testify to SAVE Mayoral control of DCPS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, I work in the Federal government and get to watch the garbage policies that get hastily passed based on trying to appease several constituencies. I would not like to see more of this in relation to DC schools.

This absolutely! Mayoral control improved the schools. Needs to continue!

[Anonymous]

I would vote to end mayoral control of the city, like when they took most of the power away from Marion Barry

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would vote to end mayoral control of the city, like when they took most of the power away from Marion Barry

What’s your reason?

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the heads up! Signed up to testify against mayoral control.

[Anonymous]

It’s interesting to me that nobody has made any case here about why mayoral control should end.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the study the school board proponents are scared of, showing that the period of mayoral control in DCPS led to education gains: https://www.mathematica.org/publications/impacts-of-school-reforms-in-washington-dc-on-student-achievement

It seems to me that the anti-mayoral control people are against accountability for schools and anything that limits union power. I have yet to hear a coherent, fact-based argument against running schools in the same way all government services are administered- directly by the executive.

That study was refuted here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/nataliewexler/2021/10/03/is-dc-really-an-education-reform-success-story/amp/

No. One education blogger took issue with the research, from a highly acclaimed research institution. But did not say much other than she thought the NAEP was a poor indicator.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s interesting to me that nobody has made any case here about why mayoral control should end.

Because it's easy to be unhappy. But, they are not being thoughtful about how much more unhappy they might be. We see what happens when the counsel does nothing for 18 months and then tried to do something.

[Anonymous]

The problems in DCPS are not caused by mayoral control. Schools were not better before mayoral control. There was not greater equity. I don’t understand why “end mayoral control” has become a rallying cry for people who are invested in greater equity, treating teachers well, ensuring schools get the funding and support they need. Schools in DC haven’t had any of that for decades, well before mayoral control was established.

But the problem is that mayoral control also doesn’t fix problems in the system unless you have a mayor willing to do things like strip out the dead weight in central office, get tough with redrawing boundaries to address overcrowding, make greater demands on charters, and explore possibly unpopular policies that might actually address equity issues in DC.

DC schools need a revolution. I know lots of people on these boards who have quietly bought their way into tolerable situations in DCPS will cry foul because they don’t want to jeopardize what they’ve won. And I’m sympathetic because to someone extent that describes my family too. But the pandemic has laid bare for me how broken this school district is in terms of being able problem solve, meet kids needs, negotiate compromises between stakeholders. I want a mayor and chancellor to come in and turn it on its head. I’m not done Rhee acolyte but I appreciate that she viewed DCPS as having solveable problems. Everyone since has just pretended it fine. It’s not! We need to fix it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The problems in DCPS are not caused by mayoral control. Schools were not better before mayoral control. There was not greater equity. I don’t understand why “end mayoral control” has become a rallying cry for people who are invested in greater equity, treating teachers well, ensuring schools get the funding and support they need. Schools in DC haven’t had any of that for decades, well before mayoral control was established.

But the problem is that mayoral control also doesn’t fix problems in the system unless you have a mayor willing to do things like strip out the dead weight in central office, get tough with redrawing boundaries to address overcrowding, make greater demands on charters, and explore possibly unpopular policies that might actually address equity issues in DC.

DC schools need a revolution. I know lots of people on these boards who have quietly bought their way into tolerable situations in DCPS will cry foul because they don’t want to jeopardize what they’ve won. And I’m sympathetic because to someone extent that describes my family too. But the pandemic has laid bare for me how broken this school district is in terms of being able problem solve, meet kids needs, negotiate compromises between stakeholders. I want a mayor and chancellor to come in and turn it on its head. I’m not done Rhee acolyte but I appreciate that she viewed DCPS as having solveable problems. Everyone since has just pretended it fine. It’s not! We need to fix it.

