Testimony Before the DC Council Committee of the Whole at the Performance Oversight Hearing on DCPCSB, UDC, SBOE, OSA, OOPE, and DCSAA
By Anne Herr, Senior Director of School Development and Accountability, DC Charter School Alliance
Good morning, Chairman Mendelson and members of the Committee. My name is Anne Herr, and I am a long-time Ward 1 resident and the Senior Director of School Development and Accountability 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.
I want to start by sharing our appreciation for the city’s education agencies here today and thank them for their partnership with the DC Alliance and our schools. I especially want to highlight their hard work to support overall student success, both inside and outside the classroom. Before I go on, I want to note that I’ve provided more detail in my written testimony on our partnership with each agency.
DC Public Charter School Board
The multitude of options for families and students is one of the key strengths of the District’s education system. A primary reason why the District has developed and sustained so many valuable education options is because of the DC Public Charter School Board (PCSB). We’re grateful for the PCSB’s role as the city’s independent authorizer of public charter schools, which is critical to a strong, stable, and high-performing sector.
The DC Alliance and our schools regularly partner on a variety of issues to support students and families across the District. And the PCSB provides critical support and services necessary to keep schools safe and well-functioning. For example, PCSB has supported our schools with essential programs and supplies, including covering the costs of lead testing in every school’s water supplies and costs associated with maintaining automated external defibrillators (AEDs). We’re also grateful for the PCSB’s collaboration with the DC Alliance to transition to a new system supporting background checks for educators and other school staff.
I also want to highlight the incredibly valuable work PCSB does to hold charter schools accountable. PCSB has engaged the DC Alliance and our member schools in an extensive, multi-year process to update their accountability framework. While we don’t necessarily agree with every element of these proposals, we’re grateful to Dr. Michelle Walker-Davis and her staff for engaging the entire community in their role as the independent agency providing oversight to the District’s public charter schools.
Finally, I want to lift up the incredibly important work PCSB has done to implement and manage the equitable access preference so more students designated “at risk” have access to spaces in high-quality schools. Charter school leaders pushed to create the equitable access preference to better serve our city’s most vulnerable students, and the policy has been a resounding success in its first two years. According to a recent report from the D.C. Policy Center, “most schools implementing the [Equitable Access] Preference experienced an increase in the percent of students who are at-risk in their entry grades” and eight of the schools that had the lowest 1 percentage of students designated at-risk “increased the share of at-risk students in their entry grade to an average of 29 percent.” (1)
Additionally, the D.C. Policy Center reported that “applications from at-risk applicants to [Equitable Access Preference] schools increased by two and half times between the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years,” (2) indicating that families are eager to take advantage of this option. We hope to continue our work with the District to ensure this option is well-publicized and echo the requests of the parents at PAVE who’ve indicated additional support is necessary to help families engage in the process by creating education navigators or other community resources. We also know that transportation continues to be a barrier for many families in accessing high-quality schools, which is why we hope to work together to continue improving access to reliable and safe transportation.
Accountability, Autonomy, and Innovation
Our leaders pushed for the equitable access preference because prioritizing equitable outcomes for the District’s most vulnerable students is a top priority for charter schools. Our schools work tirelessly to hold themselves accountable for ensuring students furthest from opportunity achieve success. As we shared in the December Public Oversight Hearing on Academic Achievement in the District of Columbia, schools like Harmony Public Charter School, Perry Street Prep, The Social Justice School, and Washington Global relied on a number of targeted interventions to provide students the support they need to close the achievement gap. Others, like Friendship Public Charter School and DC Prep, focused intently on developing, evaluating, and retaining high-quality educators leading classroom instruction as a central strategy in closing the gap. These schools saw strong growth on the most recent PARCC assessment as they continue on the path toward academic recovery.
Charter schools’ autonomy allows leaders to innovate and create incredible programming that drives growth and achievement and provides amazing opportunities for their students. For example, Sojourner Truth School, Howard University Middle School, and Statesmen College Prep Academy for Boys all have in-seat attendance rates of over 90%, which is impressive for middle schools. This is because their programming appeals to students. Sojourner Truth’s Montessori model gives students the opportunity to develop their own learning plan that includes real-world projects on topics that interest them. Howard University Middle School for Mathematics and Science installed a CTE lab with e-sports gaming consoles, which is both exciting for students and builds valuable skills. And Statesmen provides global learning opportunities for both 7th and 8th graders through trips to Europe and South Africa. Other LEAs have made intentional changes to their calendar to ensure staff have much-deserved opportunities to rest after spending countless hours in the school building. For example, Monument Academy, which had one of the highest teacher retention rates between school year 2022-23 and 2023-24 (85%), starts its school year in early August so they can offer optional enrichment camps to students each trimester. Camp weeks are paid time off (breaks) for staff. Staff can alternatively choose to work at camp and receive a stipend.
We're also very excited about plans for a city-wide Math Hub, an initiative of our partners at EmpowerK12. The Math Hub will serve as a catalyst for evidence-based teaching strategies, professional development, and enhanced student outcomes. A comprehensive "State of DC Math" report will be released in March. We look forward to a citywide Math Summit for instructional leaders in April.
State Board of Education
I want to also thank the State Board of Education (SBOE) for engaging our schools and the community around its important work addressing challenges District students face in receiving a high-quality education. I especially want to uplift President Eboni-Rose Thompson and Vice President Dr. Jacques Patterson for their leadership in convening parents and school leaders to address critical education issues like teacher retention and chronic absenteeism as well as their work on the DC School Report Card. And, we’re incredibly appreciative of Ward 2 SBOE member Allister Chang for his leadership, in partnership with OSSE, on the Early Literacy Task Force.
Other Education Agencies
Finally, I would like to briefly touch on the other education agencies and share our appreciation for their work and partnerships with our schools. First, we’re grateful to the Office of Ombudsman for Public Education and the Office of the Student Advocate for their work to support families who may have challenges navigating the education system.
Second, the University of the District of Columbia’s role as our city’s local public university is so critical, not just because they serve so many local DC graduates, but because of the work they do to support dual enrollment programming for students and provide career pipelines for students and staff. We’re grateful for the many accessible opportunities UDC provides students in gaining exposure to college-level courses for credit while also reducing their financial burden if they do go on to attend college after high school. We’re grateful for their partnership.
Finally, we want to thank the District of Columbia State Athletic Association for their partnership which allows charter schools to offer a number of competitive sports programs. We couldn’t be more proud of the Friendship Collegiate Knights football team for winning the DC State Athletic Association championship last year and the DC International Dragons and Washington Latin Public Charter School Lions volleyball teams for making it to the semifinals. Sports are an important part of the school experience and offer many benefits to participating student-athletes, and we’re grateful so many public charter school students have the opportunity to access high-quality athletic programs.
Moving Forward
We know there's much more to do to support long-term academic recovery and provide much-needed support services to our students. That’s why we’re grateful for the city’s partnership with the DC Alliance and our member schools, and we look forward to our continued work together to address the challenges facing our students and ensure they are receiving the education they deserve.
Thank you for your time and attention, and I welcome your questions.
Citations
D.C. Policy Center. The first year of Equitable Access: An examination of common lottery outcomes for at-risk students. January 31, 2024. https://www.dcpolicycenter.org/publications/first-year-of-equitable-access-dc/
ibid.
