DC Public Schools
Recommended FY 2006 budget press release
January 13, 2005

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News Release

DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT PRESENTS RECOMMENDED FY 2006 BUDGET TO BOARD OF EDUCATION

"Superintendent Proposes $1.02 Billion to Fund Basic Operations"

Washington, D.C. - District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) Superintendent Dir. Clifford B. Janey formally presented his proposed FY 2006 operating budget to members of the Board of Education last night. The $1.02 billion budget focuses on improving academic performance system-wide, streamlining administrative costs, redirecting all savings to strengthen the school system's ability to diagnose teaching and lea !ring problems and improving instruction at the classroom level.

"The bottom line for this budget is to put funding where it is needed to improve academic performance," said Janey. "This means allocating money to pay for and retain excellent teachers, giving them the admininistrative and technological support they need and offering them the very best on-going professional development available"

Janey said the challenge is that limited funding makes it difficult to bring the district up to the level of adequacy and then, beyond that, to excellence.

The budget, which will run from October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006, proposes savings of up to $200,000 in central office management costs and savings of $2 million in outside legal fees and private company testing for special education students by hiring staff to provide those services in-house. It also proposes maximizing efforts to increase school funding through grants. All savings and increased funding will be directed toward instructional support.

Superintendent Janey is seeking collaboration with the mayor, City Council and city's chief financial officer to fund the following unfunded initiatives proposed in the budget:

• Funding of $8.5 million for an Effective Schools Initiative that made improvements under the current transformation model. The superintendent proposes to seek additional funding for this program under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB).
• Funding of $5 million for a Parent Resource Center Initiative, which includes $3 million for creating local parent resource centers. Research shows that families play an important role in improving their children's Academic performance.
• Funding of $2.8 million to raise graduation requirements by raising standards and academic expectations for all students. The budget proposes raising high school graduation requirements from 23.5 credit hours to 27.5.
• Funding of $32 million for summer orientation for high school students to prepare eighth and ninth graders for the more rigorous demands of high school.

While the main objective of the budget allocations is to raise academic performance, Janey said the results will help rebuild the confidence of students, parents and the community and help restore excellence in DCPS.

For more information, visit the DCPS Web site at www.kl2.dc.us.