Month: November 2024

Jeanne Allen for U.S. Education Secretary

mlerner10 Center for Education Reform, Charter Schools, PCSB, School Choice Leave a comment

I, together with numerous others, are highly disturbed by many of the recent cabinet nominations by President-Elect Donald Trump. One way that he could turn this pattern around for the good would be to nominate Jeanne Allen to be the next Secretary of Education. Since 1993, Jeanne has been the founder and CEO of the Center for Education Reform. A week ago I attended her organization’s STOP for Education event at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. After listening to the many educational pioneers who are creating options for families and children not offered by their traditional school systems, it made me realize that she is the right person for this job at the right time. Ms. Allen has been a fierce fighter for the ability of families to pick the school right for their kids from the time her group was formed.

I was introduced to the idea of school choice by David Boaz, the long-time executive director of the CATO Institute, shortly after learning about the libertarian think tank perhaps in 1992 or 1993. My profound interest in this approach led me to spend over 25 years in D.C.’s charter school movement, serving as a volunteer on three charter school boards and becoming chair of two of them. I am most proud of leading Washington Latin PCS in its acquisition of a permanent facility, and significantly strengthening its finances.

The charter sector has made a lot of sense to me. Schools receive freedom to operate while being accountable to the public for their performance. But now, after observing the recent antics of our local Public Charter School Board, I realize that this bargain is in the eyes of the beholder. For example, if you take a look at the DCPCSB’s Transparency Hub you will get an idea of the plethora of ways charter schools are regulated in this city. Freedom is certainly not the word that would come to mind. In regard to accountability, there is a sliding scale there as well. At the last PCSB monthly meeting, a school that has not been following the law in regard to caring for special education students since 2022 received a Notice of Concern.

I have come around to the thinking of Ms. Allen. Forget the accountability based upon test scores. Let’s create as many options as we can for parents and let them drive the educational marketplace. I remember when I first became involved with charters, critics said parents, especially those from low income neighborhoods, would never be able to make a wise choice regarding where their children should be taught. From day one, I found that nothing could be further from the truth.

Ms. Allen has been a pure choice advocate since she entered this arena. With the recent emphasis across the country on the power of parents in public education, her time for a formal national leadership position has arrived. Her selection for Education Secretary would bring a smile to the faces of many who have not been happy in recent days.

The D.C. charter board is broken

mlerner10 Charter Schools, D.C. Council, Mayor Bowser, PCSB Leave a comment

A few days ago a well-written Washington Post article by Lauren Lumpkin regarding Seed PCS and its failure to obey the law in caring for special education children caught my eye, so I decided to watch on video the May meeting of the DC Public Charter School Board. What I witnessed shocked me.

An audit of the charter’s special education program demonstrated violations of both the federal Individuals with Disabilities Act and D.C. Municipals Regulations Chapter 30, according to PCSB staff. The audit was completed due to complaints made to the board by at least three Seed staff members. Seed did receive a Notice of Concern, and several board members expressed their consternation about the school’s inability to properly care for their students. But here’s the part that really disturbed me as a supporter of our local charter school movement. From the charter board’s staff findings:

“DC PCSB staff identified similar instances of noncompliance in SY 2022 – 23 through Effective Organization Meetings (EOM) in November 2022 (Attachment A) and February 2023 (Attachment B), and a special education audit in March 2023 (Attachment D and F). Despite these interventions, SEED PCS remains out of compliance, indicating a patten of repeated violations” (page 2).

If a charter is notified that it is not following the law, and then fails to immediately correct the situation, then a Notice of Concern is inappropriate. This school should have its charter revoked. It appears that the board had information that it failed to act upon.

The situation with Seed echoes the board’s action regarding the closing of Eagle Academy PCS six days before the start of the school year. Clearly, there were signs much earlier that the charter was in financial difficulty. In fact, the sudden shuttering, and failure to allow Friendship PCS to takeover the school, generated a list of 21 questions from D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson to Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis, executive director of the PCSB, most of them revolving around when the charter board realized that the school was short of cash. You can read the inquiries and responses here.

Why is the PCSB failing to act in an expeditious manner when issues with schools arise, and why did the board fail to allow Eagle to continue to operate as a part of Friendship’s network” One education reformer I spoke to about these matters attributed the board’s dysfunction to the fact that Mayor Muriel Bowser no longer consults with the charter community before nominating trustees to serve on the board. The individual stated that the consequence of this process is that board members join who have no knowledge of the sector or the PCSB’s role.

