Author: mlerner10

D.C. charter board acts as school board

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“The charter authorizer here in D.C. now perceives itself as the school board. They are involved in everything and all that we do is regulated. We have lost ourselves.”

The above words were spoken by Friendship Public Charter School founder, chairman, and chief executive officer Donald Hense at an event last week sponsored by the Center for Education Reform.  At the time I didn’t know the specific acts of the DC Public Charter School Board to which Mr. Hense was referring.  From watching the PCSB for years I gleaned that the charter agreements forged between schools and the regulatory body at the time of charter renewals were often contentious, but this was only conjecture on my part that this is what the Friendship CEO had in mind.  But last night viewing the monthly meeting of the PCSB I realized exactly what he was talking about.

Much of the session was spent discussing the co-location of Lee Montessori PCS with Washington Leadership Academy PCS at St. Paul’s College on Fourth Street, N.E.  The ruling should have been a simple “yes” but because of concerns from nearby residents of the Chancellor’s Row community the proposal turned into a decision akin to whether to drop the bomb.  In fact, the charter board staff met on several occasions directly with homeowners to understand their issues with the proposed facility.  In the end the plan was approved, but not before the PCSB imposed five exceedingly detailed steps that the schools will need to take in order to occupy the site.

If we are to believe that charter school autonomy is something the PCSB guards at every turn as it does its work, then this matter could have been handled in a much different manner.  The schools should develop their own plan, which then would have received a up or down vote.  What I observed last evening was micromanagement of the highest degree.

But its not only the PCSB getting into this act.  Recently, D.C. councilman and chairman of the education committee David Grosso introduced the “Planning Actively for Comprehensive Education Facilities Amendment Act of 2016.”  While this proposed law deals almost exclusively with DCPS, in announcing the legislation Mr. Gosso brought up the issue of a school deciding to open in close proximity to another with the same academic program as something this act will seek to prevent.  Of course, he was referring to the situation in which Harmony PCS located across the street from a DCPS school that shares a STEM focus.  One section of the bill states that any local education agency, which all charter schools are by definition, that does not provide requested information to the government “for the development of a Master Facilities Plan and bi-annual supplement, or to provide the Department of General Services with adequate access to facilities to conduct the annual survey as required” will lose their facility funding.

It looks like charters may need to hire their own attorneys to try to protect their Congressionally authorized freedom to operate independently.

 

The Center for Education Reform’s New Opportunity Agenda

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I had the great fortune to attend a luncheon last Wednesday hosted by the Center for Education Reform held at the stately National Press Club.  The reason that an overflow crowd of about 300 people gathered together was to hear from CER founder and chief executive officer Jeanne Allen about a subject I wrote about a year ago.  Last May, I opined that the pace of school reform has stalled in Washington, D.C.  Ms. Allen has observed that this is not only true in the nation’s capital but around the entire United States.

For example, Ms. Allen informed the audience that following the release 40 years ago of the Reagan administration’s Nation at Risk study with its devastating findings regarding the condition of educational instruction taking place at American schools there were 36 reform laws passed over the nine years between 1991 and 2001.  However, she passionately explained, today one in three third grade students are not proficient in reading, and it appears that no one seems to care.  Of course, what she was stating is perfectly obvious.  If you have followed this cycle’s Presidential election contests at all you will see that the one area that both the candidates on the right and the left can agree on is that education reform in our public schools is an afterthought.

Ms. Allen and her 23 year old organization desperately want to change this dire situation.  To dissect the current environment further, and to make recommendations for improvement, the program proceeded from the CER CEO’s opening remarks to a fascinating panel discussion featuring John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable and former governor of Michigan; Donald Hense, chair, founder, and CEO of Friendship Public Charter School; and David Levin, president and CEO of McGraw-Hill Education.  Anytime you have the opportunity to hear my hero Mr. Hense speak he will not disappoint and this was certainly the case five days ago.  “We have  turned our movement over to people who have not done anything for the last 100 years,” Mr. Hense calmly explained.  “The charter authorizer here in D.C. now perceives itself as the school board. They are involved in everything and all that we do is regulated. We have lost ourselves. We [school reformers] thought we were done and so we hugged each other and applauded. Meanwhile the traditional schools have rearmed.”  He called for expanded school choice whether that means creating options for parents by nonprofit charter management organizations, for-profit CMO’s, or the use of private school vouchers.