I agree with a lot of what you wrote. However the "revolution" cannot come at the expense of all the UMC families exiting the system (like SF - not coincidentally, not under mayoral control.) We need HS and MS boundary changes, but parents also reasonably need assurances that the new schools will have appropriate instruction. We can't dismiss these concerns as racist. And it wouldn't be hard to do - we just need leadership that will say "Hey, 250 Deal students are going to Wells and 250 are going to McFarland. Here are the teachers we are hiring for math and science; here is the transportation plan across the park; here is the PTA structure ready to go ... " Until a leader is willing to admit that academic quality is a legitimate concern, it's not going to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So I would attribute any issue your school has had with DGS to Mayoral control. Inability to respond to specific conditions in specific schools because only the Mayor is accountable and she had no one run against her. Meanwhile she hobnobs with developers and does nothing with the dchools. Mayoral control means DC is run by the DME, Chancellor, OSSE boss, Central Office and the PCSB.

I can feel that some like it that way. To me it’s profoundly undemocratic. Elites choosing for us. I get it. Some of us ARE the elites or like their choices. But I don’t like it.

This starts to get to why I vehemently oppose mayoral control of the schools. There is actually zero accountability because all of the power is locked up with the mayor’s office. If you don’t like what’s happening in the schools, where can you go? Who will listen to you? More importantly, even if they will listen, what can they actually do?

If you who like mayoral control under Bowser, will you like it if someone else is mayor?

Elected school boards are not without challenges. But a system with multiple accountable parties is better than one where I feel hopeless that any change is possible because the only ostensibly accountable party stiff-arms all challenges.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I would attribute any issue your school has had with DGS to Mayoral control. Inability to respond to specific conditions in specific schools because only the Mayor is accountable and she had no one run against her. Meanwhile she hobnobs with developers and does nothing with the dchools. Mayoral control means DC is run by the DME, Chancellor, OSSE boss, Central Office and the PCSB.

I can feel that some like it that way. To me it’s profoundly undemocratic. Elites choosing for us. I get it. Some of us ARE the elites or like their choices. But I don’t like it.

This starts to get to why I vehemently oppose mayoral control of the schools. There is actually zero accountability because all of the power is locked up with the mayor’s office. If you don’t like what’s happening in the schools, where can you go? Who will listen to you? More importantly, even if they will listen, what can they actually do?

If you who like mayoral control under Bowser, will you like it if someone else is mayor?

Elected school boards are not without challenges. But a system with multiple accountable parties is better than one where I feel hopeless that any change is possible because the only ostensibly accountable party stiff-arms all challenges.

The Mayor is an elected official. The SBOE are elected officials. There's the same accountability for both (if one of the other is in charge of schools). You can vote these elected officials out if you do not like them.

And to me, I don't see my elected officials below the mayor as responsive. I write to them, they never write back. They echo certain voices of their constituents, and not others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I would attribute any issue your school has had with DGS to Mayoral control. Inability to respond to specific conditions in specific schools because only the Mayor is accountable and she had no one run against her. Meanwhile she hobnobs with developers and does nothing with the dchools. Mayoral control means DC is run by the DME, Chancellor, OSSE boss, Central Office and the PCSB.

I can feel that some like it that way. To me it’s profoundly undemocratic. Elites choosing for us. I get it. Some of us ARE the elites or like their choices. But I don’t like it.

This starts to get to why I vehemently oppose mayoral control of the schools. There is actually zero accountability because all of the power is locked up with the mayor’s office. If you don’t like what’s happening in the schools, where can you go? Who will listen to you? More importantly, even if they will listen, what can they actually do?

If you who like mayoral control under Bowser, will you like it if someone else is mayor?

Elected school boards are not without challenges. But a system with multiple accountable parties is better than one where I feel hopeless that any change is possible because the only ostensibly accountable party stiff-arms all challenges.

The Mayor is an elected official. The SBOE are elected officials. There's the same accountability for both (if one of the other is in charge of schools). You can vote these elected officials out if you do not like them.

And to me, I don't see my elected officials below the mayor as responsive. I write to them, they never write back. They echo certain voices of their constituents, and not others.

The SBOE has no power. The Council has virtually no power. That’s the problem. If you have an issue with the schools, the only person who has the power to address it is the mayor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I would attribute any issue your school has had with DGS to Mayoral control. Inability to respond to specific conditions in specific schools because only the Mayor is accountable and she had no one run against her. Meanwhile she hobnobs with developers and does nothing with the dchools. Mayoral control means DC is run by the DME, Chancellor, OSSE boss, Central Office and the PCSB.

