School reform activists say they’re willing to keep an open mind about D.C. Public Schools’ downsizing plan, but some say they have little hope that the plan will go smoothly.
“It is possible that it may do more damage,” said Nathan Saunders, general vice president of the Washington Teachers’ Union.
Few dispute that Washington’s schools need to regroup after 10,000 students left the district in the past five years. Several schools are expected to be shut down as the district closes 1 million square feet of space, to be detailed in an announcement this morning.
But critics say they’re worried that school officials haven’t thought the plan through and will end up cutting more muscle than fat. They also say they’re angry that officials haven’t done more to reach out to them.
“We’re not sure that they’re doing it in a way that’s going to minimize chaos,” said Marc Borbely, a former D.C. teacher who is now an advisory neighborhood commissioner.
Borbely said he went to a recent school meeting where one consolidation plan between two schools was floated. “It was just totally half-baked,” Borbely said.
Reform groups are scheduled to meet at 6:30 p.m. at the Sumner School Museum, 1201 17th St. NW, to discuss the closings plan.
About 10 schools are expected to be on Superintendent Clifford Janey’s chopping block.
The controversy over school closings is only part of the story. Critics, including key members of Congress such as Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., say a malaise has settled on D.C. public schools that not even earnest reform efforts have been able to salve.
The schools have been plagued by bad management, violence and woeful academics. The Department of Education recently rated D.C. schools “high risk,” which threatens the system’s federal funding.
Janey told a congressional panel last month that he hoped the rating “will, in fact, bring about the much-needed support and technical assistance” the schools lack.
DC schools:
» Receive about $120 million annually in federal funds
» Enroll about 58,000 students
» About half of the schools’ English speakers passed reading proficiency tests last year
» 832 students enrolled in AP courses last year
Source: Clifford Janey, congressional testimony, April 28