The solution for what ails school improvement from the Center for Education Reform’s vantage point is contained in its manifesto that was released at the session entitled “A Movement at Risk.”  It recommends providing greater flexibility in the ability of schools to make decisions for themselves along with the funding to make this a reality, more consumer oriented school choice, and expanded transparency in the information about school performance across the country.  Whether these public policy proposals will improve academic performance of students is, of course, difficult to tell at this point, but based upon the energy and commitment from the people in the room sincere efforts at fixing public education reform are about to be rebooted.

Exclusive interview with Scott Pearson, executive director of the DC PCSB

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I recently had the pleasure of sitting down for a discussion with Scott Pearson, the executive director of the DC Public Charter School Board.  The first question on my list was why his organization is widely recognized as one of the best charter school authorizers in the country.  Mr. Pearson answered without hesitation.  “We are focused on school quality,” he explained.  “In 2011 we introduced the Performance Management Framework tool to measure school performance and at the time it was one of the first such frameworks in the United States.  We have stayed consistently faithful to the PMF and to the charter school agreements that we have reached.”

Part of this concentration on quality, Mr. Pearson indicated, is that the PCSB has steadfastly encouraged growth of high quality schools, supported the replication of high performing schools, and has closed under performing schools.

The second reason for the strong reputation, Mr. Pearson explained, is “our emphasis on transparency in a way that respects charter school autonomy.”  For example, he pointed to the two thirds reduction in school expulsions that have been accomplished without the issuance of one regulation by his group.  According to the PCSB executive director this milestone was reached simply as a result of making information public.  Another example of the same phenomenon, Mr. Pearson detailed, is the PCSB’s mystery shopper initiative.  He related that there was a misconception that charter schools were turning away special education students for admission.  The program has allowed the Board to demonstrate that exactly the opposite is true.

One important outcome of the Board’s data transparency initiative, according to Mr. Pearson, is that information is now widely available showing the strong performance of DC charters performance with every demographic subgroup of students.

Mr. Pearson listed the final attribute of the PCSB that has boosted people’s impression of its work as the quality of the staff.  The executive director asserted that “PCSB’s staff are exceptionally talented.  We have been resolute in creating a culture that is not bureaucratic in nature but instead one that is mission-driven,” he said.  “Everyone at PCSB believes in the power of charter schools to significantly enhance the lives of students, and in the ability of authorizers to positively impact the charter school movement.”

I then wanted to know from Mr. Pearson the current state of charters in the nation’s capital.  Again, he responded almost before I could finish my inquiry.  “It is very strong,” Mr. Pearson exclaimed.  “Every year we see the quality of schools increasing and we see more and more students attending Tier 1 schools.  Our wait lists keep growing.  And this is happening as we operate alongside a reinvigorated DCPS.  Both charter schools and DCPS schools are improving, and parents are noticing.   Over the past seven years we’ve reversed a 50-year trend as enrollment in public schools has increased.  The charter sector is  growing.  DCPS enrollment is going up. This is the first time in over 50 years that the number of kids in public schools is climbing.  Gone is the talk of closing under-enrolled schools.  In fact, many of us think that D.C. will need 50 new schools over the next 10 years.”

Mr. Pearson continued, “There is no question of how far we have come.  We have almost doubled the old DC CAS proficiency rates in reading and math since 2006.  On the NAEP exam, the nation’s report card, where we were once the lowest scoring city in the nation we are now the fastest growing.”

“Charters continue to outperform DCPS students in every subgroup,” Mr. Pearson detailed, “and research from the CREDO Institute at Stanford University has demonstrated that students attending D.C. charters learn an additional 70 to 100 days a year compared to those in the traditional public schools.  But what’s most exciting is that both sectors keep getting better and better.  DCPS’ scores are higher today than charter scores were five years ago.   It’s a very positive dynamic for our city.

