By Aisha Ali
On November 28, 2007, Washington DC Mayor Fenty and DC Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee revealed their highly praised and condemned “Renew, Revitalize, Reorganize” (RRR) plan to reclaim productivity within the DC Public Schools. The new plan was an attempt to address the deficient way that DC Public Schools had been operated.
The current number of operating public schools in DC is 145. At the end of the “Reorganization” period, there will be 121 existing schools still standing. About 5,789 students could be affected by the DC Public schools closings.
To ensure that all parties affected by this transition were included and made aware of the future “Reorganization” within DC Public Schools, the administration held nine public meetings and 23 community hearings, involving an approximate, collective number of 1600 students, parents, and neighborhood residents before instituting the RRR plan.
In December 2007, the first town hall meeting consisting of parents and community leaders was held at Bertie Backus Middle School in Ward 5 of Northeast, Washington, DC. This was the first attempt for Chancellor Rhee to discuss her proposed plan to close 23 schools within the District. Seven of the 23 exist in Ward 5.
DC Council member, Harry Thomas, Jr. (D- Ward 5) scheduled the town hall meeting. In hopes of creating a dialogue between the community and Chancellor Rhee and her school board administration, Thomas organized an open panel discussion after learning what actions would be implemented within his ward to close schools.
Although Thomas expressed that “equal services” must be employed throughout DC Public Schools and certain actions would have to be executed on behalf of the chancellor and her administration, angry parents were not receptive to Thomas’ remarks. The Washington Post discusses how Clarence Cherry, the President of John Burroughs Elementary PTA, was infuriated by the proposed closing of John Burroughs Elementary as he listed the accomplishments the school currently has when regarding its autism program, national accreditation, and the students’ success at passing both reading and math standardized tests.
As indicated in The Post, Cherry states: “Why would you put something that works together with something that is not working?” Cherry’s statement alludes to the tentative plan to merge both Burroughs and other students attending schools in Ward 5 --- some of which have not displayed the same success as Burroughs --- to create a new pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade school at Taft Center.
However, Mayor Fenty has informed the DC Council that the proposed plan to close 23 schools could save the DC Public School system $23.6 million. According to Mayor Fenty, the money saved from closing these 23 schools could improve the budget deficit of which Alvarez and Marsal, a New-York based consulting firm, spoke in a letter addressed to Chancellor Rhee on November 26, as indicated by The Post.
Alvarez and Marsal revealed that the DC Public School system is facing a $155 million deficit that warrants immediate attention and proposed ways to cut costs, drastically. In a memo following that of Alvarez and Marsal, Pamela Graham, the school system’s chief financial officer, informed Chancellor Rhee that the school system is facing a $100 million deficit. However, Mayor Fenty believes that if DC did not operate school buildings that were declining in student enrollment, students could receive the needed resources to become better educated, and the school system would not be experiencing such a huge debt.
After the first public hearing, the school board administration initially stated that it would hold one mass public hearing on January 17 at McKinley Technology High School. However, on behalf of the school board administration, the main public hearing was then divided into 23 different public hearings that would occur simultaneously at each of the 23 schools proposed for closing. Needless to say, parents and opposed city officials did not take a huge liking to this method, stating that a divided forum of parents' and community activists' concerns would not be taken seriously, as Chancellor Rhee and Mayor Fenty would be unable to visit each of the 23 schools where public hearings would take place.
Consequently, in January, both parents and community activists called for a boycott when involving the closing of 23 schools. Joining the angered parents and community activists were both DC Council member and former mayor, Marion Barry (D- Ward 8) and Harry Thomas, Jr. (D- Ward 5). A group of parents with children attending schools scheduled to close formed a group, the Coalition to Save Our Neighborhood Schools, which held a community public hearing of their own titled, “The People’s Meeting,” which was held at the John A. Wilson Building, secured by Thomas. Chancellor Rhee attended this meeting, although sure that she would be branded as being "unfair" and detached from the realities stemming from the school closings. Chancellor Rhee said she feels as if all the opposing individuals involved do not believe she is actually listening to them, but she wanted everyone to know that she has listened to every complaint and has taken it into consideration when making her final decisions.
In a meeting with The Washington Post, Chancellor Rhee admitted that she does read the feedback from all public hearings, arguing that complaints coming from parents are not in agreement: some parents are for the RRR plan while others oppose it. Chancellor Rhee also said that some parents expressed concerns with the merge of schools because this would create a situation where neighborhood rivalries are attending the same schools. Nevertheless, Chancellor Rhee argues that she must make choices that affect the overall progression of DC Public Schools. While she would love to meet the needs of and address the concerns of all parents, it unfortunately is impossible to do when considering the volumes of complaints and the magnitude of problems within the DC Public School system.
