Photo by eshutt

Yesterday the D.C. Council wrapped up two hearings on D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s plan to close and consolidate 20 schools in the coming two years. During the 14 hours of discussion and debate, councilmembers both heard from Henderson and questioned her plan, while activists and residents from across the city stayed at the Wilson Building for hours in order to make their opinions heard.

Over the course of the two hearings, the majority of the councilmembers seemed to grudgingly agree with Henderson on a key point: some under-enrolled schools will have to close. While calling the process “traumatic” for students and parents, Council Chair Phil Mendelson said that “consolidation makes sense.” Councilmember Michael Brown (I-At Large) argued that “some schools are going to have to close,” while Councilmember Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) similarly insisted that under-enrolled schools could not remain open. “Some public schools have to close…we can’t keep acting like we have our heads in the sand,” he said.

Only Councilmember Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), whose ward is slated for five school closures, said that she favored a moratorium on closing any more schools and asked that more resources be directed to her schools.

Henderson argued that under-enrolled schools are a drag on the school system’s overall budget, directing money meant for instruction and programs towards keeping under-utilized buildings open. “I can’t build quality programs with 130 kids in the building…I need a critical mass,” said Henderson during the first hearing, adding that if no schools were closed she’d be forced to come to the council every year to request a “boatload” of extra money.

Beyond that, though, things got tricky. Councilmembers asked Henderson to quantify exactly how much the school system would save by shuttering the 20 schools, a number she did not have immediately available. (The 2008 closure of 23 schools ended up costing the city $39 million, roughly four times what was expected.) Yesterday she tried to make the case by saying that newly consolidated schools would have enough extra money to afford a full-time librarian and five new teachers.

Additionally, Councilmember David Catania (I-At Large) delved into the budgetary weeds, questioning Henderson on staffing decisions at specific schools and inquiring as to how much smaller the central office could get to better ensure that resources go directly to the schools instead of the bureaucracy supporting them.

And as expected, parents at specific schools slated for closure testified in opposition to Henderson’s plan. Nowhere was this more evident than with parents whose kids attend either Garrison Elementary in Logan Circle or the Francis-Stevens Educational Campus in the West End. Both councilmembers Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) and Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) spoke on behalf of keeping the schools open, while Garrison parents said that their school was making improvements with an active PTA and energetic new principal.

With both Garrison and a number of other schools slated for closure, parents and education advocates raised the difficult issues of possible turf wars between students, as well as sending kids from a high-performing school to one that isn’t currently performing as well. Garrison, for one, would be consolidated with nearby Seaton Elementary; parents point out that Seaton isn’t doing as well in either math or reading, and that its PTA isn’t as engaged as is Garrison’s. A number of parents implored councilmembers to look beyond the sheer economics and consider some intangibles they say that Henderson’s proposal ignores.

Yesterday Henderson seemed to pushed back, though, saying that she didn’t want to decide which schools stay open and which close based on how loudly the parents can complain. “I want to make sure that this is not a case of the squeaky wheel gets the grease,” she said, challenging parents and activists who oppose closures to bring her workable alternatives. (Henderson has stressed that her proposal is merely a start of the conversation, but that at the end of it she would like to see 20 schools closed.) Barry agreed with her: “We shouldn’t get in the situation where those who scream the loudest get the most.” That being said, Garrison could well be spared, if only because merging it with Seaton would put the combined school over capacity.

The two hearings also gave parents, activists and legislators a chance to sound off on the broader direction that the city’s public schools are going in. During the first hearing, a number of councilmembers warned of what they called the “downward spiral” of public education: under-enrolled schools are closed, driving students out of the system and leaving behind even more under-enrolled schools that will eventually have to be closed. According to education researcher Mary Levy, who testified last week, DCPS lost 3,800 students after the 2008 round of closures. “We need to have a plan to save the schools, not write them off,” said Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3).

Henderson, though, said she sees the issue differently. “If we do nothing, we guarantee that all of our schools will spiral downwards,” she said. Without closing schools, she argued, the schools that remain will have less money to put towards teaching, leaving students at a disadvantage and driving parents to look for alternatives. “We can’t keep doing business as usual and expect better results,” she said yesterday.

Many activists complained about the city’s growing charter school system, saying that the schools have grown largely without checks or coordination with the traditional public school system. (There are currently some 57 charter schools serving over 35,000 students; enrollment grew 11 percent since last year.) Even Henderson joined the chorus: “We can’t just allow charter schools to pop up anywhere and cannibalize DCPS schools,” she said. To that end, Henderson said that she would be seeking chartering authority from the council, which would allow her to open charter schools in areas that need them most and where they wouldn’t directly steal students away from neighborhood schools. (The Post reported yesterday that three more charter school chains have applied to operate in D.C.)

School boundaries and feeder patterns were also discussed, stemming from legislation introduced by Cheh that would charge a committee with redrawing school boundaries every 10 years. Both Henderson and Councilmember Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4) said that while such changes were needed, redrawing school boundaries could be a more divisive and difficult task than closing schools.

Some parents also said that DCPS has to do a better job marketing itself so as to retain current students and attract new ones. Additionally, Nathan Saunders, presidents of the Washington Teachers Union, urged Henderson to let teachers rated “effective” or higher to follow students to newly consolidated schools. More broadly, said Catania, the churn in the system—146 principals have come and gone since 2008, said one union official—has to stop, lest parents keep leaving DCPS: “This system has produced more change than it can consume,” he said.

Surprisingly, Henderson’s proposal is in part premised on optimism. Unlike in 2008, she said she doesn’t want to sell off the buildings that would be closed, keeping them instead for an eventual uptick in enrollment. Wait, an uptick? Yep. According to her office, enrollment in DCPS—which has stabilized in the last two years—will start increasing in 2015, topping out at nearly 70,000 students in 2022, reaching a level it hasn’t seen since the late 1990s. (It’s currently at 45,000.) How so? All those new young D.C. residents are expected to start producing lots more kids in the coming years.

Though the council is done with its hearing, the process of community input has only just begun. Starting the week after Thanksgiving, Henderson will be hosting discussions over the proposed closures in affected wards: Ward 8 (November 27), Ward 7 (November 28), Ward 5 (November 29), and wards 1-4 and 6 (December 5). She also said that she would be meeting with PTAs and education groups, before deciding on a final proposal with Mayor Vince Gray in mid-January.

Yesterday The Root D.C. published competing views on the merit of closing more D.C. public schools. They’re worth the read, here and here.

School Closures