I asked Mr. Pearson for the reason that there are not more high quality charter school seats in consideration of the 8,500 individual students on wait lists.  He replied, “At the PCSB we have a strong sense of obligation to grow our highest performing schools.  I firmly believe that great schools are an engine for economic growth of our city, and we’ve approved most of our Tier 1 schools to grow and educate more students.”

But I was searching for a reason from Mr. Pearson about why there is still an insufficient quantity of spaces to meet demand.

“There are several reasons that there has not been more expansion.  Some of it has to do with charters’ internal capacity to add school leaders.  In addition, the facility issue continues to be frustrating for charters.  DCPS currently has about 12 school buildings that are sitting empty.  But with the anticipated demand we are going to need other solutions besides the takeover of surplus buildings.  Recently, there have been a couple of meetings of about 50 individuals involving the CityBridge Foundation, the DC Schools Fund, the Deputy Mayor for Education, city planners, developers, financiers, bankers, and school leaders trying to find ways to ease the facilities challenges our schools face.”

With charters making so much academic progress, I then turned to whether they should replace all traditional schools.  “Not necessarily,” Mr. Pearson asserted.  “Parents choose a school that is the right fit for their child and for their family.  And in making this choice a lot of people prefer having a neighborhood school because the pupils are enrolled with those that live in close proximity to their homes.  Also, the known school feeder patterns provide them a sense of security.  Paradoxically, a strong traditional public school system provides families with more choice, not less.”

Logically then, I postulated whether we were getting to the point where there are too many charters because they could be pulling students away from the neighborhood schools.  The PCSB executive director would have none of this line of reasoning.  “More and more families are moving into the District.  And more families are choosing to stay.  In the past many families left when their child entered school.  That pattern now is very different, particularly at the elementary school level and to some extent for those attending middle school.

“We are nowhere near the state in which we are threatening the viability of DCPS,” Mr. Pearson related. “There is still plenty of room for both types of schools. The more quality school options we offer, the more families will choose to live here.”

With the addition of successful charter management organizations like BASIS, Rocketship, and Democracy Prep coming to D.C., I asked Mr. Pearson if he wanted more high performing CMOs to come to town.  “I used to believe that when I first assumed my position in 2012,” he responded.  “But I came to realize that we have a lot of outstanding home-grown talent here.  Schools like DC Prep, Achievement Prep, Washington Latin, Thurgood Marshall Academy, Friendship, KIPP DC, Eagle Academy, Two Rivers, and all of the bilingual schools, just to name a few; many cities would do anything to have charters such as these.  We need to enable our best schools to teach more students.  We also have to realize that it is no small feat to have a CMO come to our area.  When you look around the country, many quality schools fail when they try and operate outside of their original location.”

I then postulated that some of our local charters would not be approved now if they were to apply because of the board’s emphasis on being “Tier 1 on Day 1.”  Mr. Pearson commented, “We only had two applications for new schools this cycle and we approved one.  The board is looking at our process to see if there is a way to encourage more submissions.  We want it to be a rigorous application process but it is a balance to make sure we are not discouraging people from trying to open new schools.  Our challenge is to tolerate some risk but to also mitigate the chances for failure.”

The final area of inquiry I approached Mr. Pearson about is whether charters should be allowed to have neighborhood admission preferences.  Here the PCSB executive director became philosophical.  “I have personally evolved on this issue.  I used to be strongly against it.  Our city-wide system of choice has allowed us to transcend neighborhood patterns,” he related.  “But a neighborhood preference could spur development by attracting families to a particular area of town.  Some school leaders have indicated to me that they have purposely opened in a particular Ward, such as 7 or 8, because their mission is to serve the low income children residing there.  In addition, it may make it easier for a charter to open in a locality if it is allowed to serve the kids residing in the surrounding blocks.  Also, many parents want their offspring going to school near home.  For some of our most disadvantaged families having to travel long distances for their children’s school is expensive.  Although kids now ride free on the buses and subways this is not true for the adult students.  It also may be impossible to pull off time-wise based upon work and life schedules.

