31 PM ET | Comments (8)

DCPS Enrollment: 40,179

As of 9 a.m. today, D.C. public school enrollment stood at 40,179, according to Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's office. That's a significant bump over the 37,000 reported by officials just before the beginning of the academic year on Monday. The increase is the product of late arrivals and more...

By Bill Turque | August 26, 2009; 03:00 PM ET | Comments (6)

Chancellor's Schedule Is Up

Late yesterday DCPS resolved whatever issues it had with the portion of its new website that was supposed to display Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's public schedule. Where it once just showed her "busy" it now lists her whereabouts. She is slated to conduct a community forum at 6:30 this...

By Bill Turque | August 26, 2009; 08:59 AM ET | Comments (1)

The Chancellor: Busy, Busy Busy

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's public schedule has always been one of the more peculiar features of the DCPS website. That's because only occasionally does it actually note what she is doing in public. Those consulting the page on July 23 would not know, for example, that she was set to...

By Washington Post editors | August 25, 2009; 04:25 PM ET | Comments (9)

Lew: Burroughs Will Be Ready

D.C. school facilities czar Allen Lew promised this afternoon that Burroughs Education Campus in Northeast will be ready for students Monday morning. Burroughs parents charged today that the school is not habitable because of incomplete renovations. They reported dust and debris, tables and desks cluttering the halls, and classrooms with...

By Bill Turque | August 21, 2009; 05:09 PM ET | Comments (8)

Parents Say Burroughs School is a Mess

Parents at John Burroughs Education Campus in Northeast say that the school is in no shape to open on Monday, when classes are scheduled to begin in the District. They've called a late afternoon press conference to protest incomplete renovations that they say have left many classrooms unusable. In a...

By Bill Turque | August 21, 2009; 01:41 PM ET | Comments (2)

WTU's Parker: Trust But Don't Amplify

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said this summer that she hoped to have a new labor contract in place by the beginning of the school year, a prediction she repeated to reporter John Merrow in a piece aired on last night's "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer." With teachers back to...

By Bill Turque | August 19, 2009; 12:50 PM ET | Comments (3)

Cheating on DC-CAS Costs Charter School

The teacher at Howard Road Academy Public Charter School suspected something was seriously amiss in April when a student taking the math portion of the DC-CAS standardized test announced that she was finished -- way early. "You can't be finished. Go back and check your work," the teacher said. "We...

By Bill Turque | August 12, 2009; 03:41 PM ET | Comments (7)

Searching For The "It" In School Reform

The District took a first step toward an independent evaluation of its education reform efforts Monday, and it was an ambitious if wobbly one. For six hours, under the auspices of the National Research Council (NRC), thirty-six speakers strung across six panels--academics, public officials, school administrators, business leaders and actually...

By Bill Turque | July 28, 2009; 09:03 PM ET | Comments (11)

Release of Test Data Delayed

District officials have pushed back by a week the release of school-level data from the DC-CAS standardized tests. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) was due to post the numbers today. But, kind of like a teacher nudged by students or parents bump a C+ up to...

By Bill Turque | July 28, 2009; 11:44 AM ET | Comments (10)

More New Principals For Rhee

Teacher blogs and school listservs have been buzzing for weeks about the anticipated replacement of numerous DCPS principals. Shortly after 5 p.m. on Friday, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's office finally confirmed that school's out permanently for 25 of them. This year's turnover is not quite as heavy as 2008, when...

By Bill Turque | July 24, 2009; 11:42 PM ET | Comments (10)

Reinoso Says Funding for School Study Intact

The Fenty Administration says that it has, in fact, not cut funding for an independent evaluation of public school reform. When we inquired about this on Monday, mayoral spokeswoman Mafara Hobson referred us to city administrator Neil Albert's testimony that day before the D.C. Council, which said nothing about the...

By Bill Turque | July 24, 2009; 06:36 PM ET | Comments (6)

Mobility Issues Hinder School Choice, Study Finds

With nearly two-thirds of the District's public schools deemed by the federal government to be underperforming, it isn't surprising that families are willing to travel for a school they like. Just 37 percent of all students attended their in-boundary DCPS school this year, according to the 21st Century Schools Fund....

By Bill Turque | July 23, 2009; 12:59 PM ET | Comments (6)

DC to Charter Schools: Check's In The Mail

D.C.'s public charter schools, stiffed by District government on a payment due last week, will be made whole by the middle of next week at the latest, the D.C. Public Charter School Board said this afternoon. The District missed a $103 million quarterly payment to the sixty charters last...

By Bill Turque | July 22, 2009; 03:53 PM ET | Comments (0)

Cheating on the DC-CAS, Details Redacted

An unspecified number of students at a District school have had their DC-CAS test scores invalidated because they apparently got an advance look at the test, according to a June 18 letter from Acting State Superintendent of Education Kerri L. Briggs. The letter, from which all names and other details...

By Bill Turque | July 13, 2009; 07:32 PM ET | Comments (16)

Possible Reprieve For Novice DCPS Teachers

Reversing its previous practice, DCPS says it will review last month's firing of about 60 first or second-year teachers. Under Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, the District has maintained that probationary teachers are not entitled to the formal grievance process tenured instructors can pursue if they are dismissed. But Rhee spokeswoman...

By Bill Turque | July 9, 2009; 03:17 PM ET | Comments (21)

DCPS: Enrollment Numbers Not a Problem

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee got into a nasty spat with the D.C. Council this spring over how many students DCPS expected to enroll for the coming school year. Rhee said that the steady decline of recent years had leveled off, and that projections showed student population even ticking up ever...

By Bill Turque | July 8, 2009; 09:19 PM ET | Comments (1)

School Security Firm Under Fire

Hawk One Security, which is supposed to help keep order in D.C. public schools, is getting tough--with its own guards. That's according to a series of unfair labor practice charges filed by Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). SEIU told the National Labor Relations Board last...

By Bill Turque | July 8, 2009; 09:10 PM ET | Comments (0)

Brokaw Visits Rhee on Route 50 Tour

As a strictly geographic matter, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's office at 825 North Capitol St. NE is not along Route 50, which enters the District from Maryland via New York Ave., jogs across town to Constitution Ave. and exits to Virginia across the Roosevelt Memorial Bridge. But she's close enough...

By Bill Turque | July 1, 2009; 12:34 PM ET | Comments (21)

D.C. Teachers Become Central Office Fellows

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, who presided over the firing of 250 teachers last month, is also continuing her attempts to build bridges with District educators by bringing six of them into her office for a five-week summer fellowship. Rhee said in a statement that the first annual Teachers Central to...

By Bill Turque | July 1, 2009; 11:12 AM ET | Comments (6)

D.C. Teachers Shown the Door

DCPS started sending dismissal notices to teachers today, as first reported by Candi Peterson in The Washington Teacher. Jennifer Calloway, spokeswoman for Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, did not have hard numbers available, but said that "as part of DCPS' ongoing commitment to reforming public schools in the District and providing...

By Bill Turque | June 16, 2009; 08:32 PM ET | Comments (24)

Rhee Says Thanks. And Thanks Again

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has taken pains to build more support within the District's teaching ranks in recent months, convening small group chats to hear instructors' concerns and praising them for their hard work. DCPS has even launched a series of "teacher snapshots" on its website to provide a...

By Bill Turque | June 15, 2009; 04:25 PM ET | Comments (27)

Survey: D.C. Kids Want To Graduate

A new Education Week study places on-time graduation rates for D.C. public schools at below 50 percent, but that's not because District students don't aspire to college. That's one of the findings of a survey by S.T.E.P. Up D.C. (Success Through Educational Progress), a network of youth-serving organizations. Eighty-two percent...

By Bill Turque | June 10, 2009; 11:45 AM ET | Comments (3)

DCPS Says It Drafted General Independently

DCPS says it moved on its own to hire former Brigadier Gen. Anthony J. Tata for its newly created chief operating officer's post. The Wire, citing a knowledgeable source, reported yesterday that Tata's selection came with the assistance of Terence Golden, chairman of the influential Federal City Council. Jennifer Calloway,...

By Bill Turque | June 9, 2009; 01:08 PM ET | Comments (5)

Rhee Pursues Master Plan

DCPS is seeking 36 "master educators" to serve as impartial, third-party evaluators of teachers under the new assessment system being developed by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. District teachers have long complained that the current evaluation scheme--which relies primarily on school principals who may lack expertise in certain subjects, or who...

By Bill Turque | June 3, 2009; 02:52 PM ET | Comments (30)

No Charters for Kids of Board Vice-Chair

Brian W. Jones, vice chairman of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, was finishing up his testimony at the D.C. Council's confirmation hearing today for an old friend and colleague, Kerri L. Briggs, the Acting State Superintendent for Education, when he mentioned that he was the father of two school...

By Bill Turque | May 28, 2009; 06:55 PM ET | Comments (3)

Briggs Explains Her Bush Years

Kerri L. Briggs, the former Bush administration official who is Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's choice to be the new D.C. State Superintendent of Education, had to do a little Texas two-step at her confirmation hearing today when pressed on just how much Dubya she planned to bring to her new...

By Bill Turque | May 28, 2009; 06:20 PM ET | Comments (4)

Gray and Rhee Still Contesting the Count

D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee continue their standoff over public school enrollment and funding, with the latest wrinkles involving stimulus money. Gray is telling constituents that if Rhee is so concerned about the $27.3 million the D.C. Council pulled from the 2010...

By Kathryn Tolbert | May 27, 2009; 09:20 PM ET | Comments (18)

DCPS's Departed

In the Cold War era, Kremlin watchers used to count the exiting limosines to figure out who was still standing in the top circles of the Soviet government. At 825 North Capitol, DCPS headquarters, you wait for the latest organizational chart to emerge. The new power grid shows that two...

By Bill Turque | May 27, 2009; 10:55 AM ET | Comments (8)

Out-of-School Wednesdays Off The Table

After getting an earful from parents and teachers, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has backed away from a plan to close D.C. public schools on six Wednesdays between September and March next year for teacher training. A final draft of the 2009-10 academic calendar, posted on the DCPS website late this...

