Rumors are running rampant around Roosevelt these days concerning what the school will look like next year and who will be here. Rumor has it that this year's graduating class will be the last for Roosevelt High School as it exist now, or that a charter school will take over next year and all students will have to apply to get in or go somewhere else, or that the administration and teachers will all be fired and a new staff will be brought in. As a result of these rumors, some students are beginning to look for other schools to go to next year, faculty members are getting their resumes together, the alumni and parents are up in arms and ready to fight, and fear of the unknown is spreading. Those are the rumors, here are the facts.

According to Chancellor Michelle Rhee, "there are 27 District schools that are in restructuring status according to the federal No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB) and Roosevelt is one of the schools. Roosevelt has acquired 'restructuring status' because the school has consistently fallen short of goals to help students to meet Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). As a result, the federal government requires that we must do something significant in order to increase their academic progress. We must change the way the school is governed, and NCLB gives us five possible ways to do so. We have to pick one of those choices after researching each choice, examining data about Roosevelt, meeting with...the community, and talking to the Local School Restructuring team (LSRT).

DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee

The choices do not move Roosevelt students to another school, so [students] will still be able to attend school at Roosevelt next year. [Students] will not have to apply to attend Roosevelt, but the way that the school is managed will change."

The five options from which the Chancellor will choose include: (1) Reconstitution or restructuring; (2) having a private company take control of and run the school; (3) turn into a charter school; (4) have the state government [DC] take over running the school; (5) allow the school to develop a partnership with an outside educational entity (like American or Howard Universities) who will help make decision in the school along with the administration.

If the school goes through reconstitution this means that more than likely the administration would be replaced and teachers would have to reapply if they wanted to remain. New staff would be brought in along with a new curriculum and resources. The other options include turning over the operation of the school to a private company with a demonstrated record of effectiveness or to the state government (for further information see Questions and Answers on No Child Left Behind www.education.com/reference/article/Re_questions_Answers_No/)

Chancellor Rhee met with members of Roosevelt's LSRT in November and plans to make her final decision by the end of January. Reaction to the Chancellor's proposals has been swift and ranges from passive acceptance to hostile emotionalism. When asked about her opinion on the proposed changes Chancellor Rhee responded, "I absolutely believe [the changes] will be good. The reason for the NCLB law is to make sure that if a school is not set up in a way that helps students gain the skills they need every year, then we need to change the way the school is set up so that students can perform at their best."

There are a lot of questions that students, parents, alumni and members of the community want answered that the Rider Times news staff has been trying to find answers for. For example, if 27 schools (which includes most of the high schools in the District of Columbia Public School System except Banneker, School Without Walls, Duke Ellington, McKinley and Bell) have to be reorganized, where are all of the teachers and administrator going to go if they are released? What happens if parents in the community don't like or want the proposed changes? Will Roosevelt's name still be Roosevelt if a private company or charter school takes over? How did we get in this mess in the first place? Many of Roosevelt's students, staff members and administration are stunned at the Chancellor's mandate because they have only been at this school for a short period of time and Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) has to be demonstrated over a five year period. And what is Adequate Yearly Progress in the first place and how do you demonstrate it?

The answers to most of those questions will have to come from the Chancellor, but as far as the last question is concerned (AYP) it is about test scores! It's about how many people took the test (the Stanford 9 and the DC CAS) and how many made proficient on the test. This is the test that students (now only 10th graders on the high school level) take every April and the same test that many students don't feel is important or "blows off" because it is too long! The law states that EVERYBODY (only 10th graders on the DC CAS) has to take the test and when students don't show up it contributes to the whole school failure.

The No Child Left Behind legislation states: A Title I school that has not made adequate yearly progress, as defined by the state, for two consecutive school years will be identified by the district before the beginning of the next school year as needing improvement. School officials will develop a two-year plan to turn around the school. The local education agency will ensure that the school receives needed technical assistance as it develops and implements its improvement plan. Students must be offered the option of transferring to another public school in the district--which may include a public charter school--that has not been identified as needing school improvement.
If the school does not make adequate yearly progress for three years, the school remains in school-improvement status, and the district must continue to offer public school choice to all students. In addition, students from low-income families are eligible to receive supplemental educational services, such as tutoring or remedial classes, from a state-approved provider.

If the school fails to make adequate progress for four years, the district must implement certain corrective actions to improve the school, such as replacing certain staff or fully implementing a new curriculum, while continuing to offer public school choice and supplemental educational services for low-income students.
If a school fails to make adequate yearly progress for a fifth year, the school district must initiate plans for restructuring the school. This may include reopening the school as a charter school, replacing all or most of the school staff or turning over school operations either to the state or to a private company with a demonstrated record of effectiveness. (for further information see Questions and Answers on No Child Left Behind www.education.com/reference/article/Re_questions_Answers_No/).

Regardless of what name this school goes by or whoever is in charge, if students don't start coming to school everyday and taking the test seriously this situation will never go away.

By Maurice Butler |  April 18, 2008; 5:54 PM ET
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