It may be that with safeguards to protect against segregation and the blocking of access to high quality schools for those less fortunate, it could work.  But this is a highly complicated subject and our first priority must be to ensure that a neighborhood preference doesn’t freeze out kids who can’t afford to live in the neighborhood.  It is my understanding that D.C. Council member and education committee chairman David Grosso is seeking to explore school enrollment patterns.  Let’s see what comes out of that effort.”

D.C. Council passes law to prevent another Community Academy PCS

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Last week the D.C. Council amended the School Reform Act of 1995 in an attempt to prevent the kind of financial mismanagement that plagued the Dorothy I. Height Community Academy Public Charter School.  The legislation was sought by the DC Public Charter School Board’s executive director Scott Pearson in the aftermath of the closing of Community Academy PCS and another charter, Options PCS, that was also shuttered last year amidst serious issues regarding the use of public funds.  The law was drafted with the input of schools and FOCUS.

Mr. Pearson had complained publicly that although his organization had the power to examine the revenue and spending records of charters it lacked the same authority when it came to charter management organizations.  Remember that what got CAPCS into so much trouble was the exorbitant salaries being paid to Mr. Kent Amos, his wife, and stepson for services his management company claimed it was providing while the school also hired staff to accomplish the same duties.  Now, as a result of the new four-page law, the PCSB can review the books of “an organization that has a contract to provide management or educational services to a public charter school to which the eligible chartering authority has granted a charter when the annual value of the payments to the organization is equal to or exceeds 10% of the school’s annual revenue” or when “the total revenues of the organization derived from any public charter school in the District exceeds 25% of the organization’s total revenue.”

The Public Charter School Fiscal Transparency Amendment Act of 2015 also specifies when a conflict of interest exists between a charter and an entity with which it enters into a contract for services, and the reporting requirements of this conflict to the PCSB.  The language is identical to standard conflict of interest policies already in place in many charter schools.

What is not clear is if this bill would have prevented the situation uncovered at Options PCS.  Certainly the money being paid to the two companies that stole money from the school could have met the requirements under the law for contract review.  However, you have to remember that at that time Jeremy Williams was working for the PCSB as its chief financial officer, and was hiding information about Options spending arrangements from his superiors while simultaneously serving on Option’s board of directors.    He then went on to work for one of the companies involved in the theft.  Perhaps in a highly unusual situation like this there is no way to uncover the criminal activities of exceedingly unethical individuals.

 

 

Saba Bireda confirmed as new member of DC charter board

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Last Tuesday, the D.C. Council confirmed Mayor Bowser’s nominee Saba Bireda to a four year term on the DC Public Charter School Board, replacing Barbara Nophlin.  Ms. Bireda appears to be a solid choice.  She is a Ward 8 resident who currently serves as senior counsel at the U.S. Department of Education.  Ms. Bireda’s education includes a B.A. in English and political science from Stanford University and a law degree from Harvard.

Ms. Bireda began her professional life as a teacher at Sousa Middle School here in the District of Columbia, where she worked for a couple of years.  She has practiced law in a variety of settings, but then stepped into the think tank world as an education policy analyst at the Center for American Progress.  Among other positions the new PCSB member has held was as deputy director for the Poverty and Race Research Action Council, a policy and legal advisor for EducationCouncil LLC, and a senior counsel at the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.  She has also been an adjunct faculty member for the University of the District of Columbia School of Law.

Dr. Darren Woodruff, chairman of the PCSB, testified in his support of Ms. Bireda’s nomination before the D.C. Council Education Committee that he found her “passionate about improving neighborhoods across the District by improving schools and also in ensuring that all students, regardless of race, gender, or economic circumstances, receive the best possible education.”

You can’t ask for a better recommendation.  At the same hearing Committee Chairman Grosso announced that another nominee for the PCSB would be coming from Ms. Bowser shortly.

