MAYORAL CONTROL AND ITS IMPACT ON D.C. PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – In 2007, D.C. Public Schools were in turmoil. Test scores were on the decline and students were dropping out.  Various strategies were implemented including the appointment of a retired army general to take the lead. However, nothing led to the educational outcomes the students of the nation’s capital needed.  It was then that the D.C. Council voted 9 to 2 for change. New guidance and leadership were deemed as necessary, and the D.C. Board of Education was deprived of its decision-making powers. These powers would now go to one person and one person alone, the D.C. Mayor.

For 13 years now, the public school system of Washington, D.C. has continued under mayoral control. And since 2007, growth has been made. According to D.C. Public Schools data, the graduation rate has increased from a dismal 48.8% in 2006, to 68.2% as of 2019. Academic gains have also been noted, 23% of elementary aged students were deemed as proficient in math in 2006, compared to over 32% in 2019.

However, with ongoing school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, critical community voices, including those in the D.C. Council and Washington Teachers Union are growing louder. Many are calling for the reign of mayoral control in the city’s public schools to come to an end.

Calls for community voice

Valerie Jablow has been a D.C. Public Schools parent for fifteen years. She is also a blogger and has written extensively on the topic of mayoral control.  Jablow says that, “mayoral control in my experience has been a disaster for the public voice.” She added that there is a “vast gulf between people in charge of schools and the public.”

Prior to 2007, D.C. students, teachers and parents were able to go before the elected members of the D.C. Board of Education to address concerns or questions related to schooling. There was direct access to those in leadership. Jablow says that with the switch to mayoral control, that direct access has dissipated.  The D.C. Board of Education transitioned to its current status as an advisory board, and decisions continue to be made by current mayor, Muriel Bowser and her agencies. Mayor-run agencies like that of the Office of the Deputy Mayor of Education, that are often difficult to get in touch with and lack a connection to the issues facing those on the ground in schools.

Allyson Criner-Brown is also a D.C. Public Schools parent and lives in Ward 8. Speaking at EmpowerEd’s Virtual Summit on Mayoral Control on Saturday Dec. 5, Criner-Brown said that access to power and representation are the greatest challenges under mayoral control.

“The system is not set up to give parents a voice. There are so many issues that parents on the ground see and who is representing their voice to leadership? How do you get access?” Criner-Brown asked. While a single point of accountability is often cited as a benefit of mayoral control, reaching the office of the mayor is a continued challenge.

This lack of access was echoed by student representative for the D.C. State Board of Education, 11th grader Alex O’Sullivan. O’Sullivan also spoke at EmpowerEd’s Virtual Summit and highlighted the challenges he’s faced in his role. “Mayoral control has been inhibiting my ability to get real change for other students.” he said. O’Sullivan spoke on attendance tracking challenges students are facing in virtual learning, “all the students know what the issue is, it’s impossible to know who to contact because there are all these agencies within the government that actually control the matter.”

This lack of community voice is cited frequently by critics, who say the top-down approach to operating schools is authoritarian and stifles community collaboration.

Mayoral control in the age of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent school closures have only exasperated the call from critics for a change in D.C. school leadership.  Reopening plans have been prioritized by Mayor Bowser, as elementary literacy data has shown that virtual learning is causing students, particularly those in low-income neighborhoods, to fall further behind.

However, her now failed November school reopening plan to welcome back some 7,000 elementary aged students, was met with almost immediate backlash from city council members and D.C. Public School families. Many felt the plan was rushed and created with almost no feedback from community members.

One such critical voice was that of D.C. At-Large Councilmember Robert White. Councilmember White also spoke at EmpowerEd’s Virtual Summit. White said, “Teachers, council members and parents…we all found out that there was a school reopening plan in the mayor’s press conference. And we didn’t even know it was coming.”

Bowser’s plan, led by her appointee School Chancellor Dr. Lewis Ferebee, featured no asymptomatic COVID-19 testing protocol nor guidance on who would be staffing in-person learning hubs due to limited teacher availability. Problems that community members say could have been addressed had they been given a seat at the table.

In an October statement ,Washington Teacher’s Union President Elizabeth Davis, who represents the city’s public-school teachers, said that there has been a lack of communication between the Mayor’s office and those directly impacted by school reopening plans,

“The Mayor and Chancellor Ferebee have failed to share the details of what COVID 19 safety

measures have been instituted in each school. Their secrecy is a major part of our concern.”

President Davis said she had no knowledge of the district’s school reopening plans prior to the

mayor’s announcement to the public. The Washington Teacher’s Union subsequently filed a

lawsuit against D.C. Public Schools with the labor board, due to the district’s lack of negotiating.

The Union won their lawsuit, and the district has yet to reopen public schools fully for students.

President Davis continued in her statement, “While our teachers want to return to our classrooms and resume in-person learning, we can only do so when it is safe and when the Mayor and Chancellor have come to the table to work with us.”

A look to the future

Mayoral control has become a popular solution for struggling urban school districts across the nation.  The New York City Department of Education and Chicago Public Schools are both overseen by their city’s mayors, and despite vocal pushback,  both have seen educational gains as a result. Despite community criticism, D.C. Public Schools have followed this trend and seen improvements as well.

According to D.C. Public Schools,  school enrollment continues to increase, evidence that Bowser says proves that the public trusts her leadership.  D.C. Public Schools have also been deemed the fastest improving urban school district due to growth in 4th grade reading, 4th grade math, and 8th grade math. In a statement, Mayor Bowser said, “Going forward, we will continue to invest in and prioritize our schools…In doing so, we can close the achievement gap, remain a national model for educational progress…”

In spite of this growth, President Davis says she hopes for change in school leadership and the opportunity for more robust collaboration. Speaking at EmpowerEd’s Virtual Summit, Davis said she hopes to one day have, “an elected school board that will have the authority to make decisions and that will give voice back to teachers, educators, parents, and community stake holders.”

A shift that would require approval by the D.C. Council and clear evidence of leadership failure by the Mayor’s Office.