Jonetta Rose Barras: Education reformers, don't retreat
By: Jonetta Rose Barras
Examiner Columnist
October 29, 2009
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| The D.C. Council doesn’t want schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee to mess with adults and their jobs — the needs of children be damned. Fortunately, Rhee doesn’t share its philosophy. (Examiner file) |
Gingko biloba is being served on the Fifth Floor of the John A. Wilson Building. That herbal supplement protects against mental fuzziness and memory loss. Some D.C. Council members are suffering.
They have forgotten changes they made to their approved 2010 budget. They could be forgiven the lapse, if they weren't trying to whip up a citywide frenzy over the D.C. Public Schools' reduction in force.
Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray, siding with unions, has blamed the mayor and schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, asserting the legislature isn't responsible for the layoff of more than 300 workers. He has fueled flames by spinning numbers: A cut is called a savings; the budget comparison is between 2009 and 2010, instead of the initial and final 2010 document.
Thursday, when Rhee appears before the legislature, Gray likely will argue there wasn't a need for terminations. It's subterfuge to get rid of teachers with seniority.
Oversight is great. Political grandstanding is self-serving. And, if all long-term teachers were so effective, why has District public school achievement consistently registered near the bottom of the national scale?
Events in July may be too recent for council members. But an Oct. 16 document released by Gray should have triggered their memory. Legislators cut the schools budget by nearly $21 million, including 50 percent of summer school funds; they also rejected a 2 percent increase in per pupil spending. (That's nearly half of the total $43 million the chancellor is trying to find in her budget.)
The council doesn't want the chancellor to mess with adults and their jobs. The needs of children be damned.
Fortunately, Rhee doesn't share its philosophy. She has sought to mitigate the effect of budget woes on children. Summer school may seem unimportant. But for some, it can be the deciding factor in whether they graduate. It also can help students interested in advancing their academic studies.
Many District residents are happy that since Rhee's arrival, children have been moved to the front of the serving line. "At the end of the day, the school system is a better place for kids [today] than it was two years ago," said Anne Martin, with DC School Reform Now. She and others are expected to converge on city hall Thursday as a demonstration of support for Rhee.
The reduction in force was necessary. The system over the past five years has lost students and yet there hasn't been any significant reduction in the instructional corps. Even last year, when 23 schools were closed, teachers were not pushed out the door. At some point, the DCPS has to be right-sized, properly focused and upgraded; that means people will lose jobs.
Reforming a system that has been dysfunctional for 30 years requires unflinching commitment. If council members care about the quality of education more than 40,000 children receive, then they can't buckle when adults come crying at their doors.
Jonetta Rose Barras, host of WPFW's "D.C. Politics With Jonetta," can be reached at rosebook1@aol.com.