 

The Chavez PCS 5th Annual Public Policy Symposium

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Yesterday, was an emotionally charged day for me as I attended the 5th Annual Public Policy Symposium for the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy.  It had special meaning for a couple of reasons.  First, I started my involvement in D.C.’s charter school movement almost 20 years ago as a volunteer tutor at Chavez before quickly joining its board of directors.  I had been to many student thesis presentations during that period.  The second reason that this event was significant was that it was held in the spectacularly ornate Healy Hall and Gaston Hall Auditorium at Georgetown University.  It was from exactly this stage in 2012 and 2013 that I addressed the scholars of Washington Latin PCS as board chair during this school’s first two high school graduations.  A chill went down my spine as I saw in attendance Dr. Darren Woodruff, chair of the DC Public Charter School Board.  He had handed out diplomas to the students during one of those Washington Latin ceremonies.

The symposium began with a welcome from Chris Murphy, vice president for government relations and community engagement at Georgetown.  In fact, this setting was a perfectly appropriate place due to the University’s special relationship with D.C.’s Ward 7 where Chavez’s Parkside Campus is located.  Georgetown is heavily involved in supporting the D.C. Promise Neighborhood Initiative in which Chavez PCS plays an important part.  Volunteers from the Georgetown campus are engaged with D.C. Reads, a program that works with seven public schools and one community center in the area.  Georgetown students also participate in Ward 7 Martin Luther King, Jr. Day activities and the Community Service Day program at the University which helps people living in that neighborhood.  Mr. Murphy mentioned that all of these efforts are consistent with the University’s mission of helping others.

The energetic Chavez PCS chief executive officer Joan Massey was then introduced, who proclaimed the Public Policy Symposium her favorite day of the year.  She quickly brought to the podium David Johns, the executive director of the White House Initiative on Academic Excellence for African-Americans.  Mr. Johns is obviously a passionate individual.  He revealed to the audience that he had given up a trip to Italy to be here today.  He felt that it was too important to miss.  It turns out that Mr. Johns has a special relationship with the charter; Ms. Massey described him as “their angel.”  In his moving remarks Mr. Johns wholeheartedly thanked the students, teachers, and parents of Chavez for their unwavering commitment to a high quality education even when times are tough and at these particular moments school is not at the top of their priority list.  His speech made an instant sincere connection with everyone in the room.  It was clear that if it were up to Mr. Johns all of these students would go on to college and then to jobs at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

We had then reached the point when it was time for Erik Jones, Chavez thesis teacher and symposium moderator, to introduce the student presenters.  In the order in which they appeared, Alexys Hewlett, enrolled in the Parkside Campus, spoke on the topic of residential segregation; Nicolas Villarroel, attending the Capitol Hill Campus, covered the Syrian Refugee Crisis; and Brenda Guevera-Ortiz, also from Capitol Hill, discussed access to college for undocumented students.

I have to admit I don’t know how to adequately pay tribute to what I observed.  Each of these professionally attired young men and women lectured for about 20 minutes as if these were Ted Talks.  Accompanied by clearly laid out PowerPoints, they explained their material in a uniform outline format which included background, controversy, and alternative sections.  A long list of references were provided at the end of the decks.  All you really have to know to visualize the afternoon is that immediately after Ms. Hewlett started she was unable to automatically advance the slides.  With the calm cool that accompanies someone who does this type of public speaking for a living, she simply waited until help arrived to solve the technical issue.  She then picked up right where she left off as if nothing had transpired.  When it was Mr. Villarroel’s turn to address the guests, he tested the operation of the software first as if he was about to reveal his business plan for his brand new company.

We were witnessing the culmination of a year’s work by these students which were summations of their individual 20 to 30 page senior thesis papers.  I was most impressed with the ability of these pupils to explain equally both sides of the argument around the issues they had selected, and their skill in detailing and supporting their proposed public policy remedies. These were not superficial conversations about current day controversies.  They were three sophisticated in depth investigations of serious world problems whose solutions have major consequences.  So much progress has been made at Chavez PCS over last two decades.  It was enough to make you cry.