By Bill Turque | May 22, 2009; 07:17 PM ET | Comments (17)

DCPS Consultant Models Meltdown for Kids

Michael Moody is not a name you're likely to recognize unless you are a DCPS teacher or administrator. But Moody is an important player in Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's attempt to upend and transform District schools. A consultant carried on the organizational chart as "Special Advisor, Academics," Moody is a...

By Bill Turque | May 19, 2009; 04:35 PM ET | Comments (22)

Another Charter School Bites The Dust

Barbara Jordan Public Charter School, a middle school in Northwest D.C., is closing at the end of next month, citing declining enrollment. The D.C. Public Charter School Board voted last night to accept the school's decision to relinquish its charter. The school, which serves grades 5 through 8, will remain...

By Bill Turque | May 19, 2009; 12:15 PM ET | Comments (10)

Gray vs. Rhee: About More Than Numbers

Is it personal or just business? The escalating dispute between Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee over budget dollars and enrollment projections seems to resonate on both levels. Rhee has been pushing back in an unusually public manner since the Council voted Monday to slice...

By Bill Turque | May 14, 2009; 09:12 PM ET | Comments (6)

Rhee Visits CIA

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee keeps a robust schedule of speaking engagements but this one was not a typical gig: across the river to CIA headquarters in Langley, Va. The occasion was the agency's celebration of Asian Pacific Heritage Month. No text was available, but CIA spokesman George...

By Bill Turque | May 13, 2009; 06:35 PM ET | Comments (1)

"Deputy Youth Mayor" Vouches For Fenty

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty got dinged at a Senate committee hearing this morning for his wobbly support of the District voucher program. Fenty was one of several figures who declined invitations from Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) to testify on the future of the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Lieberman,...

By Bill Turque | May 13, 2009; 03:20 PM ET | Comments (4)

Rhee and Weingarten: How About Two Mediators?

Contract talks between DCPS and teachers' union reps resumed a few days ago, but the principal players aren't saying much. That includes newly minted mediator Kurt Schmoke, who when asked for an interview--even with the provision that he didn't have to wade into any pesky contract details--said he'd have to...

By Bill Turque | May 8, 2009; 06:30 PM ET | Comments (13)

Class Dismissed For Saunders

Nathan Saunders' forced march back to the classroom has ended. After a meeting yesterday with Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, the WTU general vice president reported that he had been restored to full time union duties. Saunders was dispatched to teach social studies at Eastern High School last month after deputy...

By Kathryn Tolbert | May 7, 2009; 09:38 AM ET | Comments (6)

Rhee and Klein Talk Reform

Given the guests and their advertised topic, the elements for a provocative evening seemed to be in place. "Can the New York City School System Serve as a Model for DC?" That was the question posed to the cities' two chancellors, Joel Klein and Michelle A. Rhee, by the local...

By Kathryn Tolbert | May 7, 2009; 09:35 AM ET | Comments (5)

Weingarten Tells WTU Members to Play Nice

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten appealed to Washington teachers yesterday evening to stay together as she and their union tried to negotiate a new contract with the District. "The thing that most disturbs me is in-fighting in the membership," she told a Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) reception...

By Bill Turque | May 6, 2009; 11:18 AM ET | Comments (2)

Will Rhee Be Nathan Saunders' New Best Friend?

Nathan Saunders has never had much of anything good to say about Michelle Rhee, the D.C. schools chancellor he believes is out to destroy the Washington Teachers Union. That's why the meeting he's scheduled for tomorrow could be a bit, um, awkward. Saunders is asking Rhee to reverse a decision...

By Bill Turque | May 5, 2009; 09:40 AM ET | Comments (8)

Who Pulled Officials From Cheh Forum?

District staff routinely make the rounds of evening community meetings to discuss school issues. That's what Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) had in mind when she invited three of them to her education forum at Alice Deal Middle School last night. But when you're chair of the council's government...

By Bill Turque | May 1, 2009; 05:10 PM ET | Comments (7)

Council Selects Group for DCPS Study

The D.C. Council is looking to the research arm of the National Academies for an independent assessment of public school reform under Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. This week's mark up of Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's proposed budget sets aside $325,000 for the D.C. Auditor to hire the National Research Council...

By Bill Turque | April 29, 2009; 03:37 PM ET | Comments (12)

WTU's Veep Sent Back To School

Nathan Saunders, the second-ranking leader of the Washington Teachers' Union, has been an outspoken critic of both Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and WTU president George Parker, denouncing one for her performance-based salary proposals and the other as a weak and credulous labor leader. Saunders even sued Parker, unsuccessfully, in federal...

By Bill Turque | April 27, 2009; 09:48 PM ET | Comments (14)

DCPS Tries to Calm Swine Fears

D.C. school officials sent a taped phone message to District families this evening assuring them that no swine flu cases have been identified in DCPS or the city. Here is the text of the message: "I am calling from the District of Columbia Public Schools with a message about...

By Bill Turque | April 27, 2009; 07:53 PM ET | Comments (0)

Out-of-School Wednesdays: Some Work, Mostly Play

Ximena Hartsock, the District's new Parks and Recreation director, filled in a few details last night about plans for public school kids on the six Wednesdays that DCPS wants to devote to teacher training during the 2009-2010 academic year. The free-of-cost programs, to be based in the city's rec centers...

By Bill Turque | April 24, 2009; 12:12 PM ET | Comments (10)

DCPS 2009-10 Calendar Has Six Mid-Week Closures

D.C. public schools would be closed on six Wednesdays between September and March for teacher training under the 2009-2010 academic calendar proposed yesterday by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. School officials said that they are working with the Department of Parks and Recreation to develop alternative programs on those days, but...

By Bill Turque | April 22, 2009; 04:00 PM ET | Comments (2)

Fenty's Charter Funding Change Criticized

When Mayor Adrian M. Fenty rolled out his proposal last month for a major change in the way public charter schools are funded, his lieutenants said the idea was developed in close consultation with the D.C. Public Charter School Board and others in the charter community. Board Chairman Tom Nida...

By Bill Turque | April 22, 2009; 12:55 PM ET | Comments (3)

Charter School for Teen Mothers to Close

A residential charter school for teenage mothers and their children will close in June after just two years because of problems with truancy, curriculum and services for special education students. MEI Futures Academy, on New Hampshire Avenue N.E. in the Lamont Riggs neighborhood, had its charter revoked last night by...

By Bill Turque | April 21, 2009; 03:05 PM ET | Comments (1)

DCPS Duns Deadbeat Dems

The D.C. Democratic State Committee, already under investigation for questions about its spending at last year's Democratic National Convention, has apparently stiffed D.C. Public Schools over a $2,500 tab for the use of McKinley Technology High School. The committee held January 19, 2008 delegate selection caucus at the Northeast school,...

By Bill Turque | April 21, 2009; 11:01 AM ET | Comments (0)

Nickles Roughed Up In Special Ed Decision

D.C. Attorney General Peter J. Nickles received a thorough trashing yesterday from a federal judge who denied the District's bid to recover $1,725 in legal costs from a private attorney who filed what officials regarded as a frivolous special education case. Public and public charter school parents who are unhappy...

By Bill Turque | April 16, 2009; 05:37 PM ET | Comments (1)

WTU Avoids Mortification

Former Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke may not have been the Washington Teachers Union's (WTU) first choice for a mediator in its stalled talks with Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. But union insiders say he is a quantum improvement over one of Rhee's earlier suggestions: billionaire real estate developer and...

By Kathryn Tolbert | April 15, 2009; 11:10 AM ET | Comments (0)

Gist Bids Farewell to OSSE

Before moving on to her new job as the Commissioner of Education for the state of Rhode Island, Deborah A. Gist said farewell to her colleagues at the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) in an email. "It has been a true honor to work with you...

By Marcia Davis | April 10, 2009; 03:34 PM ET | Comments (1)

School Budget Hearing Underway

More than three dozen witnesses have signed up to testify at the D.C. Council school budget hearing, which is underway today. Those testifying include George Parker, president of the Washington Teacher's Union, members of Parent Teacher Associations, principals and students. Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is on deck to testify later...

By Marcia Davis | April 9, 2009; 12:20 PM ET | Comments (0)

D.C. Charter Board Taps DCPS for New Press Aide

Another DCPS person goes charter. No, we're not talking about one of the roughly 4,200 students who left D.C. Public Schools last year while charter enrollment surged 14 percent, according to the 2008 school enrollment audit report. Audrey A. Williams, who worked in the DCPS communications office, is now the...

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | April 8, 2009; 06:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

DCPS Counts Its Pennies

D.C. public schools, largely protected from cuts in Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's proposed 2010 budget, are tightening up for the remainder of the current fiscal year that ends Sept 30. Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee sent word to principals late Friday that local school budgets are effectively frozen until then. All...

By Bill Turque | April 4, 2009; 06:21 AM ET | Comments (7)

No Dough for Teachers in Funding Formula

It turns out teachers aren't quite so special after all. Mayoral budget guru William Singer said last week that while most city employees would not be getting raises under the proposed 2010 budget, teachers were "a special case." "There is money in the proposed budget for a performance-based teacher contract,"...

By Bill Turque | April 3, 2009; 06:18 PM ET | Comments (2)

A Flap Over Charter School Funding

Public charter school advocates are upset about a proposed change in the District's funding formula -- one that D.C. officials say is intended to make the schools more accountable for their facilities costs. Like public schools, public charter schools are funded according to a per-pupil allocation. The basic amount--which...

By Bill Turque | April 2, 2009; 06:55 AM ET | Comments (5)

Gist Quits District for Rhode Island

D.C. State Superintendent of Education Deborah A. Gist has resigned to become Rhode Island's top education officer. Sources said this morning that her appointment as Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education is scheduled to be announced in Providence tomorrow. Sources also said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty will name her...

By Bill Turque | April 1, 2009; 10:54 AM ET | Comments (16)

Fenty to Mayors: School Boards Have No Purpose

Mayors from across the country were in town today for a conference, including a seminar on education reform. Not surprisingly, Mayor Adrian Fenty (D) and D.C. school Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee were among the speakers on the panel, continuing a series of national platforms --Democratic National Convention in Denver, National...

By David A Nakamura | March 31, 2009; 01:06 PM ET | Comments (22)

White House Launches D.C. Summer Internships

The Obama Administration, continuing to build bridges to District schools, today announced what is believed to be the first White House internship program intended specifically for D.C. students. The D.C. Scholars Program will place students in part-time, unpaid positions in White House offices and departments this summer. "When I...

