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Government of the District of Columbia
Executive Office of the Mayor
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 27, 2007 |
CONTACT:
Mafara Hobson
Office)
202.727.2320 |
Mayor Fenty Lays Out Education
Transition Strategy
On April, 19, 2007, the Council of the District of Columbia approved
the “District of Columbia Public Education Reform Amendment Act of
2007,” Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s plan to restructure the governance over
the DC Public Schools. The plan, introduced during the Mayor’s first
days in office, gives Mayor Fenty direct oversight over and responsibility
for the school system. However, the Mayor does not have legal
authority over the schools until the bill is approved by the United States
Congress.
Until that time, Mayor Fenty has developed an overview to prepare for
an orderly transfer. The process will be similar to the work of the Fenty
Transition that preceded the Mayor’s oath of office in early January.
Mayor Fenty has committed to working just as diligently to prepare for
this critical responsibility— that of educating the District’s young
people and preparing them to compete in a global economy.
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Education Transition Strategy
Government of the District of Columbia
Adrian M. Fenty, Mayor
April 27, 2007
Background
On April, 19, 2007, the Council of the District of
Columbia approved the “District of Columbia Public Education Reform
Amendment Act of 2007,” Mayor Adrian M. Fenty’s plan to restructure
the governance over the DC Public Schools. The plan, introduced during
the Mayor’s first days in office, gives Mayor Fenty direct oversight
over and responsibility for the school system. However, the Mayor does
not have legal authority over the schools until the bill is approved by
the United States Congress.
Until that time, Mayor Fenty has developed a plan to
prepare for an orderly transfer. The process will be similar to the work
of the Fenty Transition that preceded the Mayor’s oath of office in
early January. Mayor Fenty has committed to working just as diligently
to prepare for this critical responsibility— that of educating the
District’s young people and preparing them to compete in a global
economy.
Fixing the Material Weakness
The Fiscal Year 2006 Independent Auditor’s report cited
certain administrative processes of the DC Public Schools as presenting
a material weakness, meaning its accounting irregularities could
jeopardize the District’s financial standing. The Auditor did so for
five reasons:
- High-risk designation by the U.S. Department of
Education
- High-risk designation by the DC Office of the
Inspector General
- Procurement
- Human Resources systems
- Medicaid
The Mayor, Chief Financial Officer, Schools
Superintendent and President of the Board of Education have selected the
consulting firm KPMG to correct the material weakness identified by the
city’s auditors. This will be the most effective way of correcting
problems and ensuring they do not appear in next year’s audit.
A task force from the Office of the Chief Financial
Officer has been working with DCPS management since January to develop a
plan to correct internal controls. This task force met with the external
auditors and the Department of Education. While members developed
corrective action plans for each area, they quickly realized the need
for additional resources and an outside perspective.
Reviewing the System
Beginning immediately, the Mayor will initiate various
internal reviews of DCPS components to inform future management
decisions. Independent firms will conduct these audits, quickly bringing
capacity and expertise to longstanding problems. These reviews will
address fiscal and operating weaknesses of the school system and will
include:
- Forensic audit. The Mayor will conduct a forensic
audit to identify areas of waste, fraud, and abuse within the school
system’s operations. The audit will identify the best, most efficient
possible uses of public resources, and recommend actions to restore
public confidence in the system.
- Financial review and development of
an updated budget. The Mayor intends to conduct a full review of how the
budget is allocated within the school system to identify areas of
potential savings. His first priority is to better support academic
initiatives and protect investments made for classrooms. Upon completion
of this review, the Mayor anticipates developing an updated budget that
reflects the findings and his priorities.
- Operational review. A thorough review of the school
system’s operations will reveal ways to reorganize the central
administration – supporting teaching and learning first, and
facilitating reform.
- Analysis of state education costs.
The State Education Office is working with a number of experts in state
education policy, integration and merger, and agency performance who
will lay the groundwork for the new structure of the state education
agency. This work will provide an analysis of the costs associated with
building a state agency that is reflective of best practices.
In addition, there will be an ongoing comprehensive
management review. The Mayor will use the data, analyses, and
recommendations from the reviews described above to make decisions about
the management and direction of the school system as appropriate.
Reaching Out to the Community
- Education Town Halls
Given the success of community town halls during the
mayoral transition period, the Mayor will conduct similar meetings about
schools throughout the District of Columbia. Mayor Fenty and his
education team will hear, in structured forums, from the people whom
this change will impact most—parents, teachers and students. Findings
from Fenty Transition town halls served as an effective guide in
understanding residents’ concerns and developing administration
priorities. The Education Town Hall series will seek to accomplish the
same goals.
