Testimony of Suzanne Wells

President, Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization

            Thank you for the opportunity to testify today.

            The Ward 6 Public Schools Parent Organization (W6PSPO) met on March 21, 2023, to discuss the school budgets for FY24.  Out of 13 schools, five received increases to their budgets averaging $335K with a median gain of $252K.  Eight schools received cuts to their budgets averaging $167K with a median loss of $142K.

            Seven of the eight schools that lost funding had to cut positions such as classroom teachers, social workers and specials teachers like PE and music. We all know uncertainty over funding from year to year contributes to teacher turnover, and a lack of stability at schools.

            The city’s budget for next year is bleaker than it has been in many years.  The combination of the end of the covid relief funding along with the declining tax revenues means the city has difficult choices to make in terms of funding for many important programs.  We realize it becomes increasingly hard to make schools whole when there are so many other programs to fund. Yet, the sense of our group was that many schools still are not getting the funding they need to fully staff their schools, and cover inflation and teacher salary increases. 

            In a difficult budget situation, it means every dollar has to be wisely used.  For DC, we must focus holistically on the DCPS budget and the charter sector budgets.  Today our education dollars are spread very thinly across 249 schools (135 are public charter schools), and we pay for the management of 69 separate school systems (DCPS is just one of the 69 school systems).  We have 37 high schools in the city today many with small enrollments, and competing for a limited number of students. This is a very expensive way to run a school system, and it is hurting all children and in particular those most at-risk, because we are not able to fully fund our existing schools.

As incredible as this sounds, for close to thirty years, there has been no planning between DCPS and the PCSB on the opening of new schools.  Both DCPS and the PCSB are continuing to open new schools or expanding capacity at existing schools.  This lack of planning has resulted in over 30,000 empty seats across both sectors.  Empty seats are most often found at the schools with the most at-risk students and they are the ones hurt the most when the city spreads its education dollars thinly across too many schools.

            The Council has an important role to play in oversight of both DCPS and the charter sector.  We can’t continue to address the budget problems facing schools by throwing more dollars at the problem.  As difficult as it is going to be, we must find a way to better align our schools with the number of students the city has.  We must find a way to better support our by-right public school system.  And, we must stop opening new schools across both sectors without careful analysis of enrollment trends and needs.

Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Betsy Wolf, and I will have 3 kids at Amidon-Bowen next year. I wasn’t the only Amidon-Bowen parent signed up to testify today, but I’m the only one who can make it given work commitments. I want to start by noting that holding the hearings during the work day is difficult for most parents to attend, and only parents with the most flexible work schedules can be here.

In the FY24 DCPS budget, Amidon-Bowen saw a slight increase, and after facing staffing cuts for many consecutive years, we are grateful and relieved. But we also recognize that the allocated resources are not enough.

First, DCPS adds a new program each year that requires our staff to do more. Last year, it was a new CES (autism) program when we did not have a single staff member trained in that area. This year, it is the construction of a new daycare center at the school which was not done in collaboration with the community. This new center requires more work and oversight for school administration, as well as more work for unpaid parent volunteers who are now tasked with locking and unlocking the playground on the weekends and trying to hold DCPS accountable. We need to move away from the model of DCPS and the city doing things TO school communities and towards a model where the city works WITH the school community to make things better.  

Second, many of our students are still dealing with trauma in the aftermath of covid-19. The school is doing the best they can with what they have, but there is still a need that is not being met, which has real and multi-year consequences for the school.

Third, there is continued and critical need to focus on the whole child, instead of just focusing on programs that improve test scores. Amidon-Bowen is a wonderful place for this, with a robust sports and music program led by veteran teachers, and the opportunity to participate in FRESHFARM FoodPrints. Years ago, parents at Amidon-Bowen wanted their children to be able to participate in FoodPrints, but we couldn’t afford it because the PTA could not cover the cost. We ask that the city continue to provide funding for FoodPrints to allow equitable access to the program. My eldest child has been nagging me to make one of the FoodPrints recipes, and my second child smuggles fresh vegetables home in her bookbag. I take these signs to mean that the program is working.

In summary, it’s great that we didn’t have our FY24 budget slashed. Yet we’re still got a long way to go. Last spring, about one in five of our 3^rd-5^th grade students scored proficient on the PARCC in English language arts, and only one in ten in math. This doesn’t mean the school is failing or underperforming – on the contrary, the school works hard to improve student learning and enhance student well-being. But there are so many inequities baked into the system that affect student achievement. We need to recognize that, and allocate resources accordingly.