By Bill Turque | March 30, 2009; 05:46 PM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee, Teachers To Meet on New Evaluation System

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, stepping up her efforts to reach out to D.C. teachers, has announced a series of meetings to discuss the new evaluation system scheduled to launch in the fall. A notice on the DCPS website invites teachers to "help shape" the new approach. Rhee has said that...

By Bill Turque | March 27, 2009; 02:34 PM ET | Comments (13)

Teacher Pay Hikes Tucked Into Funding Formula

Don't bother looking for the spot in the proposed FY 2010 budget where it says there is money for teacher raises. District officials, who confirmed yesterday that public school teachers are the lone exception to Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's proposed salary freeze, have placed it into the Uniform Per...

By Bill Turque | March 26, 2009; 12:20 PM ET | Comments (0)

Teacher Talks Set To Resume With Mediator

The District has completed its review of the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) contract proposal and is ready to return to the negotiating table, a spokeswoman for Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said this evening. Dena Iverson, Rhee's spokeswoman, also said that the District was ready to engage a third-party mediator...

By Bill Turque | March 25, 2009; 06:35 PM ET | Comments (8)

Rhee: "It Potentially Gets Uglier"

Did Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee say that mediation wasn't the only option if talks with the Washington Teachers Union remained stalemated? That's kind of what it sounded like in Nicholas D. Kristof's New York Times column yesterday. Addressing her 16-month-long fight with the union over pay and job security...

By Bill Turque | March 23, 2009; 06:12 PM ET | Comments (10)

Coolidge Principal Resigns

Coolidge, one of three failing D.C. high schools that will be run by a private management firm next year, is losing its principal. L. Nelson Burton has told his staff that he will not be back. Burton, principal for the last four years, said his departure has nothing to...

By Bill Turque | March 23, 2009; 01:32 PM ET | Comments (13)

Rhee Joins Influential New Board

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has joined the newly formed advisory board of the Broad Center for the Management of School Systems, a non-profit that trains new urban school leaders. D.C. State Schools Superintendent Deborah Gist is a recent graduate of one of its programs, The Broad Superintendents...

By Bill Turque | March 19, 2009; 07:00 PM ET | Comments (2)

First Lady, Celebrities Headed to D.C. Schools on Thursday

In another star-packed, White House-coordinated event, first lady Michelle Obama and a line-up of A-list stars -- including Alicia Keyes, Sheryl Crow, Debbie Allen and Alfre Woodard -- plan to fan out to Washington-area schools on Thursday, where they will speak with students about setting career goals and reaching their...

By Marcia Davis | March 18, 2009; 06:44 PM ET | Comments (0)

Correction: D.C. Schools Not Richer Than God

Education Secretary Arne Duncan is new to Washington, but he's wasted no time perpetuating the canard that the underachieving District school system is flush with cash. "D.C. has had more money than God for a long time, but the outcomes are still disastrous," Duncan said in a March 4 visit...

By Bill Turque | March 18, 2009; 04:00 PM ET | Comments (18)

Study Confirms DCPS Enrollment Decline

Audited enrollment figures quietly posted on Friday confirm that D.C. public schools suffered their steepest annual decline since the District started using an outside firm a decade ago to verify the student population. Enrollment for the 2008-09 academic year stands at 45,190, down 8.5 percent from last year's 49,422. That...

By Bill Turque | March 17, 2009; 11:07 AM ET | Comments (7)

D.C. Schools Cutting Back On 'Read-Aloud'

More than 2,000 students in D.C. public and public charter schools with reading difficulties have questions and passages in the English Language Arts portion of the annual DC-CAS standardized test read to them. But federal and state officials have ordered D.C. schools to sharply reduce the number of "read-aloud"...

By Bill Turque | March 16, 2009; 12:51 PM ET | Comments (5)

In Case You Missed It: OCTO Corruption and School Assaults

Read the Washington Post report on the FBI's raid of the Office of the Chief Technology Officer and its arrest of a mid-level manager and at least one of his co-conspirators for corruption. Also, check out Bill Turque's report on Woodson Academy, a window on how some schools can struggle...

By Marcia Davis | March 13, 2009; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee: Union Proposal 'Did Not Propel Us Forward'

When we last checked in with Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee on the state of contract negotiations about a month ago, she offered her first hopeful words in some time about the prospects for an agreement with the Washington Teachers Union (WTU). "I think where we are is in a...

By Kathryn Tolbert | March 12, 2009; 09:00 AM ET | Comments (17)

Barry and Rhee Bond, Sort Of

Marion Barry, Chancellor Michelle Rhee's most vocal antagonist on the D.C. Council, has tempered his tone when it comes to the schools leader. Barry used to criticize Rhee for her spotty attendance and incomplete answers at past hearings. Maybe it's his new surgically acquired kidney, or more likely that...

By Kathryn Tolbert | March 12, 2009; 08:58 AM ET | Comments (0)

What Happened to City Lights Kids When Lights Went Out?

The financial collapse of City Lights Public Charter School last month left 48 D.C. high school students, many of them with serious emotional and learning disabilities, without a seat in a classroom. The District, which operates under a federal court consent decree stemming from its historic inability to serve...

By Kathryn Tolbert | March 12, 2009; 08:55 AM ET | Comments (1)

Schools Get Boost With Spending Bill

D.C. schools are among the beneficiaries of the spending bill President Obama signed yesterday. Read Mary Beth Sheridan's report here....

By Marcia Davis | March 12, 2009; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

More Snow, Fewer Students

School attendance figures from Monday's storm-delayed opening indicate that D.C. students and parents voted with their feet -- electing not to stick them in the snow and ice, despite President Obama's suggestion, seconded by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty, that District residents need to toughen up when it comes to winter...

By Marcia Davis | March 6, 2009; 01:55 PM ET | Comments (4)

Duncan Touts Weingarten and Rhee

Education Secretary Arne Duncan showed the love to the strong-willed leaders on both sides in D.C's teacher contract dispute yesterday. During a visit with Post editors and reporters, he praised AFT President Randi Weingarten for her recent op-ed endorsement of national standards, which he endorses. He also touted D.C. School...

By Marcia Davis | March 5, 2009; 11:55 AM ET | Comments (2)

Snow Attendance in Deep Freeze at Some D.C. Schools

While D.C. school officials said attendance figures from yesterday's snowy late-start would not be available for a week or so, fragmentary numbers suggest that students and teachers stayed home in significant numbers. At Cardozo High School, 52 students out of 370 showed up, according to teacher Crystal Sylvia. "There really...

By Marcia Davis | March 3, 2009; 12:32 PM ET | Comments (3)

School Hearing Leaves the Parent Out of Transparent?

DCPS took a beating from parents and school activists last year for lack of transparency in development of the 2008-09 budget. It was May before hard information on school allocations was posted on line. Advocates also had to fight off a proposal from Mayor Adrian M. Fenty to eliminate the...

By Bill Turque | February 28, 2009; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (1)

Driving the Chancellor

The human resources section of the DCPS website is filled with job openings, not unusual for a school system with an overwhelming level of need. Postings include a psychologist for the Head Start program, project coordinator for the Special Education "critical response team," and a "mentor teacher" to help novice...

By Bill Turque | February 26, 2009; 06:45 AM ET | Comments (10)

Students Get Great Seats for Obama Speech

Several District students listened to President Barack Obama's first address to Congress sitting in the presidential box with First Lady Michelle Obama. Elissa Silverman and Martin Weil report....

By Marcia Davis | February 25, 2009; 07:10 AM ET | Comments (0)

Fenty Reiterates Pledge: My Kids Will Go to DCPS

Mayor Fenty, sporting a deep tan from his week-long jaunt to Dubai, got back out in the local community last night, dropping by a meeting of the Deanwood Civic Association to run down the status of his various initiatives. He talked about the effort to clean up abandoned building, construct...

By David A Nakamura | February 24, 2009; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (1)

Teachers' Union to air Radio Ads on Contract Talks

The Washington Teachers Union says it is taking to the airwaves this week to promote what it calls the "bold and progressive" proposed contract it submitted earlier this month to D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. The radio spots will be accompanied by a new website. "We know we...

By David A Nakamura | February 18, 2009; 01:19 PM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee, Weingarten and Parker Agree... That Board Certified Teachers Are Good

The three principal players in the D.C. teachers' contract talks--Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten and Washington Teachers Union president George Parker-- displayed a rare united front yesterday evening to pay tribute the 20 DCPS instructors who recently won certification from the prestigious National Board...

By Marcia Davis | February 11, 2009; 03:22 PM ET | Comments (10)

Barry Supports Ward 8 School Closings

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has no greater antagonist on the City Council than Marion Barry (D-Ward 8). He has regularly denounced Rhee for not showing the Council what he regards as sufficient deference and respect. But the chancellor's proposed closure of two elementary schools in Ward 8 has them sharing...

By Marcia Davis | February 10, 2009; 07:06 AM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee: In Her Own Words

This morning School Chancellor Michelle Rhee writes on the op-ed page of The Washington Post to "set the record straight," she says. To read "The Toughest Job," click here....

By Marcia Davis | February 9, 2009; 09:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

Proposal Calls for Three More School Closings

DCPS has announced a proposal to close three more elementary schools: Webb, Birney and Draper. These are schools that were serving as "receiving" schools that took on kids from schools being modernized. There will be community meetings to discuss the idea next month. Bill Turque...

By Marcia Davis | February 6, 2009; 01:44 PM ET | Comments (2)

Promises for Eastern High School Draw Skepticism From Some in the Community

D.C. officials unveiled their proposal last night to convert Eastern High School into specialized "academies" focused on health sciences and pre-law. But the reaction from parents, staff and alumni, hardened by years of abortive reform efforts, ranged from noncommittal to hostile. The District is gradually phasing out the current incarnation...

By Marcia Davis | February 5, 2009; 02:30 PM ET | Comments (9)

Setting Out-of-Boundaries

Correction: The Wire strayed out of bounds in analyzing recent changes in the D.C. schools out-of-boundary transfer policy. It appeared from a reading of the old policy and the amended version that Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee had replaced principals as the final authority for such transfers. In fact, Rhee has...