 

 

 

 

The E.L Haynes PCS 5th annual Toast to Transformation

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Last Thursday evening my wife Michele and I had the fortune to attend the E.L. Haynes Public Charter School Toast to Transformation event, held as it has been traditionally at the LongView Gallery on 9th Street, N.W.  Much has changed since the last time I was fortunate enough to join this celebration.  Jennie Niles, the city’s Deputy Mayor for Education, was on hand.  Ms. Niles is of course the founder and past executive director of E.L. Haynes.  Hilary Darilek, who is now the chief executive officer for the charter and someone I recently interviewed, was the master of ceremonies for the formal program.  I also had the opportunity to speak with Abigail Smith.  She was the Deputy Mayor for Education the last time I was here; Ms. Smith is now the chair of the E.L. Haynes Board of Directors.  I have to admit that she looks much more relaxed now compared to the previous occasion in which we were in the same room.

The Toast to Transformation is really a party in which open bars and food stations appear everywhere you go in the space.  Waiters bring plentiful appetizers to the guests.  Early on I ran into Dr. Ramona Edelin, the executive director of the D.C. Alliance of Public Chartered Schools.  She was only too excited to tell me that the fight to raise the financial floor of the annual charter school facility fund is definitely not over with the passage of the Mayor’s 2017 fiscal year budget.  The goal, Dr. Edelin stated, is to increase this revenue level 2.2 percent from its current amount and then tie enhancements to this number to inflation.  Based upon her determination I had the sense that in the not too distant future her objective would become a reality.

Moving toward the entrance I had the fantastic opportunity to meet Soliyana Seyoum, an eighth grader who was demonstrating the results of her science project along with other scholars who were doing the same with other guests regarding their own work.  She had investigated what type of dance shoe was most amenable to performing a ballet pirouette.   In an enthusiastic and perfectly articulate manner she explained that she had looked at four different possibilities including bare feet.  Ms. Seyoum’s hypothesis was that ballet shoes would provide the most support but in the end it turned out that tap shoes were the clear winner.

After a stimulating performance by the elementary school’s choir, Ms. Darilek took the stage.  I continue to be extremely impressed with her as E.L. Hayne’s representative.  She comes across as such a sincere and caring individual.  Ms. Darilek spoke proudly of some of the accomplishments of her student body.  “In only six months,” she stated, “I’ve already seen so much – a group of high school students’ award-winning National History Day presentation on the 1963 Birmingham church bombing, our high school Robotics team’s competition-winning robot that is here with us tonight, middle school science fair projects on friction, perception, and the effects of video games on memory; and, our youngest students in pre-K teaching me about impressionist art.  I learn from our students every day and hope you did tonight as well. They will reach high levels of academic achievement with all of our support, and so much more. Thank you to E.L. Haynes teachers and leaders – many of you are here in the room – for making these opportunities a reality for our students.”

The high performing charter then honored John “Skip” McKoy for his years of support for all schools in Washington, D.C. through his service on the D.C. Public Charter School Board, which he chaired for a couple of years, and through his role as director of programmatic initiatives at Fight for Children.  Mr. McKoy paid perhaps the highest compliment to the institution when he emphatically exclaimed that E.L Haynes “is raising confident, competent, and contributing young people who represent the rich variety of DC’s urban demographic, with the skills base to become tomorrow’s effective global citizens.”

Most fittingly, the next speaker was Ariela Garcia-Queche, a senior who has been with the school since the third grade.  Ms. Queche explained that through the outstanding preparation E.L. Haynes has provided she will attend college next year at Salisbury University in Maryland to study nursing.  I now understand perfectly why this event is called a Toast to Transformation.

 

 

 

Federal law replacing No Child Left Behind appears to be a mess

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Today, the Washington Post’s Emma Brown reports on the U.S. Department of Education’s draft regulations implementing the Every Students Succeeds Act, the law that replaced No Child Left Behind.  It appears that these rules are the best most recent example of why the federal government should not have a role in public education.

