Opinion from Eboni-Rose Thompson, Ward 7 Ed Council

Educating our children is a responsibility we all share. As a community, the health of our future depends on it. We understand community values in Ward 7. As the Chair of the Ward 7 Education Council, I am proud to be joined by all of our ANCs and our Ward 7 Democrats in demanding the DC Council use this vote on Tuesday May, 14 to fully, fairly, and equitably fund our schools.

Ward 7 is home to 18 DC Public Schools, most of which are losers in Mayor Bowser’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20). Our schools serve high numbers of at-risk students but are receiving some of the lowest levels of funding support in real dollars.

 We have the opportunity in this budget to put all our children on equal footing. Currently, we are not giving a fair shot to all our students. Year after year, it is the same schools, in the same neighborhoods, serving the same kids that we choose not to invest in, and for far too long those have been in Ward 7 communities. They are the communities with some of the worse health, wealth, and educational outcomes.

 To take a one-size-fits-all approach by increasing the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) for all students ignores that not all students are facing acute cuts. It ignores our true pain points and sacrifices equity in service of equality. It is like giving the healthy an extra dose of medicine, instead of giving the full and necessary dose to the patient in front of you who is clearly in pain and hoping somehow that cures all of our illnesses. To treat the patient is equitable. To treat everyone is equality.

 I ask our city council to invest in the schools that need it most. To address the problem immediately facing us: steep budget cuts for schools like Woodson, the only high school every one of our children in Ward 7 has the right to attend. With the current budget proposal, Woodson could lose up to 10 teachers this year. It lost 7 positions last year. How does that put Woodson in the position to prepare our kids for the future they deserve

Specifically, the Council needs to:

·         Add $4.5 million to the FY20 budget for DCPS Schools in Ward 7 to close the gap in school budgets between FY 19 and FY 20 due to added security and staff costs transferred to school budgets.

·         Add $2.8 million to the FY20 budget for DCPS Schools in Ward 7 to replace the at-risk funds being used to supplant and not supplement the comprehensive school staff model as the law requires.

·         Embrace a multi-year investment of $9 million over the course of 3 years to strengthen our HD Woodson and Anacostia feeder systems pursuant to plans developed in collaboration with communities and with the expectation that that investment will more than pay for itself over time through savings and increased efficiencies.

These three investments offer a fiscally responsible path to achieve what is a universally acknowledged, but all too often ignored goal for the District -- to ensure a quality matter-of-right path from Pre-K through 12 for every family, in every community in the District,beginning with the feeder patterns in Ward 7 which have historically seen the least investment.