Ward 3 Speaks Out About Its Schools
At the Ward 3 Education Town Hall, Mayor Fenty, Ward 3 Councilmember Cheh, Chancellor Rhee, Deputy Mayor Reinoso, and State Superintendent Gist enlisted the help of over 150 parents, students, teachers, administrators, and community members to build a successful school year and support student academic achievement in the DC Public Schools (DCPS).
Ward 3 Town Hall participants discussed three questions:
| Ward 3 wants effective teachers: “Create a central office that RESPONDS to the needs of our teachers.” |
Ward 3 participants urge DCPS to hire the most qualified teachers, give them support and resources to succeed, and hold them accountable for meeting high standards. They suggest that teachers and principals need training and enrichment and opportunity to collaborate with one another. This means not overburdening them with bureaucracy, protecting them from “burnout”, and providing strong professional development and advanced degree opportunities.
Participants want art, physical education, foreign languages, and music to be treated as core, not extracurricular subjects. They feel that these courses would balance the focus on test scores in traditional academic subjects and help students connect better to school.
Improving the delivery of special education services is a major concern of participants. They want DCPS to provide programming and timely accurate information and to ensure early identification of special needs of students. Participants are concerned that too often students with special needs are treated as discipline problems rather than children with individual needs.
| Ward 3 wants better special education services now: “Time is not on the side of students with special needs. They are developing now. They need intervention now” |
In addition, Ward 3 participants want schools that effectively involve parents and community. They suggest that school buildings be used to bring in families and communities. They believe that parents and the community should be engaged with supporting the learning process.
Participants said that all the normal, basic elements found in safe nurturing schools must be brought to DCPS facilities. In short, the infrastructure needs to work in every school. This includes drinkable water, air conditioning and heating, working toilets, and good light. Ward 3 participants said they appreciate the progress made, but see that problems continue.
| Ward 3 supports Chancellor Rhee: “You go girl!” |
Participants urge DCPS to move quickly to fill vacancies with highly qualified staff and keep these positions filled for the entire year. Participants note that principals frequently need volunteers to do basic office work and have little support.
In line with this need to support teachers and principals, Ward 3 participants urge DCPS to tackle the bureaucracy and make it responsive as well as responsible. They want the central office to focus on the interest of the schools and impose consequences for those who are not working in the best interest of the children.
In addition, participants recommend that DCPS continue these types of public forums so that the community can be heard, feel engaged, and get information.
How can we fix the special education program so the students are served within DCPS?
Chancellor’s response:
How do we build capacity? We need to focus on quality and being proactive in providing service so that that evaluating students will become natural because it is the right thing to do. Involving parents will become natural because it is the right thing to do. We need to be much more strategic and focused.
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