By Marcia Davis | February 5, 2009; 07:32 AM ET | Comments (1)

Obamas Visit NW Charter School

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama dropped by Capital City Public Charter School this afternoon to read to a group of second-graders from a picture book entitled "Moon Over Star," an account of the first moon landing in July 1969. It also happened to be a good diversion...

By Marcia Davis | February 3, 2009; 03:46 PM ET | Comments (0)

WTU Delivers Contract Proposal

The Washington Teachers' Union president George Parker said he has delivered a contract proposal to DCPS. In a summary posted last night on the WTU website, Parker outlined the proposal in only general terms, saying that the proposal draws ideas from what he calls "successful, collaborative contracts" in New York,...

By Marcia Davis | February 3, 2009; 03:22 PM ET | Comments (0)

Out-of-Boundary Enrollment Begins

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has made some changes in the annual out-of boundary enrollment process that began last week. The application deadline has been extended from Feb. 28 to March 13, and parents who want to send their children some place other than their neighborhood school can now apply to...

By Marcia Davis | February 2, 2009; 12:08 PM ET | Comments (5)

Rhee and Weingarten in High-Stakes Education Battle

In case you missed it: Washington Post reporter Bill Turque wrote Sunday about the high-stakes point for teachers unions and District school reform. Two powerful education leaders, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and labor leader Randi Weingarten, are already at odds. What will happen when Weingarten introduces her alternative to Rhee's...

By Marcia Davis | February 2, 2009; 07:03 AM ET | Comments (0)

No Read From Rhee, Yet

Is Michelle Rhee: The Newsmagazine Cover going to spawn Michelle Rhee: The Book? At least one top-drawer New York publisher thinks it's a good idea. Mitzi Angel, who heads Farrar Straus and Giroux's Faber and Faber imprint, apparently reached out to Rhee shortly after the chancellor's broom-wielding photo appeared on...

By Marcia Davis | January 30, 2009; 04:11 PM ET | Comments (3)

Rhee Passes on Bonus

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, who hands out cash bonuses to teachers in schools that show big jumps in test scores, was eligible for a bonus of her own last year. Rhee's contract with the District calls for a performance bonus of up to 10 percent of her $275,000 base salary....

By Marcia Davis | January 29, 2009; 01:42 PM ET | Comments (12)

Bobb Jumps Into Detroit School Mess

As former president of the now-defunct D.C. Board of Education--and its reincarnated version, the D.C. State Board of Education--Robert Bobb has first-hand knowledge of life inside a struggling urban school district. Rather than move on, Bobb has elected to go back, accepting an appointment from Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm Monday...

By Marcia Davis | January 27, 2009; 07:26 AM ET | Comments (0)

D.C. Teachers Say Morale Is Low

At an 11-hour hearing Friday on the D.C. schools' "human capital" policies, teachers charged that Michelle A. Rhee's quest to reform the historically poor-performing system--which includes a pledge to replace significant numbers of them--has created a culture of fear. Morale, many said, has never been lower. Seemingly arbitrary and capricious...

By Kathryn Tolbert | January 17, 2009; 12:25 PM ET | Comments (10)

School Officials Deny Targeting Older Teachers

DC school officials flatly deny targeting teachers over 40 for placement in the so-called 90 day plan that puts instructors on notice to improve or face dismissal. In a statement issued after press time Thursday evening Dena Iverson, spokeswoman for Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, said the average age of teachers...

By Kathryn Tolbert | January 16, 2009; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (4)

Council Chair Gray on Schools, Guns and More

Earlier this afternoon, D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray took washingtonpost.com readers' questions. Here are some excerpts from the discussion: Temple Hills, Md.: Chancellor Rhee has put over 400 certified and tenured (including special education) teachers on probation in order to terminate them by the end of March. Will they...

By Christopher Dean Hopkins | January 5, 2009; 01:24 PM ET | Comments (0)

Schools Ombudsman Moves On

Tonya Vidal Kinlow, the first-ever DCPS ombudsman, has left her post after a little more than a year on the job. In a voice message on her office phone, Kinlow said her resignation was effective on Dec. 22 and she expressed thanks for the support she received. Kinlow could not...

By Marcia Davis | December 31, 2008; 03:18 PM ET | Comments (3)

Bobb After Final Board of Ed Meeting: 'I'll Be Back'

On the last night of his tenure as the first president of the D.C. State Board of Education, Robert C. Bobb passed the baton to his fellow board members and wished them well. "I couldn't think of a better night to end," said Bobb, who was elected president of the...

By Marcia Davis | December 18, 2008; 09:15 AM ET | Comments (1)

Special Education Hearing: Gray's Opening Statement

The D.C. Council is holding a Committee of the Whole hearing today on reforming the city's special education system. DCPS's special-ed program has been broken for years, with hundreds of students still waiting for services, and others attending private schools at enormous cost to the city. Council Chairman Vincent C....

By Marcia Davis | December 12, 2008; 12:45 PM ET | Comments (0)

Newspaper Notes Rhee's Frequent Trips to Sacramento, Ties to Kevin Johnson

In November, the D.C. Wire reported that School Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee was a member of the transition team for newly elected Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson. Over the weekend, the Sacramento Bee published a story about Rhee's frequent trips to Sacramento....

By Marcia Davis | December 8, 2008; 04:03 PM ET | Comments (2)

Broomsticks and Baseball Bats

Rhee on the cover of Time magazine. (Courtesy Time.) Michelle Rhee's broomstick-wielding presence on the cover of last week's Time begs the question about her national image versus her local one, an issue examined in a Washington Post story today. The Time cover also got D.C. Wire curious about...

By Marcia Davis | December 8, 2008; 11:56 AM ET | Comments (0)

Weingarten Caucuses With WTU

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten met last night with the executive board of the Washington Teachers Union to discuss the next move in WTU's stalled talks with the District on a new contract. No one is talking for the record, but the meeting, first reported on The Washington...

By Marcia Davis | December 5, 2008; 04:27 PM ET | Comments (16)

Michelle and Michelle Talked Schools

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee gave up a few new details today on the Obamas' search for a school for daughters Sasha and Malia. Pressed by WTOP's Mark Plotkin and Mark Seagraves, Rhee said she received a call from Michelle Obama and "gave a lot of information about a number of...

By Marcia Davis | December 5, 2008; 04:24 PM ET | Comments (3)

Michelle Rhee's 'Hard Decision' to Vote for Obama

Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee almost voted for Sen. John McCain in November but switched her vote to Sen. Barack Obama at the desperate urging of one of her best friends, she told Time for a profile appearing on the magazine's website today. Rhee, who highlighted her reformer image by...

By Kathryn Tolbert | November 26, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (25)

Obamas Choose Sidwell for Their Girls, No DCPS

The Obamas have chosen Sidwell Friends as the school for their young daughters, Sasha and Malia. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee have wished them well as the First-Family-in-Waiting continues its transition to the White House. Michelle Obama's spokesperson said that security was a major factor in...

By Marcia Davis | November 22, 2008; 09:00 AM ET | Comments (4)

Rhee Talks About School Violence to D.C. Council

The D.C. Council got a chance to hear from Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee yesterday, one day after another incident of school violence. As Bill Turque reports, Rhee told the Council there needs to be a new approach to dealing with school violence, including a stronger security force and helping students...

By Marcia Davis | November 21, 2008; 07:15 AM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee: More Principals Facing the Ax

About a third of D.C.'s school principal corps has turned over on Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's 17-month watch, through firings, resignations and retirements. She's replaced at least three since the beginning of the school year, and has put out the word that she is not done. Her draft "action plan,"...

By Marcia Davis | November 19, 2008; 12:37 PM ET | Comments (17)

American Federation of Teachers President Reaches Out to Rhee in Contract Talks

American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said today she has asked for a meeting with D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee in an effort to reach agreement on a contract between the District and the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU). "I've reached out to the chancellor," said Weingarten, who heads...

By Marcia Davis | November 17, 2008; 01:30 PM ET | Comments (2)

Taking a Pass on Impasse?

Did Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee pull their punches against the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) last month when they rolled out Plan B? Plan B, so named by Rhee, is designed to accomplish administratively what she has found impossible to achieve so far at...

By Marcia Davis | November 14, 2008; 08:50 AM ET | Comments (1)

Capital Gains Takes a Loss a Hart Middle School

Among the many things that appear to have gone wrong at Hart Middle School this fall is DCPS's "Capital Gains" program, designed to pay 6th, 7th, and 8th-graders up to $100 every two weeks for good grades, attendance and behavior. Hart is one of 15 District schools in the demonstration...

By Marcia Davis | November 13, 2008; 02:41 PM ET | Comments (11)

Why Did 'D.C. Teacher Chic' Check Out?

Heather Migdon said she was "100 percent sure" that when she told Nalle Elementary principal Kim Burke last week that she was quitting Burke would talk her back from the ledge, ask her to reconsider. Migdon, 28, was completely discouraged less than three months into the school year. A ring...

By Marcia Davis | November 13, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (24)

Fenty's Communication's Strategy: "Just Don't Pick Up the Phone."

Here at D.C. Wire we endeavor to clear up the record when clarity is called for. Such is the call for State Superintendent of Education Deborah A. Gist, whom we unfairly kicked in the shin for evading our requests for an interview in September. The backstory: Her agency is developing...

By Marcia Davis | November 11, 2008; 11:45 AM ET | Comments (13)

Rhee's Transition

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee is a key figure in the transition--but not the one taking place here. Rhee appeared at a news conference in Sacramento Monday as part of the transition team of Mayor-elect Kevin Johnson, the former NBA star who will take office Nov. 25, replacing two-term...

By Kathryn Tolbert | November 11, 2008; 12:00 AM ET | Comments (5)

D.C. Voice to Media: How About Some Good News on DCPS?

Are you tired of hearing how bad D.C. Public Schools are? Do you want to read some good news about the 45,000-student system? Well, then, does D.C. Voice have a petition for you! D.C. Voice, a nonprofit advocate group for public education run by former D.C. Board of Education member...

By David A Nakamura | November 10, 2008; 01:06 PM ET | Comments (4)

A Third Way: Other Voices on School Reform

A new group has organized around the proposition that fixing D.C.'s schools will require nurturing and developing teachers -- not just threatening them with dismissal for failing to raise student test scores. Teachers and Parents for Real Education Reform, which gathered at Nineteenth Street Baptist Church last night, was co-founded...

