Results tagged “michellerhee>”

Surely even Michelle Rhee must feel like her profile is way overblown after this. The journal Education Next, as part of its entry in the virtual parade of profile articles that've already been done on the D.C. Schools chancellor, has created this ridiculous graphic depicting Rhee as a knight in shining armor (City Desk also takes note).

              

As promised, here are some images captured by DCist photographer Francis Chung during Thursday afternoon's Washington Teachers Union-organized protest outside the John A. Wilson Building.

This afternoon, DCPS released final details of the budget reductions that have caused an uproar in the schools community since probable staff cuts were first announced last month.

As we mentioned in the Morning Roundup, the D.C. public schools announced yesterday that an unexpected $40 million budget shortfall will require spending cuts and personnel reductions by the end of October. In a letter to teachers, George Parker, president of the Washington Teachers' Union, expressed anger that the WTU was not notified of the cuts prior to yesterday's announcement, and suggested that the coming layoffs could jeopardize the ongoing contract negotiations. Contract talks were recently rumored to be nearing to a close after almost two years of stalemate.

D.C. Public Schools confirmed yesterday that student enrollment in its 127 schools was at 44,397, up from the roughly 37,000 who were registered when classes resumed on August 24. Enrollment counts typically fluctuate at the start of the year, as parents enroll children late, and transfers are finalized.

After collecting feedback ( i.e., complaints?) from staff, students, and parents for more than two years, DCPS has finally launched the redesign of its web site, and our first impression is that it looks pretty darn good.

We've mentioned it before, but Mayor Adrian Fenty has long promised to enroll his twin sons, Matthew and Andrew, 8, in DCPS starting this fall. But where will they enroll? West Elementary is technically the neighborhood school for the boys, who live in Crestwood, but Harry Jaffe argues that the campus is "in turmoil," and reports this morning that Michelle Fenty has toured five other NW elementary schools: Janney, Murch, Key, Eaton and Lafayette. We agree with Jaffe that it's high time Fenty followed the example of his DCPS chancellor, Michelle Rhee, and sent his children to the public schools under his watch, but we question ruling out West. Turmoil or not, surely the presence of the Mayor's sons would draw some much-needed attention to improving the school, and by enrolling his sons elsewhere, Fenty is sending a sign, intentional or not, that what's good enough for some D.C. kids - his neighbors, in fact - won't cut it for his own.

In an apparent effort to compete with the District's growing number of thematic charter schools, this morning DCPS announced the reorganization of 13 campuses into "theme-based catalyst schools," meaning that they will have an overall curricular emphasis in one of three areas: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math), Arts Integration, or World Cultures. At a morning press conference, Mayor Adrian Fenty described the purpose of the project as "to provide compelling options for students and families at their neighborhood schools, so that in every Ward quality and choice becomes a reality."

A long-anticipated evaluation of the D.C. Public Schools from the U.S. Government Accountability Office was released yesterday. The top line finding? "Important steps taken to continue reform efforts, but enhanced planning could improve implementation and sustainability." No shockers there. The report praised initiatives that have been implemented by schools chancellor Michelle Rhee since 2007, such as increased accountability for central office employees, but also argued that the District should do more strategic planning to better execute their ideas, and make greater effort to engage "stake holders" like parents and teachers.

The first results from the District Of Columbia Comprehensive Assessment System (DC-CAS) tests are out, and the results are encouraging. Bill Turque summarizes the gains in the Post:

Nearly half the District's public elementary students (49 percent) scored at proficiency levels in reading and math. Reading scores last year were 46 percent; math scores rose from 40 percent proficiency. In 2007, fewer than a third of elementary students were proficient in either category. Gains at the middle and high school levels were more modest. Reading proficiency grew from 39 percent to 41 percent; math proficiency rose from 36 percent to 40 percent.

