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

By Tami Lewis, Senior Director of Government Affairs

Good morning, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Committee. My name is Tami Lewis, and I've been a Ward 5 resident for over 25 years. I'm the Senior Director of Government Affairs at the DC Charter School Alliance, the local non-profit that advocates on behalf of public charter schools to ensure that every student can choose high-quality public schools that prepare them for lifelong success.

We are grateful for Mayor Bowser's continued investments in education, including the 2.7% increase in the UPSFF, 3.1% increase in the facilities allotment for FY26, the one-time $30.8 million charter educator compensation fund, and ongoing investments in critical education programming within OSSE. While we understand that the city faces a difficult budget and financial outlook, we are concerned that the charter educator compensation grant is one-time funding only, and beginning in FY27, the budget proposes cuts to the UPSFF and a pause in annual charter facilities allotment increases until FY30, while significant additional funding is  provided for DCPS throughout the financial plan. We are eager to continue working with the Council and the Executive to avoid an inequitable funding cliff for our schools next year. 

Today, I want to highlight several areas of ongoing collaboration with OSSE that we continue to strongly support. First is OSSE's ongoing work developing a graduate profile and revising graduation requirements, which will benefit students across the District. 

Second, we strongly support OSSE’s education-to-employment pathways work, including Dual Enrollment Programs and the Advanced Technical Centers. We are grateful for continued funding in FY26 so that the ATCs' great work can expand. Students from eleven public charter high schools have participated in innovative ATC courses which create real opportunities for students’ future career success. 

We also appreciate OSSE's ongoing leadership in improving literacy and math instruction.  Their work to develop and implement structured literacy training available to all educators, high quality instructional materials, and tools has been deeply impactful. We look forward to continuing to build on this successful collaboration. We also want to continue working with OSSE and its Math Task Force to develop recommendations that can serve as a roadmap to achieve rapidly improved math outcomes for our students. 

Lastly, we are pleased that OSSE has continued to prioritize funding for high-impact tutoring (HIT) in FY26 to drive student achievement. Every dollar spent on HIT connects students with the individual support they need to grow in math and literacy. This tutoring continues to be transformative and highly effective. 

The Council's support for OSSE’s vital education programming is all the more important because we face deep uncertainty regarding federal education funding. Dramatic cuts and administrative changes in federal education grants are poised to impact OSSE and all schools in both sectors, creating significant planning challenges for the coming year. In this context, we're thankful for Dr. Mitchell's steady, thoughtful leadership as our new State Superintendent during these unpredictable times. 

We remain committed to working with OSSE and the Council to ensure all DC students receive an excellent education. Thank you for your time and consideration.