- For a schedule of upcoming Education Town Halls, please
visit the Mayor’s education page at http://www.dc.gov/educationreform
or call the Mayor’s Call Center at 727-1000.
- eTransition Activities
The eTransition efforts will use the power of technology
to create forums through interactive Web logs--or blogs. Like those of
the Fenty Transition, these forums will be designed to encourage
dialogue. This input will be a way of sharing information while gaining
invaluable input from community members.
- Communication with School-Based
Staff
Mayor Fenty will send letters to teachers, principals,
and other school-based staff, committing his support to their vital work
and inviting their important input. He will invite school personnel to
attend the Education Town Halls and stress the importance of cooperation
to improve educational outcomes for our students.
- myschoolideas@dc.gov
The Mayor is excited to announce the creation of an email
address to collect and review public ideas for improving teaching and
learning in your schools. Staff will regularly review emails sent to myschoolideas@dc.gov,
and Mayor Fenty will consider all ideas as he prepares for the coming
school year.
Searching for an Ombudsman
The Office of Ombudsman for Public Education is a
centerpiece of the Mayor’s education reform plan. The Ombudsman will
serve as a single point of contact for parents and teachers to
communicate their concerns and receive assistance in resolving problems.
Finding the right person for the job, and for the District, is of vital
importance. The Mayor will look in the District, around the region and
across the country to fill the position as soon as possible. In the
meantime, the Deputy Mayor for Education is leading preparation efforts
to ensure that the new Ombudsman can begin serving residents
immediately.
Raising Funds
The District must have significant resources ready to
support education reform initiatives – resources that may be above
what is funded through the city’s budget. At the same time, the
District is lucky to have an abundance of organizations, businesses, and
individuals who wish to support education reform efforts. The change of
governance and renewed vision for our schools present a unique
opportunity to harness the willingness of those who want to give.
Through a coordinated campaign, the Mayor will engage
partners from every sector and identify tangible ways for them to
support specific programs and initiatives. The intent is to build a pool
of resources that can be used for strategic investments, maximizing the
reach of the District’s reform efforts.
Transferring State Functions
Several components of the State Education Office’s (SEO)
transition efforts are currently underway. First, the SEO is in the
process of hiring an internal transition team to help consolidate
state-level functions. Secondly, the SEO is working with outside experts
to develop a new structure for a high-performing state education agency.
The SEO’s transition effort also involves working with
the State Board of Education. State Education Officer Deborah Gist has
reached out to each board member individually and is working to set up a
retreat with the board in the near future. The SEO has also identified
internal staff to lead transition work groups around specific policy
efforts and functional operations. The work groups will engage the
entities that will be merged into the SEO. Ensuring a culture of
inclusion is the highest priority for the SEO during the merger of
functions.
Finally, in accordance with the language in the DC Public
Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007, the State Education Office is
developing a detailed transition plan for the Mayor’s review. This
plan will ultimately go to the Council of the District of Columbia.
Through these efforts, the SEO envisions a structure built around broad
policy objectives to improve student achievement and align standards
with college and workforce expectations.
Visiting Schools
In the coming weeks, Mayor Fenty, Deputy Mayor for
Education Victor Reinoso and staff will visit DCPS and public charter
schools across the city. The Mayor and his team will meet with students,
teachers and administrators at every level, in every kind of school.
These visits will serve as an enormous source of information about the
incredible student body, hardworking teachers and successful initiatives
in schools around the District of Columbia. The information gained
during each visit will give the Mayor an on-theground understanding of
each pubic school. The Mayor is determined to support all public schools
in their mission to provide quality education to students, and these
site visits serve a vital role in that preparation.
Improving Facilities
The school system has begun a short-term program to
address many of the immediate problems, such as the lack of clean,
functioning bathrooms and classrooms with poor lighting and climate
control. The Mayor will develop a “buff and scrub” plan to
accelerate facility repairs so every student can attend school in a
safe, clean learning environment. Mayor Fenty is exploring ways to
engage the private sector to augment maintenance and repair capacity
within the school system. As part of the management review of the system
described earlier, he will develop a program that meets the urgency of
the school facilities crisis.
Engaging Developers
As part of the Facilities Improvement Plan, the Mayor
will create a Developers’ Education Roundtable. Developers from around
the region who do business in the District of Columbia will be invited
to “adopt” schools to help provide supplies, repairs and upkeep for
a determined period of time. A partnership between business and city
education efforts is the perfect joint venture, because public school
students will make up the workforce of the future.
Conclusion
The first day of classes for the 2007-08 school year is
August 27. Mayor Fenty is committed to dramatic, meaningful changes that
students, parents and teachers will notice immediately after the summer
recess. Nothing less than the future of our city is at stake. This is an
exciting, historic moment of opportunity for the public schools and the
entire District of Columbia.
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