Ballou HS Rocks the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Photo of the Day: November 27, 2009
Morning Roundup: Black Friday Edition
Car Pushed Into Anacostia River By Train
Last Friday was payday for the 3,293 students at 15 D.C. middle schools who are enrolled in the District’s Capital Gains program. The pilot program, co-funded by the District and Harvard University, allows students to earn up to $100 every two weeks for meeting conditions based on good academics, attendance, and behavior.
The average amount earned by students in the first pay period was $43, though district officials say they expect payouts to increase as students begin to recognize the tangible rewards of participating. Starting next pay period, payments will be deposited automatically in electronic accounts for each student. While it is too soon to assess the success of the program overall, it's interesting that a decrease in tardiness has already been reported.
Predictably, there were a couple snags. Shaw at Garnet-Patterson accidentally under-paid its students, who will now receive the difference next payday, and Whitter also reported problems. One teacher DCist spoke to pointed out that the program also requires extensive paperwork for teachers, who are still adjusting to the extra administrative duties.
The Post quotes a number of students expressing mixed reactions to their checks. Some were disappointed, expecting to have earned more, while others were pleased that their efforts paid off. Twelve-year-old Avontae Matthews (who earned $40) told Post reporters how the program had motivated her: "I participated in all my classes -- even gym. . . . I raised my hand in social studies, and I paid more attention in math,” she reflected, before announcing to her friends, "I'm going to the mall!"
Photo by dullshick
SPED Chief Cites Absent Staff in Federal Hearing: Testifying before federal court about the extreme backlog of special education cases accumulated by the Distict, DCPS acting deputy chancellor for special education Richard Nyankor remarked that school staff who fail to show up for meetings are in part to blame for the system’s dysfunction. Nyankor later said that "workload or not understanding what the procedures are" could be part of the problem, but added, "I think we encounter indifference."
The District is currently in noncompliance with a decree resulting from a 2006 class action suit, Blackman v. District of Columbia, which addressed the inability of the city to meet to needs of its special education students. The District has been ordered to clear its backlog of SPED cases by the end of the year, and to begin providing for the more than 2,300 SPED students currently enrolled in private schools at taxpayers’ expense.
On a related note, Education Sector’s Erin Dillon examined recently released data from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education about trends in private school enrollment among the District's SPED students. Dillon noticed that nearly half of public special needs students in relatively wealthy Ward 3 attend a private school paid for by DCPS, compared to only 15-20 percent of SPED students in the other seven wards. Dillon comments, “it looks like private school placement isn't just a matter of having a child who isn't being served in a public school--it's also a matter of having (or affording) a good lawyer.”
Contract Watch: Not much to report on the teacher's contract front, although it seems that Washington Teachers’ Union President George Parker had his feelings hurt by Obama's pointing out the obvious in last week's presidential debate. In his most recent robo-call to WTU members Parker said:
“During last week’s presidential debate, Senator Barack Obama unfortunately made some disparaging remarks regarding DC Public Schools. We believe his remarks failed to recognize the hard work and success of our teachers as evidenced by the increased performance of our students on the most recent DC Comprehensive Assessment System (DC-CAS.) The WTU is drafting a letter to Senator Obama’s campaign to address this unfortunate statement regarding the negative depiction of DCPS by Senator Obama. A copy will be provided to WTU members.”Commence with the eye-rolling.
Schools Notes: “One of the biggest agents of change at Raymond Elementary School stands 6'6", weighs over 260 lbs., and carries a mop,” says The American Spectator… DC Education Blog finds allegations of kickbacks being taken by DCPS Transportation Manager Michelle Smith… DC School Reform Now is hosting a panel discussion on local education issues with City Council At-Large candidates next Monday, October 27, from 6:30 - 8 p.m. at Francis Stevens School (2425 N Street NW).
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what happened to the good ol' days when kids would go to school just because their parents' told them to?
oh. maybe that was just me.
what happened to the good ol' days when teachers not getting paid for working would make more news than students not getting paid for...showing up on time?
oh. sorry. I'm in DC now.
I wonder if this will count as income for the kids' parents under the DC tax code...
...and as for Parker, all I can say is, "What an asshat." Don't give that clown a forum for his idiocy.
nice article there in the american prospect, thanks for the link.
"what happened to the good ol' days when kids would go to school just because their parents' told them to?"
The problem is their parents dont tell them to go to school.