The legislation still requires that schools test children in reading and math in grades three through eight and once in high school.  But educational institutions can also include other measures that would impact the one letter grade that the school receives.  For instance, the ranking can be impacted by, according to Ms. Brown, whether advanced course work is available and how many students are chronically absent.  The report card would also have to reveal “data on per-pupil expenditures; the percentage of students enrolled in preschool programs; the rate at which high school graduates go on to enroll in higher education; and the percentage of English learners who become proficient in the language.”  Look for other factors to gradually seep in including parental and student satisfaction scores and the availability of after school clubs.

The problem here is that so much of the information that is going to be required to be shared can easily be manipulated by local school districts.  For example,  the CATO Institute’s Adam Schaeffer demonstrated years ago that public school systems uniformly underestimate the amount of money it costs them to educate a child, often by a factor of 50 percent.   In other words we have now gone from a system in which schools are assessed on objective data to one in which subjective judgements will be made.  How much of the letter grade that is left up to interpretation will most likely not be revealed to parents.

It is obvious that in an effort to junk a law that no one really liked we have replaced it with a tremendous mush created by committee.  No wonder the Founders excluded Congress from having a part in regulating public education in the U.S. Constitution.  It appears that they knew exactly what they were doing.

The Fight for Children Annual School Luncheon

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Yesterday, I had the distinct pleasure of attending Fight for Children’s Annual School Luncheon which was a celebration of the schools that have joined this organization’s efforts to improve early childhood education in the nation’s capital.  For those who may not know, Fight for Children, though its Joe’s Champs program,  is now working with 29 schools teaching 4,100 students ages three through eight, 84 percent of whom quality for free or reduced cost meals.  Joe’s Champs is of course named for Fight for Children’s founder Joseph E. Robert, Jr. who passed away at the end of 2011.

You can tell the stature of any non-profit in this town by who is in attendance at its events, and by this standard Fight for Children is obviously at the pinnacle.  Mayor Bowser was there as well as all of Washington D.C.’s leaders in public education.  These included my friend DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson, Public Charter School Board executive director Scott Pearson, PCSB deputy director Naomi Rubin DeVeaux, State Superintendent of Education Hanseul Kang, and Deputy Mayor for Education Jennie Niles. 

When you arrived at the picturesque Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center’s Pavilion Room the lobby was filled with placards honoring the seven schools that comprise the first cohort of Joe’s Champs schools that joined the effort in 2013.  These include DC Bilingual PCS, Chamberlain Elementary Campus Friendship PCS, Southeast Elementary Academy Friendship PCS, Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom PCS, Potomac Prep PCS, Ingenuity Prep PCS, and Powell Elementary.  I immediately met Marsha McLean, one of the eight Joe Champs school mentors.  Ms. McLean enthusiastically explained that she has been with the program since its inception, paired with the Chamberlain and Woodridge Elementary Campuses of Friendship PCS.  She described her excitement in working with the principals and assistant principals of these institutions, bringing resources and coaching to their instruction of pre-Kindergarten students.  We even discussed our mutual respect for Friendship’s founder Donald Hense.  In fact, I was able to speak to several of the mentors gathered for this occasion, and I have to say that if even half of their energy is absorbed by these young scholars then there are universities in this country that are going to have to find some extra spaces for their new eager undergraduates.

I was greeted warmly as usual by Fight For Children’s president and chef executive officer Michela English.  Standing next to her was chief operating officer Keith Gordon.  I have been observing Mr. Gordon for a year now and I don’t think I’ve met anyone who smiles more than he does.  It is abundantly clear that he has ever had a bad day.  Mr. Gordon related that there was interesting news that would be coming out of today’s event.

The meal started with a performance by about 16 three and four year olds from Elsie Whitlow Stokes.  The extremely well-behaved students performed a couple of songs for the crowd, in French.  I never repeat myself but I will here.  These were 16 three and four year olds singing to the audience in French.

Ms. Bowser then addressed the crowd and congratulated Fight for Children for the group’s 26 years of helping to transform public education in Washington, D.C.   It is a crucial endeavor.  The luncheon’s program states that even after the city’s two decades of school reform 75 percent of third graders are still not proficient in reading and math.  This is why Fight for Children, with its nine staff members and budget of about $7 million a year, is trying to ensure that “every third grader has the necessary foundation to succeed in school.”

