For once, Washington Teachers' Union president's George Parker's robo-call to teachers assuring them that contract negations were nearly finished wasn't just talk. City Paper's Mike DeBonis first broke the news Tuesday evening that the union had at last reached a tentative contract agreement with D.C. Public Schools, ending more than two years of extremely contentious negotiations. DeBonis obtained draft internal documents detailing elements of the agreement, and they're filled with the juicy details. more ›

Some notable finger pointing over the past week: a list showing 90 unfilled teacher vacancies surfaced, prompting complaints of a teacher shortage caused by Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s firing 270 teachers this summer; the long-awaited schools modernization plan was criticized by the D.C. council as incomplete and lacking community input; and a Washington Teachers Union information session about the quagmired teachers’ contract negotiations descended into name-calling and shouting matches. Perhaps Post columnist Jay Mathews had the most grown-up solution: just fire them! more ›

Earlier this month, we described a new report from a federal court monitor that placed heavy blame on the District for its inability to provide special education services for its nearly 11,000 special needs students. As Post columnist Colbert King put it somewhat dramatically at the time, “the courtroom drama I witnessed this week underscored a sad reality: The one true safeguard between the city's most vulnerable residents and acts of governmental injustice is the black-robed figure in the courthouse.” While we’d like to think that statement veers toward the hyperbolic, court involvement in city administration is nothing new, and neither is what came next – the city official responsible ducking out of the spotlight. more ›

In Denver a couple of weeks ago, D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee provoked speculation with her comment that she had a “Plan B” ready on deck should the controversial teachers’ contract fail to pass. On Friday, Rhee revealed that Plan B. more ›

One of the largest financial sinkholes for the D.C. government is that the city pays for approximately one quarter of its 9,400 special education (SPED) students to attend private school, to the tune of more than $200 million. Why the expense? Because the city’s public and public charter schools have thus far proved incapable of addressing those students’ learning needs. It’s a situation that doesn’t seemed to have improved over the past two years, according to a dismal new report from a federal court monitor who was appointed in 2006 to assess the District’s ability to eliminate a backlog of more than 1,000 SPED cases that were delaying placement for SPED students. more ›

Speaking at an A-list (among education reformers at least) event in Denver on Sunday, Mayor Adrian Fenty let loose some choice words for the teachers’ unions that have been balking at D.C. public schools chancellor Michelle Rhee’s proposed contract, which centers on merit-based, rather than seniority-based, pay for teachers. When asked by News Hour reporter John Merrow about the union’s opposition, Fenty responded, “The American Federation of Teachers, which I don't think does anything for the people of the District of Columbia, is weighing in against it. And the only thing I can think of is that the heads of the union, they want to keep their jobs." more ›

School starts on Monday, and even though Washington Teachers Union president George Parker recently told a group of protesting teachers that a tentative agreement could be expected within a week, it doesn’t look like we’re any closer to a contract vote for the District’s teachers. The negotiations hinge on D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s proposal to offer salaries upwards of $100,000 to teachers in exchange for increased accountability measures. Today, D.C. Wire reported that a recent poll sponsored by the American Federation of Teachers, the WTU’s parent union, found that teachers want to continue bargaining instead of voting on the proposal, by a margin of 3 to 1 among the 400 teachers polled. The findings should be taken with a grain of salt, however, since this is the same poll that was accused of being a “push poll” or biased against the proposal, while being conducted. more ›

Volunteer Opportunities: With school starting in two weeks, we figure it’s a good time to highlight some of the ways to get involved and support local students. Most volunteer programs are actively recruiting for the fall, and there’s really something for everyone, from mentoring to coaching to sharing your inner-geek as an after-school technology teacher. A few opportunities are featured below, and feel free to make additional suggestions in the comments. more ›

While it's no secret that The American Federation of Teachers, the parent union of the local Washington Teachers' Union, isn't thrilled about the merit pay proposal being negotiated between the WTU and DCPS, the AFT had thus far stayed on the sidelines of the controversy. Not so much anymore. more ›

August is a mixed blessing – summer school is over and the afternoons are long, but teachers and students alike are aware that the first day of school is only a few weeks away. August should be a time for relaxation and preparation, but tempers have been running high for such a normally lazy month. The Washington Teachers’ Union and D.C. public schools are still locked in a stalemate over contract negotiations, the Mayor’s office is playing tug-of-war with the D.C. Council over the schools budget, and the Post is editorializing about all of it. Maybe it’s the heat. more ›

This week marks the beginning of a series of meetings between teachers and officials from The Washington Teachers’ Union meant to clarify the much-discussed performance pay plan at the center of the ongoing teachers’ contract negotiations. D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee has said that initial coverage of the proposal included some incorrect details, and promised to speak with union members during a Q&A at each meeting, telling the Post she plans to offer, "some solace and evidence that we are not going to be making these decisions capriciously or placing them solely in the hands of school principals." more ›

If you’re not already familiar with the way teachers in D.C. get paid, it basically works like this – the longer you teach, the more you make. DCPS teachers are compensated on a seniority-based scale (pdf), something that was designed to encourage retention, but unfortunately also means that teachers are paid for their loyalty, not their performance. more ›