My own take on the situation is that we have a lack of leadership at the PCSB. Early in the sector’s history it had the team of Tom Nida as chair and Josephine Baker as executive director. The pair seemed in perfect harmony regarding their emphasis on quality and growth. The same strategic direction characterized a succession of strong chairs working with executive director Scott Pearson. Now we have a chair who apparently changed her vote to “no” shortly before the board was to decide whether Friendship would get the green light to run Eagle. There is speculation that pressure by Ms. Bowser to reduce the number of elementary school seats in Ward 8 was the reason behind Ms. Lea Crusey’s reversal.

As is said in education, it is time to get back to fundamentals. The same goes for DC Public Charter School Boards mission of quality and growth.

Patricia Brantley, Friendship PCS CEO, remarks at the inaugural DC Charter School Alliance Gala

mlerner10 Charter Schools, DC Charter School Alliance Leave a comment

Last Friday evening Michele and I were honored to be guests at the inaugural gala of the DC Charter School Alliance. On this beautiful night in the nation’s capital Friendship Public Charter School Chief Executive Officer Patricia Brantley was presented with the Dr. Ramona H. Edelin Legacy Award. Her inspirational remarks are below:

I met Ramona Hoage Edelin in the early 90s — 30 years ago at the feet of Dr. Dorothy Irene Height. When Ramona walked in the room, the one thing you knew is that you were in the presence of someone who cared about you before they ever even met you. That was one of my favorite things about working in civil rights with Dr. Height. Ramona cared about us before she ever met us, she cared about every young person. I think that’s why she was one of Dr. Height’s closest confidants, because Height was the same. Dr. Height believed in us and our capacity, our efficacy, our greatness.

To be a young person under their grace and spirit created a long-lasting wind beneath my wings. It’s hard to express what I mean and so you have no idea of the honor that you bestow upon me when you give me an award in the name of Ramona Hoage Edelin. Like each of you, I have moments of doubt about my own work but I know this, even if I am flabbergasted that you would choose me, Ramona believed I was worthy.

In this room today, in this audience, are Friendship people. Now you are all Friendship people to me because anybody who puts their life into children is always part of the Friendship family. But there are those who graduated or are in school under the banner of Friendship here today. I have something to say to you. Every day when I go to work; every moment that I am awake (and I think sometimes when I’m sleeping and dreaming), you are on my mind. You are the reason for what we do and as I do this work, it is with the great and deep hope that I am making you proud. It is with the great and deep hope that you know we always believe in you and your capacity, your efficacy, your greatness, your good spirit. To the rest of you in this room, I will say a word – a quick one as I only have a few minutes after all.

So often I hear talk of “the sector, the sector.” What about the sector?  I get it. Institutions, industries, movements… they are important. But what I appreciate most about many of you in this room is you go beyond talk of sectors and you ask, what about the children?

My sincere personal thanks to Chairman Mendelson for being here today. But I thank you even more so for yesterday when during testimony you asked why aren’t more children being served in these kinds of programs at these kinds of schools? Chairman Mendelson, LaJoy Johnson Law, Maya Martin, Ariel Johnson, Donald L. Hense, Superintendent Christina Grant and Interim Superintendent Mitchell, and all of my Friendship colleagues – too many of you in this room to mention so forgive me for not calling your name –  you understand that this work is about children. 

I know we have to collectively ensure a strong sector, but have no doubt it’s about the children. When I look across LEA leaders like me, I know when you go to work your thoughts are about the children. Yes, there are so many things we have to do — real estate and bonds and financing and employment agreements, compliance and etc., etc., etc. But I’ve never known a leader that’s not doing all of that because they don’t want to be in classrooms sitting with teachers, talking to young people, hearing from families. They do all of that other stuff because they know that the work that we do to align the resources, the talent, the structures and the strategies… in the end, that is work to benefit children.

So if you take away one thing from me and these remarks — and yes I have gone longer than two minutes and my apologies to the Alliance team. I am wrapping it up. 

My heart will always be with the children. Certainly there are those who may not agree with what I say or what I do. Please know this, if it comes down to a decision for these children, our children, DC’s children, that’s the decision I am going to make and we can debate about it. Some of you can vote about it. You can be for it or against it, but whether for or against, we will always stand together as long as it is for the children. 

I will always stand with children because I am a child of Friendship founder Donald L. Hense, of civil rights leader Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, of my mother Patricia Weston Rivera and my father Ramon Rivera and I strive to walk in the walk and the light of Dr. Ramona Hoage Edelin. 

Thank you.