The District is one step closer to guaranteeing, by law, that all children receive a “free, high-quality” public education, dismissing concerns that a charter change will open the city to a landslide of lawsuits.
The DC Education Rights Charter Amendment Act won preliminary approval from the D.C. Council Tuesday by a 12-1 vote. The legislation, which would ask voters to decide whether youngsters must be guaranteed the right to high-quality public schools, will be voted on again in July before being placed on the November ballot.
The bill doesn’t say what “high quality” is, but language added in committee requires the council to define it another day. That language, introduced by Council Chairman Linda Cropp, is the source of contention with theBoard of Education and fueled a two-hour debate during the council meeting.
Cropp, who won the battle by one vote, said the language ensures the D.C. Council, not the courts, will decide what constitutes “high-quality.” A definition might limit the number of lawsuits from parents claiming their children receive a less-than-stellar education, she said.
“High quality will be defined,” Cropp said. “The question is who is going to define it.”
But Council Member Kathy Patterson, who sought to remove the language, said defining “high quality” waters down the bill. Lawsuits, she said, could serve as an important tool to improve the city’s public school system.
The Board of Education urged the council to reject the bill in its current form “because the Board strongly opposes the Council’s attempt to enact legislation that defines what constitutes ‘high quality education,’” according to a press release.
D.C. Council also passed
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