By Marcia Davis | November 6, 2008; 01:59 PM ET | Comments (8)

School Board: In Ward 5, a Mystery Sample Ballot

Ward 5 Democrats sent out sample ballots for the election that listed only one of the three candidates running for Ward 5 state board of education. Robert Vinson Brannum was the only candidate listed on the sample ballot, while Mark Jones and Angel Alston were left off. Jones, who became...

By Marcia Davis | November 4, 2008; 07:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

WTU Board Turns Up Heat on Parker

Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) president George Parker was censured by his executive board this week, the latest reflection of unhappiness with his leadership in the contentious contract talks with the D.C. school system. Union sources said a resolution, passed by a 9-4 vote Thursday night, accused Parker of failing to...

By Marcia Davis | November 1, 2008; 08:29 AM ET | Comments (10)

School Advocates Push for Fuller Budget Disclosure

D.C. public school activists who believe that transparency and public participation have been casualties of the Michelle Rhee era had their say at the D.C. Council this morning. The occasion was a hearing on the "Public Schools Hearing Amendment Act of 2008," introduced by Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D)....

By Marcia Davis | October 28, 2008; 04:27 PM ET | Comments (1)

Weingarten to Rhee: AFT Involvement No Secret

American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten says there's been nothing hush-hush about her organization's role in helping the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) in its contract negotiations. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee said Friday that the AFT has been "disingenuous" in claiming no involvement, even though it has detailed...

By Marcia Davis | October 28, 2008; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (1)

Obama and McCain Talk District Schools

If you watched the debate between Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama, and if you hung in there to the end, you would have seen our own Washington, D.C., school system take center stage. The candidates were debating charters and vouchers. The District moment was a mixed bag, as...

By Marcia Davis | October 16, 2008; 08:50 AM ET | Comments (0)

Shepherd Parents Meet to Consider Next Move

Parents at Shepherd Elementary, upset by the abrupt dismissal Friday of principal Galeet BenZion, will meet this evening to formulate a response to Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee. Leaders of the school's PTA will ask parents to vote on a series of resolutions that would roll back the firing and essentially...

By Marcia Davis | October 15, 2008; 12:57 PM ET | Comments (5)

Rhee Swings the Ax

Less than two months into the new school year, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has fired her first principal. In an e-mail to parents at Shepherd Elementary School Friday afternoon, she announced the dismissal of Galeet BenZion, hired by the chancellor in July. As is customary with personnel matters, Rhee did...

By Marcia Davis | October 11, 2008; 10:20 AM ET | Comments (81)

No Vacancies at Wilson

Monday was not a good day for Woodrow Wilson High School principal Peter Cahall, who said he got calls from 30 job applicants and parents "banging down my door" about five teaching vacancies that he doesn't have. The Post reported yesterday that five openings at Wilson were among more than...

By Marcia Davis | September 30, 2008; 02:07 PM ET | Comments (1)

Disorganized Labor

D.C. teachers didn't bring their indoor voices to last night's three-hour union meeting at McKinley Technology High School. A number of participants said the session, called to discuss Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's two-tier salary proposal, was plagued by shouting matches, interruptions and long, irrelevant speeches. As the meeting grinded on,...

By Marcia Davis | September 24, 2008; 12:21 PM ET | Comments (0)

Union Chief: Teachers Don't Trust Rhee

Staff writer Bill Turque reports today on the level of distrust between teachers and Michelle Rhee: Senior D.C. teachers' fear and mistrust of Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's intentions are a major obstacle to approval of her potentially lucrative salary proposal, Washington Teachers' Union President George Parker said last night after...

By David A Nakamura | September 24, 2008; 11:19 AM ET | Comments (0)

School Facilities Plan Gets Airing

D.C. residents who want to learn more about the plan for renovating and rebuilding public schools can attend two meetings this week. The first is 6 p.m. tonight at Francis-Stevens Education Education Campus, 2425 N Street N.W. The second will be 6 p.m. tomorrow at Fletcher-Johnson School, 4650 Benning Rd....

By Marcia Davis | September 22, 2008; 12:08 PM ET | Comments (3)

D.C. Sets First Middle School "Payday" For Oct. 17

District middle schoolers eligible to earn cash for good grades and behavior will need to show up with their A-game starting Monday, September 29. That's the start date announced by officials for the new "Capital Gains" experiment that will launch at 14 D.C. schools that serve middle school kids. At...

By David A Nakamura | September 17, 2008; 03:08 PM ET | Comments (5)

Rhee: Who Needs Consensus?

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, who didn't fuss when a PBS interviewer asked if she was a "benevolent dictator," made clear again Monday that she was more than comfortable with the her-way-or the-Beltway approach. "I think if there is one thing I have learned over the last 15 months...

By Marcia Davis | September 16, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (11)

Top Special Ed Official Goes on Leave

The D.C. school system's deputy chancellor for special education, Dr. Phyllis Harris, is on leave, effective yesterday. Dena Iverson, spokeswoman for Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, said last night that she could not elaborate on the nature of the leave and when--or if--Harris is scheduled to return. The Washington Teacher, a...

By Marcia Davis | September 11, 2008; 08:58 AM ET | Comments (3)

Who Muzzled Gist? Looks Like Gist

It's not easy being a state superintendent of education without a state. Deborah Gist occupies that peculiar and frequently awkward spot in District government. She carries little of the authority of peers in actual states, such as Nancy Grasmick of Maryland. Under the law that gives Mayor Adrian M. Fenty...

By Marcia Davis | September 10, 2008; 01:40 PM ET | Comments (3)

Rhee: Republicans Do Education Reform Better

She's said it before, but Michelle Rhee keeps hammering away at the Democratic Party for being weak on education accountability and reform. Last night, Rhee appeared before the Ward 4 Democrats at Emery Recreation Center and explained that she appeared on an education panel discussion in Denver during the Democratic...

By David A Nakamura | September 4, 2008; 01:00 PM ET | Comments (5)

Robert Bobb Not Running for School Board

D.C. State School Board President Robert Bobb won't be running for another term. The deadline to file for candidacy was at 5 p.m. today, and he didn't bring in any nominating petitions - nor, for that matter, did he ever pick them up. Bobb has not returned repeated calls for...

By Marcia Davis | August 27, 2008; 05:32 PM ET | Comments (1)

Teacher "Welcome Back" Rally a Little Hot and Cold

This morning's "Welcome Back" rally at the Washington Convention Center for 5,000 returning D.C teachers started with cheers, cash prizes for schools that pulled off big gains in test scores, and inspirational words to launch the fall term that begins Monday. But warm-and-fuzzy quickly gave way to bread-and-butter as Chancellor...

By Marcia Davis | August 22, 2008; 04:27 PM ET | Comments (12)

Today's D.C. Extra: All Schools Edition

In case you missed today's D.C. Extra section, you can read up on: Chancellor Michelle Rhee's national standing, but local challenges; The politics surrounding Mayor Fenty's second year in charge; Why soaring enrollment in charter schools doesn't necessarily mean better test scores; The struggles of the D.C. school board; And...

By David A Nakamura | August 21, 2008; 04:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

And the Latest NYC Idea for D.C. Schools: Paying Students!

As much as Mayor Adrian Fenty and School Chancellor Michelle Rhee like to cast their school takeover as "outside the box" thinking, it's not particularly difficult to figure out what's coming next: Just look to the north. Last year, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Chancellor Joel Klein announced a...

By David A Nakamura | August 21, 2008; 12:50 PM ET | Comments (97)

Fired Wilson Teacher Hits "Brick Wall"

The cause of Art Siebens, the popular A.P. biology teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School who was fired this summer, has hit what appears to be a dead end and will most likely end up in the courts. School officials have steadfastly refused to explain the dismissal, citing the bureaucrat's...

By David A Nakamura | August 21, 2008; 12:45 PM ET | Comments (1)

Absent? Charter Officials Will Now Know Sooner, Rather Than Later

The tragic case of Banita Jacks and her four daughters has faded from the spotlight. But in January when Jacks was discovered at home with the badly decomposing bodies of her children ---she has been charged with their deaths--- city officials couldn't explain why the sisters had been absent for...

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | August 19, 2008; 03:50 PM ET | Comments (1)

Teacher Poll: Tenure Trumps Big Money

By an almost 3-to-1 margin, D.C. teachers want their union to stay at the bargaining table rather than bring Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's two-tier salary plan to the membership for a vote as part of a new contract. That's the bottom line of a new poll commissioned by the American...

By Marcia Davis | August 19, 2008; 07:29 AM ET | Comments (15)

No, Thank YOU...

Most government agencies will cough up only what they absolutely have to when answering requests under the Freedom of Information Act. The Post recently asked D.C. schools for e-mails and other documents on absenteeism and truancy. Here's a sample of what came back: From: Poles, Raymond (SAIC) Sent: Friday, June...

By Marcia Davis | August 18, 2008; 12:11 PM ET | Comments (3)

Rhee: Not Going to Take a Council "Beating"

If D.C. Council members wonder why Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee has not been the most communicative or accessible of city officials, they might want to take a look at the September issue of Fast Company magazine. She doesn't seem to like the way they do business. In his profile...

By Marcia Davis | August 18, 2008; 08:28 AM ET | Comments (12)

East Side, West Side

D.C.'s public school teachers have a lot to complain about: disrespectful students, checked-out parents, clueless administrators. It turns out they give pretty high marks to one group....themselves. That's one of the findings in a survey of 3,200 school employees conducted jointly by the school administration and the Washington Teachers Union....

By Marcia Davis | August 15, 2008; 08:37 AM ET | Comments (0)

Small Group of Teachers Protest at Union

This morning's teacher demonstration at union headquarters turned out to be more of an intimate chat. All of eight public school teachers, interested in the sizeable salary increases placed on the table by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, turned out at Washington Teachers Union headquarters on L'Enfant Plaza. They met for...

By Marcia Davis | August 14, 2008; 12:49 PM ET | Comments (18)

Chancellor Pottymouth?

A group of aspiring young education reformers got some straight talk last night from D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee about the challenges of trying to overhaul a troubled urban school district. "Sometimes, being a leader sucks," Rhee told the Education Pioneers Fellows, 28 graduate students who are finishing up...

