Mayor Anthony A. Williams, Council Chairman Linda Cropp, and Councilmember Kevin Chavous
Letter to Board of Education President Peggy Cooper Cafritz on DCPS FY2004 budget
September 17, 2003

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Ms. Peggy Cooper Cafritz 
President, Board of Education 
District of Columbia Public Schools 
825 North Capitol Street, NE 
Washington, DC 20002

Dear Ms. Cafritz;

The Mayor and Council have recently met to consider issues pertaining to DCPS' FY 04 budget and the previously approved pay raises for various personnel. It is clear that Board of Education has some fundamentally different assumptions on the DCPS baseline as outlined by the Chief Financial Officer. Despite considerable dialogue between the Board and the Mayor and the Council, there is no resolution. In any case, in the spirit of one government, all parties must work together closely to ensure that DCPS fulfills its core mission of educating our young people. More specifically, the School Board, Council, and Mayor need to find a resolution to this issue that will appropriately address key priorities.

In order to reach this resolution, the Mayor and a majority of the Council are prepared to appropriate an additional $21 million for DCPS in F'? 2004. ?lease be advised that these additional funds would be for FY 04 only and would not become a part of the DCPS baseline budget, although we would be open to further discussions on this issue. The allocation of these funds in FY 04, however, is contingent on:

• The Board formally rescinding its July 16 action to unilaterally cancel pay raises negotiated for FY 04;
• the Board approving measures to address the remaining budget gap, which could include other reductions in the DCPS budget, or renegotiation of the collective bargaining agreements with labor representatives (as part of this process, we urge the Board to join a budget task force consisting of the Mayor, Councilmembers, the CFO, labor representative; and parents' groups); and
• Congress granting the Mayor and Council ongoing "line-item authority' over the DCPS budget, with a requirement that the school board submit a detailed allocation of the Mayor's annual budget proposal for DCPS, so that the contingencies specified above would be fully consistent with the home rule charter.

We believe that this proposed solution will best serve the interests of our children, our teachers, our school system, and our city. We strongly hope that you will agree and take immediate action to reverse your cancellation of approved pay increases.

Sincerely,

Anthony A. Williams
Mayor
District of Columbia

Linda W. Cropp
Chairman
Council of the District of Columbia

Kevin P. Chavous
Chairman
Council Committee on Education, Libraries, and Recreation