Testimony Before the DC Council Committee of Education at the FY26 Budget Hearing for OSSE

By Vanessa Carlo-Miranda, Founding Executive Director of the Partnership for DC School Excellence

Good morning, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Council. My name is Vanessa Carlo-Miranda, the founding Executive Director of the Partnership for DC School Excellence. I’ve worked in the education field in DC for almost two decades, beginning my career at OSSE on the very day it was established in 2007. During my five-year tenure there, I supported financing programs that helped build or improve charter school facilities. Later, I led efforts to address the District’s high-risk grant status from the Department of Education by building a functional grants management system and ensuring DCPS and charter school compliance with federal rules and regulations.

Following my time at OSSE, I spent the next decade in leadership roles at E.L. Haynes, a Pre-K through 12th-grade charter school in Ward 4, serving first as CFO and then as COO. These experiences gave me firsthand insight into the challenges that both education agencies and schools face. I’m proud to bring that experience to my new role leading the Partnership for DC School Excellence.

The Partnership is a new initiative dedicated to advancing student success by providing strategic, school-centered support to public charter schools in DC. Our mission is to increase student outcomes by creating clear pathways to educational excellence. Our role is to support, amplify, and create the conditions for sustainable, school-led improvement by offering tailored resources that align with each school’s unique strengths, challenges, and opportunities.

We help schools navigate complex issues and implement effective strategies that improve student performance—both in the classroom and within accountability frameworks set by PCSB and OSSE. Our work is guided by a distinguished advisory board that includes Dr. Antoinette Mitchell, Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis, and a diverse group of leaders from charter schools and education organizations across the District.

Unlike OSSE's school improvement work, which focuses on comprehensive support for the city's lowest-performing schools, we aim to provide a range of resources to charter schools that are not yet high-performing but show readiness and potential for improving student outcomes. This proactive approach emphasizes strategic improvement rather than crisis intervention. 

In our pilot year, which has been funded by philanthropy, we will offer three types of support:

First, comprehensive supports are designed as partnership-based opportunities for a limited number of schools that will participate in our pilot program. This includes co-designing and implementing a plan that will improve student outcomes.

Second, we will provide targeted services to help schools connect with curated resources that match their specific needs.

And third, our flexible, collaborative resources will respond to the emerging challenges schools may face.

The Partnership was intentionally designed to complement OSSE's school improvement efforts. We're grateful that Dr. Mitchell serves on our advisory board to ensure alignment between our work and OSSE's priorities. This collaboration is central to our approach.

I look forward to continuing to work with our school leaders, other stakeholders, and you here at the Council to ensure excellence in all our schools. Thank you for the opportunity to introduce the Partnership, and I welcome any questions you may have.