By Marcia Davis | August 13, 2008; 11:54 AM ET | Comments (6)

The School Grounds Inspector

"Can you smell what I'm smelling?" D.C. Council member Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) was picking up the scent of mold in a sixth grade classroom at John Eaton Elementary School Friday afternoon. She was pretty sure she had a fix on it. "I'd be interested to see what's under...

By Marcia Davis | August 11, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (3)

Is Teacher Poll A "Push?"

Some D.C. public school teachers say that questions they got this week in a telephone survey sounded as if they were designed to encourage opposition to D.C. Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's big money-for-tenure proposal. But the American Federation of Teachers, which hired Peter D. Hart Research Associates, said it was...

By Marcia Davis | August 8, 2008; 12:33 PM ET | Comments (9)

Probation "A Deal Breaker," Union Source Says

Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) President George Parker stopped just short yesterday of completely rejecting Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's proposal that tenured teachers must spend a year on probation to become eligible for huge salary hikes and performance bonuses. But a union source with direct knowledge of contract talks between the...

By Marcia Davis | August 8, 2008; 11:06 AM ET | Comments (25)

School Daze

Structural imbalances in the roof at Ballou High, no stage at Anacostia High and bathroom and electrical repairs halted at Eastern High. These are some of the problems that could result if the D.C. Council blocks $8.9 million in reprogrammed funds needed to repair the city's schools, according to a...

By David A Nakamura | August 6, 2008; 04:06 PM ET | Comments (5)

Denver's Teacher-Pay Experiment Struggling

As D.C. teachers debate a proposal by Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee for big pay increases tied to improved student achievement, one of the nation's most ambitious experiments with teacher pay-for-performance may be floundering. The new edition of Education Week reports that Denver's teachers union and school officials are digging...

By Marcia Davis | July 29, 2008; 08:51 AM ET | Comments (6)

Rhee Wants to Hear From You

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, who has taken some heat from critics for not listening as closely as she might to the public, is starting a monthly series of meetings on aspects of education in the District. The "Chancellor's Community Forum Series" will launch 5 p.m. Wednesday evening at...

By Marcia Davis | July 29, 2008; 08:44 AM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee Tells 'NewsHour' Union Deal Almost Done

Washington Teachers Union President George Parker took pains this week to tell his members that no tentative agreement has been reached on a new labor contract with the D.C. schools system. He said that the big-pay-for-seniority proposal pitched by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee--which would require current teachers to spend a...

By Marcia Davis | July 25, 2008; 09:38 AM ET | Comments (0)

Teacher Union Infighting Intensifies

The civil war inside the leadership of the Washington Teachers Union continues to rage. WTU general vice president Nathan A. Saunders told the D.C. Wire today to "expect civil disobedience" at this evening's union executive board meeting when it takes up president George Parker's plan for membership to hear from...

By Marcia Davis | July 21, 2008; 03:38 PM ET | Comments (4)

Charter School Test Scores Also Up

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee publicized the DC Public Schools standardized test scores last week, but parents, students and teachers for the one-third of DC students who go to public charter schools got no information. The Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) published scores...

By Marcia Davis | July 17, 2008; 12:46 PM ET | Comments (3)

Fenty and Rhee on Hill Today

UPDATED: Read Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's testimony from this morning. Click here for Fenty's remarks, and here for Rhee's. ---------------------------------- Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee take their education show-and-tell to the Hill this morning. The two will testify about their partnership...

By Marcia Davis | July 17, 2008; 08:38 AM ET | Comments (1)

Charting the D.C. School Test Scores

The rise in test scores for elementary and high schools has rightly been big news this week. Click here to compare your school's 2007 and 2008 performance....

By Marcia Davis | July 10, 2008; 05:43 PM ET | Comments (7)

LCOR Chosen for Tenley Project

The District has chosen LCOR to develop the 3.6 acre Tenley Library/Janney Elementary School development site. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty made the announcement at a news conference this morning. "We've got a real opportunity to leverage this site to help pay for the cost of improving Janney Elementary, enhance the...

By Marcia Davis | July 10, 2008; 03:33 PM ET | Comments (1)

Fenty: D.C. Schools Test Scores Up

Could Mayor Adrian Fenty's school takeover be working faster than anyone could have imagined, or did former School Superintendent Clifford Janey's reforms finally take hold--a year after Fenty fired him? That's the question today after Fenty and schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced that test scores for public school students rose...

By David A Nakamura | July 9, 2008; 11:01 AM ET | Comments (45)

A Rise in School Test Scores

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Michelle Rhee are set to announce that test scores are on the rise, with elementary and high school students improving in reading and math. Just how high much those numbers have jumped will have to wait until Fenty and Rhee offer details at 9 a.m....

By Marcia Davis | July 9, 2008; 07:14 AM ET | Comments (4)

School Computer System On Sabbatical

In the midst of its busiest summer in memory, DCPS is shutting down its main computer system for three weeks, starting tomorrow. Erin McGoldrick, Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's data chief, said the system, called D.C. Stars, is routinely taken off line in the summer for maintenance and upgrades. Last year,...

By Bill Turque | July 2, 2008; 11:45 AM ET | Comments (0)

School Letter-Writing Campaign to Council

School Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and Allen Y. Lew, head of the school modernization efforts, teamed up late yesterday in a letter-writing campaign to the District Council. They want to make absolutely sure that the council is absolutely clear that if it doesn't pass the $83 million in building repair...

By Marcia Davis | July 1, 2008; 08:00 AM ET | Comments (0)

Fenty Seeks Tenants for Closed Schools

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced today that the city is seeking applications from charter schools and agencies interested in leasing eight school buildings that are closed. Earlier this year, Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee decided to close 23 under-enrolled schools, mostly this summer. The move was in response to a...

By Dion Haynes | June 27, 2008; 05:18 PM ET | Comments (6)

Barry, Others Call for EPA Tests

Surrounded by TV crews and other media, Council Member Marion Barry and a few concerned activists, stood outside Anacostia High School this morning and called for EPA testing of school athletic fields. The group said it's concerned that the toxic silica sand has been used in the renovations of six...

By Marcia Davis | June 25, 2008; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (0)

Barry, Activists Calling for EPA Testing on School Fields

Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) is holding a news conference this morning alongside community activists, parents and educators outside Anacostia High School to demand the EPA do immediate testing on all public school and recreation fields for toxins associated with silica sand. Activists say the fields refurbished by the...

By Marcia Davis | June 25, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

New Principal for Oyster-Adams

Oyster-Adams Bilingual School, caught up in a nasty dispute last month over D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee's firing of principal Marta Guzman, has a new leader. Rhee, whose two daughters attend the Woodley Park school, has chosen someone with close ties to her top staff. Monica Liang Aguirre is a distinguished...

By Bill Turque | June 24, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (15)

School Reuse Plan Released

The Fenty administration just released its long-awaited school reuse plans for seven of the D.C. public schools that will be closed this summer. Read the full press release after the jump and look for a story in Saturday's Post with more reaction and analysis....

By David A Nakamura | June 20, 2008; 05:32 PM ET | Comments (1)

Rhee Fires 22 Assistant Principals

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee fired 22 assistant principals this week, her second round of school administrative terminations that came about a month after her dismissal of 24 principals. Rhee, who previously said some of the principals were terminated because she differed on the direction they were taking the...

By Dion Haynes | June 18, 2008; 04:57 PM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee Says She's No Drive-By Chancellor

D.C.'s public schools have burned through--and out--leaders with dreary regularity. Six came and went in the 10 years preceding Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's arrival last June. Some DCPS-watchers expect Rhee to follow the same course, perhaps trading up for something in the next presidential administration or the private sector. But...

By Bill Turque | June 16, 2008; 12:30 PM ET | Comments (1)

Students Keep It Real at Gist Forum

A forum on the achievement gap, organized by State Superintendent of Education Deborah A. Gist at Bell Multicultural High School last night, marched earnestly through all the familiar research that surrounds the issue of African American and Latino 17-year-olds who read and do math, on average, at the level of...

By Marcia Davis | June 13, 2008; 06:53 AM ET | Comments (5)

Fenty, Rhee Mark Year 1 of School Reform

D.C. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and education officials marked the first anniversary of his takeover of the city's beleaguered public schools today by listing a series of improvements, mainly in business functions and school facilities, and outlined their goal of improving student achievement in Year 2. School system officials acknowledge...

By Dion Haynes | June 12, 2008; 06:03 PM ET | Comments (1)

Report: Janey to be Offered Supt. Job in Newark

A year after he lost his job as D.C. school superintendent when Mayor Adrian M. Fenty won control of the system, Clifford B. Janey apparently is getting closer to becoming school chief in Newark. According to the Star-Ledger, Janey will be offered the job. Valerie Merritt, spokeswoman for the Newark...

By Dion Haynes | June 9, 2008; 01:33 PM ET | Comments (0)

More About DCPS' "Emergency Request"

DCPS had more to say today about this week's emergency request to the State Board of Education. School officials, eager to get a handle on fall enrollment, wanted to get an earlier start on verifying where families live--the basis for their eligibility to send children to D.C. schools. They asked...

By Bill Turque | June 6, 2008; 12:17 PM ET | Comments (0)

Enrollment First, Legal Requirements Later

D.C. school officials are facing a sea of uncertainties this summer. With dozens of schools closing, consolidating or facing federally mandated overhaul, figuring out just how many students will show up for the fall term has been a murkier-than-usual-exercise. So D.C. Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee thought it would be a...

By Marcia Davis | June 6, 2008; 07:29 AM ET | Comments (3)

Principals Union Protests Firings

Officials at the D.C. principals union are protesting Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's recent decision to let go about two dozen principals. The union is planning to ask the D.C. Council to investigate whether the firings were fair, said Aona Jefferson, executive vice president of the Council of School Officers....

By Dion Haynes | May 30, 2008; 05:00 PM ET | Comments (3)

Rhee to Teachers: Have a Happy Summer

In recent months, D.C. Wire has heard from countless D.C. teachers who have felt unappreciated by Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. They have cited Rhee's buyout program -- her attempt to get rid of up to 700 teachers at about 50 schools slated for closure or reorganization -- as well as...