However, due to the concerns, apprehensions, and frustration stemmed from such public and community meetings, Chancellor Rhee and her administration revised some aspects of the initial plan set forth to “reorganize” schools. For instance, John Burroughs Elementary would now remain after parents passionately voiced their concerns. The plan now is for the school to be reorganized to a new pre-kindergarten through seventh-grade feeder system, in which an eighth-grade level will be included within two years. This is only one of the revisions Chancellor Rhee made to her initial RRR plan.
Perhaps, with such action taken on behalf of Chancellor Rhee, parents, teachers, and community activists, and opposing city officials such as Marion Barry and Harry Thomas, Jr. will realize that Chancellor Rhee is not “prejudiced and biased,” but more so just testing a new way to reform one of America’s worst public school systems. After all, DC is the Nation’s Capital: its school system should be modeled in an exemplary fashion.
Reasons Why Chancellor Michelle Rhee Is Axing Away
DCPS enrollments have been plummeting for almost three decades now. Between 2006 and 2007, total enrollment within DC Public Schools have dropped from 55,000 to approximately 49,600 (-5,400 or by 270 classroom of 20 children each). Since 1990, DC Public Schools enrollment has declined by 30,000.
Drop out rates: Washington Post Metro Reporter Marc Fisher revealed some chilling numbers when regarding high school dropout rates. A new study conducted by the DC-based Alliance for Excellence has concluded that 15 percent of US high schools are responsible for an estimated 50 percent of students who become high school dropouts. These schools have been coined “dropout factories” and the District unfortunately plays a part in manufacturing these high school dropouts.
According to this 2004 study conducted by the Alliance, only 58 percent of DC students graduated from high school with their class. Furthermore, Fisher says that in 2007, approximately 55 percent of DC’s ninth graders measured as reading below the ninth-grade reading level and therefore, are at risk for becoming the next cycle of future high school dropouts.
“Those numbers reflect the economic and racial isolation of so many students in the District's public schools,” Fisher says. “Nationwide, while more than 70 percent of students graduate from high school with their class, only about half of Hispanic and black students do so.”
However, Fisher avows that Chancellor Rhee’s RRR plan to reform and replenish the DC Public School system will deflate this long-existing phenomenon.
In an interview with Daria Hall, from The Education Trust, a non-profit organization that works significantly to close the educational gap alongside city officials, educational figures, and administration to reform policy and educational opportunities, some disturbing statistics were given when regarding children attending these schools that are closing.
Hall argues that there are far too many students in DC Public Schools who are falling underneath the national percentages for both reading and mathematics. When glancing at 4th grade for instance, which is a crucial time in development for students when regarding reading, especially since they are grasping the fundaments of reading, only 35 percent or 1 in 3 DC Public School students are meeting the standards of reading at the 4th-grade level. When regarding 8th grade mathematics, which is a crucial time because if students do not grasp the math skills by this time, they are unable to grasp math in high school and beyond at an advanced level, only 24 percent or 1 and 4 are meeting the standards at 8th grade mathematics.
The assessment that must be completed successfully to graduate, the Nation’s Report Card, reveals that students in DC Public Schools are not performing as high as other students attending schools in low-income, underserved communities in other states. When compared to other low-income, underserved communities, black students residing in major urban areas such as: New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and several other urban cities known for inferior public school systems, DC Public School students are performing at much lower levels than low-income black students in such areas, previously discussed.
However, Hall argues The Trust believes that since these students of underserved communities can perform at higher rates than DC Public School students, there is hope and is therefore, plausible that black students from low-income neighborhoods in the District can perform at higher rates, becoming more successful if District policy, education, and individual structures within classroom environments are organized in such a fashion that will promote a better educational circumstance.
“Quality education and classroom achievement are more than just socio-economic,” Hall asserts.
“We, at The Trust, know that students in low-income communities receive education that gives off a vibe of meeting “lower expectations." Something we refer to as being “The Cycle of Low Expectations,” Hall said.
Hall argues that if anyone were to visit schools in low-income, predominantly black districts, then he/she would see that these students are not given the same rigorous education as those blacks who live in predominantly white, affluent areas. If you were to visit the more affluent areas, students are given college preparatory writing assignments and advanced projects. In black, low-income schools, this rarely happens. Hence, black, low-income areas must have more access to more qualified teachers and given more assignments that are “engaging and interesting.”
“The achievement gap is not inevitable. If we close the gap, we will see an increase in student performance,” Hall argues.
Also, Hall supports the chancellor’s decisions to close schools that are under-enrolled because some action has to be implemented to improve the DC Public School system. Hall believes whenever there is a major reform, educators, policy advocates, administrators, and city officials may have to make tough decisions that parents, teachers, and community activists may find unfair and biased, but something has to be done.
“The stats that exist for district education are alarming,” Hall said.
“Chancellor Rhee and school administrators have to make decisions that affect the well-being of students and their education. It’s up to the community to take responsibility for the behavior of the children outside of school.”
To view a more detailed list of school closings, please view this link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/12/AR2008011202784.html?sid=ST2008020101106
Sources:
District of Columbia Public Schools, The Washington Post
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