District Mayor Adrian Fenty on Thursday launched his bid to commandeer the public school system, proposing to reduce the authority of the Board of Education, centralize the $1 billion school modernization program and reorganize charter school oversight.
Fenty, who took office Tuesday, acknowledged that his political future and reputation are on the line over the success of his schools proposal, a 48-page bill now before the D.C. Council. He said his plan, patterned after the New York City education system, streamlines accountability and authority under the executive.
“To the children we owe, and to the city we owe, to move past the finger-pointing,” Fenty said, “to align all of the bodies of government behind student achievement. … We need to clear a path for the superintendent to do what needs to be done to make our school students and our schools succeed.”
Nine of 11 council members lined up to support their new mayor, though not necessarily to throw full support behind his plan. Ward 1 Council Member Jim Graham backed the “basic thrust,” while Council Member David Catania urged fast approval.
Chairman Vincent Gray said the public hearings, which are likely to take days, will start “as soon as possible.” The council could act even before May 1, he said, when the vacant seats in wards 4 and 7 are slated to be filled in a special election.
Under the proposal, which would require amendments to the Home Rule Charter:
» A schools “chancellor,” essentially the superintendent, would oversee the day-to-day operations of the 58,000-student D.C. Public School system, working under a new Cabinet-level agency and reporting directly to Fenty.
» The mayor would assume control of the schools’ budget and curriculum.
» A nine-member State Board of Education would play an advisory role. It would have little policy-making authority and would lose all power over charter schools, which would be centralized under the existing Public Charter School Board.
» A new Department of Education would oversee the State Education Office, a new ombudsman office and a new facilities management and construction authority.
Though he attended the press conference, Ward 6 Council Member Tommy Wells warned that mayoral control is “not necessarily going to make things a whole lot better a lot quicker.” But the debate must not be drawn out, he said, because “as of today this puts our system in limbo.”
The education plan, in a nutshell
» Sets DCPS as Cabinet-level agency subordinate to the mayor
» Creates chancellor position to replace superintendent
» Establishes Department of Education headed by deputy mayor for education
» Transfers state-level education agency functions to State Education Office
» Establishes advisory nine-member State Board of Education
» Creates Office of Ombudsman for Public Education
» Creates Public School Facilities Management and Construction Authority
» Consolidates authority over charter schools to one board
» Requires performance reviews of charters every three years
