Link to email suspending requirement.

https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/DCWASH/bulletins/144bd00

Received email that the DC DMV is indefinitely suspending the proposed driver ed regulations. Apparently, it is under review.

Anonymous wrote:If your child is old enough (15?) you have until May 1 to get a learner's permit. You can avoid the class if you already have a learner's permit by May 1.

The test is an online 30 or so questions at the DC DMV. You can get up to 7 wrong. That plus the forms online and the fee gets you the permit. We just did this to avoid the new rule about the class.

I also learned to drive through HS but that was flyover country in the 1980s.

Your child must be 16 to sit for the permit test. So if they are not 16 by the end of this month, or if they are older but have not taken the permit test, you are out of luck and must do drivers ed. Not specifically called out as yet -- I have a question into DMV but God only knows how long that will take -- but my assumption is that you would do classroom first, then take the permit test, then the in-car, then the license test (you must be 16 1/2 for license). And all of this is supposed to be within six months.

Note from the DC DMV website earlier this week (ON A LINK WHICH IS HARD TO FIND BUT COPIED BELOW): the drivers ed must be offered by a DC DMV-approved company. This will be the real kicker as there are very few companies on their list that actually offer 30 hrs of classroom training (historically, most DC drivers ed has been small operations for adults who don't know how to drive, who don't know American driving laws, or who need to get points off their licenses).

http://dmv.dc.gov/page/mandatory-driver-education

I think there will be more clarity on this once it's been in place for a while, but if (like me) your DC is turning 16 over the next 6-12 months, I think we will be charting new territory and going to the burbs for the classes...

I took drivers ed in New Jersey high school in the mid 1990s, but it was in-class only with no behind-the-wheel portion. That has always come at a cost, unless you're willing to wait until you can get a learner's permit and can convince a parent or other friendly adult to sit in the car with you for five straight business days.