By Dion Haynes | May 29, 2008; 05:12 PM ET | Comments (2)

Another DC Principal Is Out: Ross Elementary

Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee continues to shake up the ranks of DCPS principals. Ross Elementary Principal Sandra Gonzalez told parents in an e-mail yesterday that she has been replaced by Amanda Alexander, currently the principal at Bunker Hill Elementary. Earlier this month school officials announced the firing of 24...

By Bill Turque | May 28, 2008; 04:50 PM ET | Comments (4)

Council Chides Reinoso for Delay in School Study

D.C. Council members at a hearing today criticized Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso for a seven-month delay in naming independent researchers to conduct a required long-term evaluation of the school system's new governance. Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's administration, under the legislation that put him in charge of the schools,...

By Dion Haynes | May 23, 2008; 01:58 PM ET | Comments (3)

Teachers Sign Off on Firing of Oyster Principal

Teachers at Oyster-Adams Bilingual School have weighed in on Chancellor Michelle A Rhee's firing of principal Marta Guzman. And the thrust of their message is: No problem. A statement sent to the parents' listserve a few days ago from the Oyster-Adams' "School Chapter Advisory Committee" (SCAC), an elected body...

By Marcia Davis | May 20, 2008; 06:58 PM ET | Comments (0)

Report: Janey in Talks With Newark School System

There's a market for former D.C. school superintendents and senior-level staffers. Former superintendent Clifford B. Janey, who was fired by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty nearly a year ago when the mayor took over the schools, is apparently a leading candidate to head the Newark, N.J., school system. According to this...

By Dion Haynes | May 20, 2008; 02:01 PM ET | Comments (5)

Rhee Meeting With Angry Oyster Parents

Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee upset some parents at Oyster-Adams Elementary School when she recently fired its principal, Marta Guzman. Rhee will meet with parents at Oyster, 2801 Calvert St. NW, at 5:30 p.m. today to discuss the matter. The chancellor's two daughters, as well as the son of deputy mayor...

By Marcia Davis | May 19, 2008; 03:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee Details Restructuring Plans for 26 Schools

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee today announced her plans to overhaul 26 schools that have failed to meet academic targets for five straight years. Rhee said she is seeking dramatic changes in the schools to improve student achievement. Under the federal No Child Left Behind law, Rhee had five...

By Dion Haynes | May 15, 2008; 01:25 PM ET | Comments (0)

School Advocates Win Council Support on Hearings

Education advocates scored a big win yesterday over Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee when the District Council voted to reject the administration's proposal to strike the legal requirements for public hearings on the school budget. The mayor had proposed to kill the law in the...

By Marcia Davis | May 14, 2008; 11:13 AM ET | Comments (2)

A Question of Principals?

Post reporter Bill Turque gets inside the story of School Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's firing of Oyster-Adams Principal Marta Guzman. The school just happens to be the place where Rhee's children attend, as well as the son of Victor Reinoso, the deputy mayor for education....

By Marcia Davis | May 9, 2008; 08:49 AM ET | Comments (1)

U.S. Teachers Weigh in on Pay and Reform

D.C. Wire and The Post have written extensively about the challenges facing teachers through school closures and restructuring as well as turmoil in the Washington Teachers' Union. It turns out the issues are not unique to D.C., according to a national study released today. Education Sector, a nonpartisan think tank...

By Dion Haynes | May 7, 2008; 02:41 PM ET | Comments (0)

Going, Going, Not Quite...

Some of the underperforming principals targeted for removal by Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee may not actually leave the D.C. school system. An unspecified number may have what are known as "retreat rights," meaning they can return to the jobs they held before becoming principals. Most were either assistant principals or...

By Bill Turque | May 6, 2008; 06:53 AM ET | Comments (0)

Breaking News: Rhee Firing Principals

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee, continuing a series of aggressive personnel moves, has started notifying principals--possibly as many as 30--that they will not be reappointed for the 2008-2009 academic year, school officials said today....

By Marcia Davis | May 5, 2008; 05:40 PM ET | Comments (1)

First School, Then Baseball

From Chancellor Michelle Rhee's communications team: MEDIA ADVISORY Rhee Celebrates the Close of Saturday Scholars with Students at a Washington Nationals Game WHAT: Chancellor Rhee will officially close the inaugural Saturday Scholars program by celebrating with students who achieved perfect attendance throughout the14-week program. Saturday Scholars was an academic initiative...

By David A Nakamura | May 2, 2008; 06:21 PM ET | Comments (0)

McCain Gets Rhee's Vote on "No Child Left Behind"

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee calls herself a "card-carrying Democrat," but said Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain is her guy when it comes to his support for the federal "No Child Left Behind" law. Rhee, speaking this evening in Chinatown to the Korean American Coalition D.C. Chapter, accused Democratic...

By Bill Turque | May 1, 2008; 09:22 PM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee Blasts Gray's School Budget Cuts

D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee says the $18.1 million cut in the DCPS budget proposed by Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray would not only threaten plans to bring music, art and PE teachers to every public school in the district, it would give public charter schools an edge in...

By Bill Turque | April 30, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)

Rhee's Proposed School Contractor Under Federal Probe

School activists are buzzing about allegations surrounding the head of St. HOPE Public Schools, one of six nonprofit education organizations that Chancellor Michelle Rhee is considering hiring to overhaul some of the 10 D.C. high schools in restructuring. Circulating through listserves are articles from the Sacramento Bee alleging that St....

By Dion Haynes | April 29, 2008; 02:30 PM ET | Comments (0)

Deputy Mayor's Budget Sliced

D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray hasn't made a secret of his skepticism of the office of Deputy Mayor for Education Victor A. Reinoso. At a budget hearing a couple weeks ago, Gray repeatedly suggested that the office was redundant and perhaps unnecessary. Today, during a Committee of the Whole...

By David A Nakamura | April 29, 2008; 11:38 AM ET | Comments (0)

Labor's Diss-Union III

The saga continues. Turmoil in the Washington Teachers' Union is escalating, with the vice president suing the president of the organization over free-speech issues. Nathan Saunders, the union's general vice president, filed suit against President George Parker in U.S. District Court on Friday. The dispute, as D.C. Wire reported last...

By Dion Haynes | April 28, 2008; 02:04 PM ET | Comments (3)

Rhee on the Road in Chi-town

Chicago---Basking in the glow of a national spotlight, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee rattled off to a crowd of about 200 education reporters her accomplishments during her first year on the job: firing 100 central office staffers, finalizing plans to close 23 schools and preparing initiatives to overhaul 27 schools...

By Marcia Davis | April 25, 2008; 03:36 PM ET | Comments (1)

A Clearer Picture of District Students

More than 200 of the District's 234 public and charter schools are over 90 percent African American or Hispanic, while seven are majority white, according to a new study of racial patterns in school enrollment....

By Marcia Davis | April 25, 2008; 07:59 AM ET | Comments (0)

It Pays to Be Good

D.C. Wire reported yesterday that a number of schools were in line to win mega bucks from the nonprofit Fight for Children at its School Night event. Last night's three big winners took home $100,000 each: DCPS's Strong John Thomson Elementary School, E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, and San Miguel...

By Marcia Davis | April 25, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

More Vouchers for D.C. Students?

President George W. Bush said yesterday that he will work to expand a federally funded school voucher program for D.C. students. He made the remarks at a one-day White House summit on inner-city children and faith-based schools. Since 1994, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program has provided 2,600 low-income District children...

By Marcia Davis | April 25, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

A Night for Seeing Stars

The phrase Fight Night connotes excitement around an impending boxing match. So what does the term School Night mean?...

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | April 24, 2008; 08:20 AM ET | Comments (0)

Wilson Students: Hurrying Up and Waiting

Efforts to improve security at Woodrow Wilson High School have resulted mainly in long lines to enter the building in the morning, students tell the D.C. Wire. After 13 students were arrested in two fights last month, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee confined all students to their classrooms for...

By Marcia Davis | April 23, 2008; 03:16 PM ET | Comments (0)

WTU President: Don't Blame Teachers for Bad Schools

District teachers say several recent events have made them feel uneasy about the future. As D.C. Wire has reported, the Washington Teachers' Union president and general vice president are embroiled in a philosophical battle about the direction of the organization and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee is offering a buyout to...

By Dion Haynes | April 23, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)

D.C. Schools Rally Students for High-Stakes Testing

District students in grades 3 through 8 and 10 this week will be taking the high-stakes D.C. Comprehensive Assessment System, or D.C. CAS. Results of the test, required by the federal No Child Left Behind law, will determine whether the 140 schools across the city are deemed to have made...

By Dion Haynes | April 21, 2008; 02:28 PM ET | Comments (1)

Nonprofit Firms Running D.C. Schools: Your Opinion

As reported in today's Post by V. Dion Haynes, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee plans to hire up to six nonprofit educational companies to help run the city's 10 comprehensive high schools and has invited parents to meet with her tonight to discuss the details. Do you support this...

By Washington Post Editors | April 17, 2008; 03:30 PM ET | Comments (0)

In D.C. Schools, It's All About the Name

Parents, teachers and students this evening will get the chance to comment on Chancellor Michelle Rhee's proposal to hire up to six nonprofit education organizations that would help manage 10 academically troubled D.C. high schools. As with several of Rhee's other initiatives, semantics are everything. Formally, the proposal is called...

By Dion Haynes | April 17, 2008; 12:41 PM ET | Comments (2)

The Chancellor Rhee Ties That Do or Don't Bind?

We told you once, then twice, about DC resident Kristin Ehrgood, and the group she helped put together, DC School Reform Now. A reminder: they are citizens and parents circulating a petition in support of the education reform plans of Mayor Fenty and Chancellor Rhee. Then D.C. Wire heard an...

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | April 16, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)

Teacher Quality Is the Question After Buyout

Teachers have been in the news a lot lately, with Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee and some leaders of the Washington Teachers' Union at odds over her buyout offer aimed at luring hundreds of educators out of the school system. In coming months, the debate over the buyout will shift...

By Dion Haynes | April 15, 2008; 01:55 PM ET | Comments (0)

So Who Worked on the DC Catholic-Charter Conversions?