Yesterday evening, we received a tip from a DCPS high school teacher that nearly 20 teachers at their school received termination letters from their principal that afternoon, including the union building representative. This morning, Candi Peterson, a Washington Teachers' Union board member, has letters from two teachers on her blog, and while the exact number of teachers fired has not yet been announced, D.C. Wire reports that four types of school employees were terminated around the district:

Paraprofessionals who work with students, but did not attain the "highly qualified" standard required by federal law under the No Child Left Behind Act.

Continue reading "End of the School Year Brings Teacher Firings"

A new study out today by Education Week researchers has found that the on-time graduation rate for D.C. public school students fell to an appalling 48.8 percent in 2006, a drop of more than eight percentage points from the previous year. In other words, in 2006, more D.C. students had dropped out of high school than graduated.

Now that it's June the inauguration may seem like old news, but these films are refreshingly candid, hilarious, and often-poignant records of what D.C. communities were thinking and feeling back in January. "Most of them have even started caring about their futures," a student at Luke C. Moore Academy says of his classmates. "You can no longer go off the same expectations." An older woman captured in one film explains, "I knew it was going to happen, I just didn't know it would happen in my time." A shy fifth-grader tells the camera that she felt "Excited. Happy. All kinds of words."

City Desk is reporting that Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray have settled their argument over the $27 million that the Council voted last month to strip from the DCPS budget because of differences in enrollment projections. The Council is voting (any minute now?) to restore $24 million to DCPS in the FY2010 budget, with the remainder being placed in escrow until enrollment counts are finalized in October. Rhee and Gray will also collaborate going forward to create a "uniform method" for projecting enrollment. The Council initially withdrew the money because it felt the projections on which the budget had been based were inflated. DCPS enrollment has been steadily declining for years, but Rhee's budget assumed a growth of about 3,000 students. Rhee countered by threatening that schools would be forced to eliminate teaching positions in order to make up the deficit. She defended the projected enrollment growth, but yesterday conceded in a letter to Gray that, "I cannot guarantee that this will occur.” Strangely, that slight admission seemed to be all Gray needed to release the majority of the money.

D.C. Wire reports that this morning, the D.C. Council voted to strip $27 million from the DCPS budget for next year, on the grounds that that the original funding projected that school enrollment would grow by 3,000 students, an estimate that's obviously unrealistic. The Council says it will not spend the money now, and voted to place it in escrow, to be released in the fall only if an enrollment audit confirms growth. "Given the enormous budget challenges facing the District in 2010," Chairman Vincent Gray argued, "there needs to be a justification why this increase is warranted."

Testing starts this week for the public school students of D.C., which is why the kids you've seen on the bus in the morning may appear a little more dazed – or on time – than usual. The District of Columbia Comprehensive Assessment System (DC CAS) will run through May 1, and is administered to students in grades 3-8 and 10 to measure math, reading, science, and writing.

Robert Bobb isn't a name you hear around the District much anymore, even though the man affectionately known as "Bob-squared" served as City Administrator during Mayor Anthony Williams' second term and was elected to serve as president of the D.C. School Board in 2006. After having pretty much all of his authority pulled out from under him when Mayor Adrian Fenty gained control of the city's schools, Bobb pretty much disappeared from everyone's radar screen.

DCPS released the video footage above today of Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) touring Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson last week with D.C Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Durbin and Miller, both of whom are active on education reform issues in Congress, met with students and teachers as they sought insight from the school regarding the implementation of the No Child Left Behind Act, which is soon up for re-authorization. They also discussed ideas about expanding educator accountability with Shaw teachers.

Eventually, scholars will evaluate whether the incentive works. But for now, the best gauge might be the reaction of students on payday. Interviews with parents, educators and youths reveal that most students compare their earnings as soon as they're handed out, excited by the financial reward. A few, in a show of apathy or rebellion, destroy checks intended to help them. And some walk home disappointed, envelopes closed.

In a letter sent last week to DCPS teachers, D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee directly addressed ten of the most frequent concerns she hears from teachers, ranging from "Some people say that you want to fire all the veterans in DCPS and replace them with Teach For America teachers or DC Teaching Fellows. Is that true?" to "There are too many initiatives going on. I’m worn out and overwhelmed. What’s your priority?"

