Amid low test scores, low graduation rates and problems with truancy, many District residents have suggested that D.C. Public Schools needs to clean itself up.
But not until Wednesday, during a public hearing on the public schools’ budget, was a resident actually compelled to bring toilet paper to the D.C. Council chambers.
Hardy Middle School student Marcus Fields — one of more than 100 residents who signed up to testify before the council — was set on highlighting the scarce resources in the District’s struggling schools.
At H.D. Woodson High School, Fields said, basic resources like toilet paper are in such short supply that students have to essentially rent it from their teachers each time they need the rest room.
“How can you expect students to get good test scores if they have to worry about toilet paper?” Fields asked the council.
Mayor Vincent Gray has designated $1.59 billion for DCPS and the charter schools in fiscal 2013, 27.1 percent of the city’s budget and an $85.8 million increase over last year.
Those funds include two new middle schools for Ward 5 and modernizations of all existing DCPS campuses.
At a public hearing on Wednesday, Ward 6 parents praised the upgrades planned for Stuart-Hobson Middle School, mentioning water that drips down the walls.
But with the extra funding, DCPS schools are taking on significant costs: The $64 million collected from four private foundations to help fund bonuses in the Impact teacher evaluations has run out, and individual schools are now bearing the cost. The average cost of a classroom teacher will rise from $90,681 to $95,574, outweighing the 2 percent increase in per-pupil funding the mayor pledged this year.
Funding constraints also mean that schools with fewer than 300 students are losing their librarians, and larger schools can choose whether to fund those positions or not.
Wilson Senior High School needs three more general education teachers, two more special education aides, another assistant principal, another guidance counselor and additional funds for supplies, its Local School Advisory Team testified.
Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh questioned whether the cost of the reforms was worth it, noting that middle and high school class sizes are slated to increase.
“I just worry — we start something, and we don’t necessarily know, is this really working or is it working cost-effectively, or is it just a fad?” Cheh asked. “Education has its fads. … We don’t know if the new big thing is the new good thing, and worth the cost.”
D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson and other school officials are expected to appear before the council on April 18.