With the local arrival of Pope Benedict XVI today, D.C. Wire is reminded of a story last week about the state of Catholic education in the U.S. Archbishop of Washington Donald W. Wuerl toured Nationals Park yesterday in preparation for Thursday's Papal Mass. (Nikki Kahn-The Washington Post) That piece included...

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | April 15, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)

Labor's Diss-Union 2

A few weeks ago, D.C. Wire reported about the bad blood between Washington Teachers' Union President George Parker and General Vice President Nathan Saunders. Saunders thinks Parker is too cozy with Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Parker thinks Saunders represents the old-school union model that favored confrontation over cooperation. The...

By Dion Haynes | April 11, 2008; 12:32 PM ET | Comments (1)

Are You a Teacher Ready to Hit the Road?

Are you a teacher ready to take Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's offer of a buyout? The Post's Dion Haynes writes this morning that as many as 700 teachers nearing retirement are considering the offer, which ranges from $1,000--$1,000?--to up to $20,000. D.C. Wire wants to hear from you. Tell us...

By Marcia Davis | April 11, 2008; 08:25 AM ET | Comments (3)

Fenty, Rhee Today to Detail Teacher Buy Outs

Mayor Adrian Fenty and Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee at 3 are scheduled to announce details of an early-out program for veteran teachers. As The Post reported first on March 27, the program is expected to spur a huge exodus of veteran educators who are fed up with declining working conditions...

By Dion Haynes | April 10, 2008; 12:55 PM ET | Comments (3)

Report: Most Schools Ready Day 1 for Disabled Students

A report released today by the school advocacy group D.C. VOICE has some good and bad news about special education: Eighty-four percent of principals in a survey said their schools were fully staffed and equipped to serve special education students on the first day of the school year. But those...

By Dion Haynes | April 8, 2008; 03:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

More on School Reform....At the D.C. Council Today

Beth Schmierer and Kristin Ehrgood, District residents who started an online petition that DC Wire told you about yesterday, are slated to testify before the D.C. Council this morning at the budget hearing for the school system....

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | April 8, 2008; 07:28 AM ET | Comments (0)

Special Ed Mess Far From Solved

It's no secret that special education is a major financial and legal morass in the District. The school advocacy group D.C. VOICE and a report coming out of a federal court hearing offer some insight into the ongoing challenges in special education. This morning at the John A. Wilson building,...

By Dion Haynes | April 8, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (0)

Residents for School Reform

DC residents Beth Schmierer and Kristin Ehrgood felt like every time they turned on the news, all the commentary about Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's efforts to improve the school system were negative. Rather than just gripe to friends, they decided to do something about...

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | April 7, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (11)

9 D.C. Students Win GW Scholarships

Taylor Moore, 18, had an inkling something was up this morning when her mother asked her to wear dress slacks to Benjamin Banneker High School instead of her usual jeans. Her suspicions were confirmed later when she saw her parents trying to sneak undetected into the auditorium of the Northwest...

By Dion Haynes | April 4, 2008; 05:05 PM ET | Comments (2)

Fenty, Rhee Talk Education in Memphis

Mayor Fenty didn't have any public events on his schedule yesterday, a rarity. The reason? He and school Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee traveled to Memphis to participate in Rev. Al Sharpton's National Action Network's national conference, on the eve of the 40th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s death....

By David A Nakamura | April 4, 2008; 12:45 PM ET | Comments (1)

'Tower of Power' to Come Down

After years of being derided for a range of structural problems including broken escalators and a far from attractive appearance, H.D. Woodson High School in Northeast Washington is slated to be torn down this summer to make way for a new $99 million school. Woodson High School, otherwise known as...

By Dion Haynes | April 3, 2008; 10:00 AM ET | Comments (2)

New High School Baseball Series at Nats Park

During the long and bumpy road that was the debate over the Nationals' publicly financed baseball stadium, critics of the project often asked, "What's in it for the city?" The inaugural invite. (David Nakamura) Well, D.C. Wire just learned about at least one little piece of that puzzle. We got...

By David A Nakamura | April 3, 2008; 09:30 AM ET | Comments (3)

Budget Hearings: Talking Dollars and Needs

April is tax season, but it's also the season for budget hearings, where the council combs through the mayor's proposed budget and talks to agency after agency and department after department to figure out who gets what. This morning it was Brenda Rhodes Miller, the executive director of the D.C....

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | April 2, 2008; 12:29 PM ET | Comments (1)

Council to Examine Education, Facilities Budgets

Education activists have made lots of noise this budget season about what they consider a lack of transparency in how Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration proposes to spend dollars in the 140 schools next year. Today D.C. Council members likely will address some of the as-yet unanswered questions at two hearings....

By Dion Haynes | April 2, 2008; 07:01 AM ET | Comments (0)

Fenty Proposes More Money for Children

The lunch bell at Simon Elementary School rang at 11 this morning as D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty was making a presentation to media on city funding for children's programs. "It reminds me of my youth," said Fenty, who was standing in the foyer of the Southeast Washington school during a...

By Dion Haynes | April 1, 2008; 03:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

Wilson Students Push Peace Initiative

Student leaders at Wilson High School in Northwest Washington said they will intensify their campaign to establish their Wilson Peace Initiative to address violence on campus. Angelica Gregory, the student body president, said she and others are working on two fronts: They are trying to get their peers to support...

By Dion Haynes | April 1, 2008; 09:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

Wilson High Students Protest Rhee Policy

About 70 Woodrow Wilson High School students walked out of the building and streamed onto the football field today to protest the loss of their free lunch period, part of Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee's new security plan aimed at quelling violence at the Northwest Washington campus. Responding to the recent...

By Marcia Davis | March 31, 2008; 03:40 PM ET | Comments (0)

Life After D.C. Schools: Brady, Ackerman

During his 2 1/2 years as then-schools superintendent Clifford Janey's chief business operations officer, Thomas M. Brady made no secret of the fact that he wanted to be the man in charge. Brady, who had trained to become a superintendent at the Broad Foundation in Los Angeles, interviewed for several...

By Dion Haynes | March 28, 2008; 07:30 AM ET | Comments (2)

Making More Plans Against Fenty, Rhee Reforms

Education activists say they may have for now lost their battle to stop Mayor Adrian Fenty's administration from closing 23 schools and to play a larger role in plans to overhaul 27 schools with low-achieving students, but their work is just beginning. There certainly seemed to be evidence of...

By Dion Haynes | March 27, 2008; 01:11 PM ET | Comments (16)

Borbely's 'Good Citizen Principles'

D.C. school activists have a massive task in keeping school system and city leaders accountable to the public on a range of education issues -- from school closings, to restructuring failing schools, to budgets, to fixing dilapidated buildings. Now there's a squabble over how much they should hold each other's...

By Dion Haynes | March 27, 2008; 11:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

More on New Security Policy at Wilson

We told you earlier about students from Woodrow Wilson High School who took their concerns over Chancellor Michelle Rhee's new security policies online, organizing a Facebook page to rally student support for an alternate plan. The students from the Northwest school object to Rhee's recently announced plan to have them...

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | March 27, 2008; 07:25 AM ET | Comments (1)

A New Schools CFO Steps into the Budget Morass

Ding. Ding. Ding. That's the sounding bell for the next round of school budget battles. D.C. education advocates have scheduled a public meeting on the proposed $773 million 2009 school budget, seeking to air their concerns about what they consider the lack of transparency in the process and to give...

By Dion Haynes | March 26, 2008; 12:42 PM ET | Comments (0)

The Vacant School Wish List

Recreation center? Art gallery? Charter school? Dozens turned out Monday night at Harriet Tubman Elementary school in Columbia Heights to give their ideas for what should happen with two school buildings in Ward 1 that are slated to close. Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham (D), ever eager to stay on...

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | March 26, 2008; 07:00 AM ET | Comments (1)

More On School Fundraising

We told you yesterday about the new D.C. Public Education Fund, which has been established to raise money from the private sector for Chancellor Michelle Rhee's school reform efforts. Today we caught up with the fund's executive director Sara Lasner, who explained that the fund has applied for 501c3 status...

By David A Nakamura | March 25, 2008; 02:31 PM ET | Comments (0)

Want to See How Much $$ Goes to Your Local School?

The school system's finance office has just released school-by-school budgets for 2008. The list is organized by cluster. You can also see the spending plan for the school system's central office, special education programs and other items....

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | March 25, 2008; 01:00 PM ET | Comments (1)

When Should the Public Testify on the School Budget?

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty released his proposed 2009 budget last Thursday, and D.C. Wire has already read and analyzed every page, from the executive summary to parts 1 and 2 of the agency spending plans to the appendices. Okay, maybe not. But as D.C. Wire continues to pore over this...

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | March 25, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

Labor's Diss-Union

Given that some teachers may lose their jobs as schools close and others are reorganized in Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's system takeover, it's not unreasonable to think the leaders of the 4,200-member Washington Teachers' Union might be focusing on unity in their current contract talks with Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee...

By Dion Haynes | March 25, 2008; 07:25 AM ET | Comments (0)

The Future of Empty School Buildings

The decision by Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) and DC Schools Chancellor Michelle A Rhee to close 23 schools still stirs pain in some parents' hearts. But in some quarters another emotion is taking root, fear -- over the fate of soon-to-be empty school buildings....

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | March 24, 2008; 12:00 PM ET | Comments (0)

98 Fired, 11 Rehired

Remember those 98 fired DCPS workers? Remember how Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee told the D.C. Council, when she sought its approval to reclassify hundreds of civil service jobs to at-will positions, that they were a financial drain on the city? Remember, according to her, how they were part of a...

By Dion Haynes | March 24, 2008; 11:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

The Four Rs: Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic, Raising Money

When Mayor Adrian M. Fenty took over the D.C. schools last summer, he announced plans to raise private money to help supplement the system's operating budget--much as Fenty's mentor, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg (I), did when he took over the schools in New York. Bloomberg, a billionaire...

By David A Nakamura | March 24, 2008; 07:05 AM ET | Comments (0)

E-Chancellor?

First, there was the YouTube videos of Michelle Rhee at a Democrats for Education Reform event last Fall that had people abuzz because of Rhee's straight talk about her frustrations with the school system. Now the chancellor has made an appearance on Facebook....

By Theola Labbé-DeBose | March 24, 2008; 06:30 AM ET | Comments (0)

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