Harry Jaffe
Extra! Extra! D.C. schools ombudsman quits! But does anyone really care?
By: Harry Jaffe
Examiner Columnist
January 28, 2009
A few weeks ago, Tonya Kinlow left her job as D.C.’s “first-ever” ombudsman for public education.
The “first-ever” characterization comes from the press release of Oct. 25, 2007, which announced Mayor Adrian Fenty’s appointment of Kinlow. Fenty hailed her as “the city’s face of customer service for education.”
So in the midst of a contentious school year -- when the school board has been disbanded, thousands of students are still getting accustomed to new schools after the closing of 23, half the schools have new principals, some schools are plagued with violence, the chancellor has recommended new discipline standards, and the teachers union is at war within itself and with the city -- the “face of customer service” splits.
And the customers don’t seem to notice.
Parents and students and reporters covering the schools are unaware.
Not a ripple stirs the still waters of the jumpy jangle of school activists.
Which raises the question: Do we need a school ombudsman’s office?
When Fenty asked the city council to take school governance away from an elected school board and invest control of the public schools with the mayor, many council members and school activists worried that parents and students would be left with no recourse to address complaints ranging from non-working toilets to absent teachers to unwarranted suspensions to unmet special education needs.
Tommy Wells, who represents Ward 6 on Capitol Hill and had been a school board member, made it a condition of his support that Fenty create an ombudsman’s office, which he did. Kinlow, who also had been elected to the school board, agreed to take the job.
She and her staff of three created a Web site and spread the word they were open for business. They went to community meetings and put fliers in the schools. They fairly begged for complaints from a constituency known for whining. Few customers came to the ombudsman’s window.
The ombudsman compiled reports packed with graphs and pie charts and explanations of who asked for redress and why. But follow the numbers and you will find that last school year only 341 cases came before the office, which is authorized to handle complaints from charters, public schools and the University of the District of Columbia.
“The volume was a lot lower than we had anticipated,” Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso tells me.
The reason, in part, is that Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee established a critical response team within DCPS that handled as many as 300 complaints a month -- and solved them. And that the council has replaced the school board to hear from disgruntled teachers and other “customers.” And that Allen Lew and his construction team is fixing the school buildings.
Kinlow, who I was unable to reach, apparently quit to take a lucrative job in the health insurance sector.
Wells hopes Fenty will appoint someone with power and access. Sources tell me the post will remain vacant until next school year.
Will anyone notice?
The “first-ever” characterization comes from the press release of Oct. 25, 2007, which announced Mayor Adrian Fenty’s appointment of Kinlow. Fenty hailed her as “the city’s face of customer service for education.”
So in the midst of a contentious school year -- when the school board has been disbanded, thousands of students are still getting accustomed to new schools after the closing of 23, half the schools have new principals, some schools are plagued with violence, the chancellor has recommended new discipline standards, and the teachers union is at war within itself and with the city -- the “face of customer service” splits.
And the customers don’t seem to notice.
Parents and students and reporters covering the schools are unaware.
Not a ripple stirs the still waters of the jumpy jangle of school activists.
Which raises the question: Do we need a school ombudsman’s office?
When Fenty asked the city council to take school governance away from an elected school board and invest control of the public schools with the mayor, many council members and school activists worried that parents and students would be left with no recourse to address complaints ranging from non-working toilets to absent teachers to unwarranted suspensions to unmet special education needs.
Tommy Wells, who represents Ward 6 on Capitol Hill and had been a school board member, made it a condition of his support that Fenty create an ombudsman’s office, which he did. Kinlow, who also had been elected to the school board, agreed to take the job.
She and her staff of three created a Web site and spread the word they were open for business. They went to community meetings and put fliers in the schools. They fairly begged for complaints from a constituency known for whining. Few customers came to the ombudsman’s window.
The ombudsman compiled reports packed with graphs and pie charts and explanations of who asked for redress and why. But follow the numbers and you will find that last school year only 341 cases came before the office, which is authorized to handle complaints from charters, public schools and the University of the District of Columbia.
“The volume was a lot lower than we had anticipated,” Deputy Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso tells me.
The reason, in part, is that Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee established a critical response team within DCPS that handled as many as 300 complaints a month -- and solved them. And that the council has replaced the school board to hear from disgruntled teachers and other “customers.” And that Allen Lew and his construction team is fixing the school buildings.
Kinlow, who I was unable to reach, apparently quit to take a lucrative job in the health insurance sector.
Wells hopes Fenty will appoint someone with power and access. Sources tell me the post will remain vacant until next school year.
Will anyone notice?
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