Next on the program was a fascinating panel interview of three Joe’s Champ’s school leaders moderated by ABC7 and News Channel 8 Anchor Jummy Olabanji.  This is the second consecutive year Ms. Olabanji has been the master of ceremonies, and joining her on stage were Anna Hickman from Ingenuity Prep PCS, Khabria Hundley representing the Chamberlain Campus of Friendship PCS, and Kira Moore of Powell Elementary.  There were many highlights of this discussion for me including the detailing of the Joe’s Champ training around Professional Learning Communities, which I understood to be a description of a highly engaging form of professional development that includes monthly discussions among teachers of public policy, research, and practices around early childhood education.  Ms. Moore spoke of a project methodology to teaching her kids which is driven by the students’ interests.  The astounding result, she informed us, are children that will not stop asking questions.  She portrayed it as bringing about”a culture of wonder” to the classroom.  Ms. Hickman informed us of the collaboration between the pre-K and Kindergarten classes at her school, with five year olds visiting the younger pupils to explain the fascinating things they would be learning in their first year of elementary school.

The program concluded with Ms. English making the announcement that Joe’s Champs is now ready to graduate to Version 2.0.  The Fight for Children CEO revealed that the program would expand beyond early childhood instruction and now assist students up to the third grade.  The first group of three extraordinary fortunate facilities to take part in this enhancement, Ms. English disclosed, are DC Bilingual, Elsie Whitlow Stokes, and Friendship’s Chamberlain.  The audience wasted no time in expressing their universal approval of her declaration through ecstatic applause.

 

 

 

 

We have lost some tremendous school choice heroes

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A week ago Monday I attended a perfectly hosted event by the CATO Institute celebrating the life of Andrew Coulson.  For ten years Mr. Coulson was the director of the organization’s Center for Educational Freedom.  He died at the age of just 48 on February 7, 2016 from a brain tumor.

Mr. Coulson was best known for his book Market Education: The Unknown History which he wrote in 1999.  Executive vice-president David Boaz reminded those in attendance that Bill Gates quit school to form Microsoft while Mr. Coulson left Microsoft to reform schools.  I knew him for his pioneering effort to better understand the real cost of educating children attending DCPS.  Most people assumed as true that the number was around $15,000 a student a year.  Mr. Coulson showed that the statistic was really double that amount.  No one was ever able to refute his claim.

Mr. Coulson started his career in public policy at the Mackinac Center.  There he worked with Joe Overton, a friend of mine who was another pioneer in the school choice movement.  Mr. Overton passed away at age 43 in 2003 when a plane he was piloting crashed to the ground.  His revolutionary work in education revolved around the use of the Universal Tuition Tax Credit as an alternative to the often negative perceptions associated with private school vouchers.  But I knew Mr. Overton best for the steady ethical advice he provided to me about my own career.

The same illness that overcame Mr. Coulson claimed the life of Joseph E. Robert, Jr.  For years it appeared that it was only Mr. Robert’s indomitable will that led to the continued operation of the Opportunity Scholarship Program, the federal plan that provides private school tuition for kids living in poverty in Washington, D.C.  We may never really understand why this man who was able to generate so much income during his 59 years decided to give so much of it away to those less fortunate than himself.

Besides the commonalities that all three of these men’s existences ended much earlier than they should have, and that each fought for better educational opportunities for the most vulnerable individuals, they also shared an often all-encompassing love of life.  We saw an excellent example of that in a video presented at the CATO tribute regarding Mr. Coulson in which you could hear him laughing throughout the five minute presentation.  I had the chance to play tennis with Mr. Overton who demonstrated the identical outlook evident in his strong will to win. Anyone who had the chance to attend one Fight Night Gala witnessed firsthand the same quality in Mr. Robert.

It is in honor of these gentleman’s bold legacies and their enthralling love of life that we must continue to fiercely advocate for equal opportunity in public education for those who are the poorest among us.