I can feel that some like it that way. To me it’s profoundly undemocratic. Elites choosing for us. I get it. Some of us ARE the elites or like their choices. But I don’t like it.

This starts to get to why I vehemently oppose mayoral control of the schools. There is actually zero accountability because all of the power is locked up with the mayor’s office. If you don’t like what’s happening in the schools, where can you go? Who will listen to you? More importantly, even if they will listen, what can they actually do?

If you who like mayoral control under Bowser, will you like it if someone else is mayor?

Elected school boards are not without challenges. But a system with multiple accountable parties is better than one where I feel hopeless that any change is possible because the only ostensibly accountable party stiff-arms all challenges.

Why do you think multiple accountable parties are any better? What makes you think elected school board members will be any more responsive? Moreover why do you think a board is a better administrative structure to get things done? we don’t run ANYTHING else in DC by a board and there’s a reason for that. Guess what is run by a board around here … WMATA!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I would attribute any issue your school has had with DGS to Mayoral control. Inability to respond to specific conditions in specific schools because only the Mayor is accountable and she had no one run against her. Meanwhile she hobnobs with developers and does nothing with the dchools. Mayoral control means DC is run by the DME, Chancellor, OSSE boss, Central Office and the PCSB.

I can feel that some like it that way. To me it’s profoundly undemocratic. Elites choosing for us. I get it. Some of us ARE the elites or like their choices. But I don’t like it.

This starts to get to why I vehemently oppose mayoral control of the schools. There is actually zero accountability because all of the power is locked up with the mayor’s office. If you don’t like what’s happening in the schools, where can you go? Who will listen to you? More importantly, even if they will listen, what can they actually do?

If you who like mayoral control under Bowser, will you like it if someone else is mayor?

Elected school boards are not without challenges. But a system with multiple accountable parties is better than one where I feel hopeless that any change is possible because the only ostensibly accountable party stiff-arms all challenges.

The Mayor is an elected official. The SBOE are elected officials. There's the same accountability for both (if one of the other is in charge of schools). You can vote these elected officials out if you do not like them.

And to me, I don't see my elected officials below the mayor as responsive. I write to them, they never write back. They echo certain voices of their constituents, and not others.

and how are 5 different elected officials supposed to develop the expertise and relationships to effectively oversee all the different aspects of DCPS? It sounds like a nightmare - and don’t forget, it will be a total hack show amateur hour, because every Hill aide and polisci major will decide the DC school board is the place to start their career. Plus the WTU reps …

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So I would attribute any issue your school has had with DGS to Mayoral control. Inability to respond to specific conditions in specific schools because only the Mayor is accountable and she had no one run against her. Meanwhile she hobnobs with developers and does nothing with the dchools. Mayoral control means DC is run by the DME, Chancellor, OSSE boss, Central Office and the PCSB.

I can feel that some like it that way. To me it’s profoundly undemocratic. Elites choosing for us. I get it. Some of us ARE the elites or like their choices. But I don’t like it.

This starts to get to why I vehemently oppose mayoral control of the schools. There is actually zero accountability because all of the power is locked up with the mayor’s office. If you don’t like what’s happening in the schools, where can you go? Who will listen to you? More importantly, even if they will listen, what can they actually do?

If you who like mayoral control under Bowser, will you like it if someone else is mayor?

Elected school boards are not without challenges. But a system with multiple accountable parties is better than one where I feel hopeless that any change is possible because the only ostensibly accountable party stiff-arms all challenges.

The Mayor is an elected official. The SBOE are elected officials. There's the same accountability for both (if one of the other is in charge of schools). You can vote these elected officials out if you do not like them.

And to me, I don't see my elected officials below the mayor as responsive. I write to them, they never write back. They echo certain voices of their constituents, and not others.

The SBOE has no power. The Council has virtually no power. That’s the problem. If you have an issue with the schools, the only person who has the power to address it is the mayor.

The council has power in the same exact way they have power over any other executive agency. I have yet to see ANYTHING remotely substantiating why schools should be the exception to this.