Details about the District's new teacher evaluation system were discussed for the first time at a D.C. Council hearing yesterday, the Post's Bill Turque reports. The plan, which has been in development with teachers and experts over the past several months, combines classroom observations (the focus of the current system) with standardized test scores and value-added measures of student learning. Schoolwide performance goals could also be established and used as part of the evaluations.

UPDATE: Wesley Denton, a spokesperson for Sen. DeMint, has responded by email:

D.C. Wire reports that at a meeting of the Deanwood Civic Association last night, Mayor Adrian Fenty again promised that his twin sons (currently in 3rd grade) would attend D.C. public schools beginning this fall. The post includes a quote from Fenty telling an activist, "I've always said, 'When my kids finish the school they started when they were 2 years old, they will go to DCPS.'" The Mayor's taken some heat in the past for keeping his sons in the pre-K through 3rd grade private school they currently attend, despite having based his campaign and much of his administration around issues of public school reform. Fenty has not indicated which school his sons might attend next school year. Both D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee and Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso's children attend Oyster-Adams Bilingual Elementary School, a public school in the DCPS system.

In the PR battle for the hearts and minds of D.C. teachers, it looks like the Washington Teachers' Union is stepping up their game. The WTU has launched a series of radio ads and a new website promoting its teachers' contract proposal, which they recently submitted to schools chancellor Michelle Rhee in response to the controversial contract DCPS offered last year. The web site, United For D.C. Kids, argues that the WTU proposal is "bold, progressive and comprehensive" and urges people to "unite" and "join us fighting to bring real education reform to DC's schools." The site, however, reveals few new specifics about the union's proposal itself, although it does briefly argue against the "red and green" merit pay provisions in Rhee's contract.

DCPS teachers who supported D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s contract proposal from the beginning have got to be annoyed. On Monday, Rhee announced that the minimum 28 percent across the board raises offered in July now must be trimmed due to the poor economy. The contract negotiations have reached their 15th month. The District will soon submit a revised offer to the Washington Teachers’ Union, which has thus far resisted the contract. Rhee did state that funding from private foundations for the controversial merit pay provisions in the plan have not been affected.

Local blogger DC Teacher Chic reported today on her blog that D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee will host Q&A sessions for teachers this afternoon (Wednesday, January 28) and tomorrow (Thursday, January 29), from 4-6 p.m. at 825 North Capitol Street, NE, in the 5th Floor Board Room. An open teacher Q&A sounds like a great idea, but good luck to the teachers scrambling to get from their classrooms to DCPS, in this weather, only 45 minutes after school lets out.

There's been a lot of back and forth of late between The Washington Teachers’ Union and DCPS about a policy commonly called a 90-day plan. Some within the union have accused Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee of using 90-day plans as a means of targeting older teachers for dismissal. The Washington Post's Bill Turque reported that Rhee spokesperson Dena Iverson denies any age discrimination, arguing that the average age of DCPS teachers who Rhee has placed on 90-day probations is similar to the average age of the total teaching corps (Turque puts that age in the mid-40s.)

       

Colombian superstar Shakira stopped by Oyster-Adams Bilingual Elementary School this morning as part of the school's celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and President-Elect Obama's call to service. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, having almost as busy a day as the President-Elect's, also attended the event, but stayed in the audience and did not take the stage or offer any words.

DCist caught up with film director Spike Lee this morning at Pepsi's Refresh the World Symposium at Howard University, where he had lots to say about D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee.

One of the drawbacks to having a high-profile figure like Michelle Rhee running the city schools is that so much of the education coverage tends to be about Rhee herself, rather than the work her office is (or isn't) doing. In a column last weekend, Colbert I. King argued that "the issue is not whether the chancellor is a polarizing figure with her take-no-prisoners approach, or is a fearless crusader against defenders of the status quo. At issue is whether public education in the District is being improved."