In preparation for testimony on CM Mendelson’s bills on the DCPS budget-Jan. 20, 2022

CM Mendelson clarified that his intent is to adopt one of these, not both.  

These bills are not proposed as emergency legislation.  Pursuant to the regular legislative process, either bill would take effect only after enactment by the Council (two readings), mayoral signature or override of mayoral veto, and 30 day Congressional review, too late to affect next year’s school budgets.  The Mayor’s FY23 budget submission is due March 16, 2022.

School Budgeting Bills Under Council Consideration

B24-0570 “Schools First in Budgeting Amendment Act 

Main actions

  1. Would require DCPS to allocate its local funding to schools first, with remaining funds going to central office and school support

  2. Would require DCPS to start schools’ budgets with their current FY budget as of January 1st as a base

  3. Would require DCPS to reflect actual rather than average salaries in personal services (PS) in each school’s base

  4. Requires addition of inflation and salary increases to each school’s base budget

  5. Requires addition of funds for any new costs transferred into school budgets

  6. Requires addition of funds for enrollment increases sufficient to add classrooms or special ed/ELL staff

  7. Allows for decreases for enrollment decline sufficient to eliminate a classroom

  8. Doesn’t prohibit Chancellor from increasing PS or NPS at their discretion

  9. Requires that DCPS make calculations publicly available at least 6 weeks before submission date for the FY Council budget

B24-0571 “Schools Full Budgeting Amendment Act of 2021” 

Main actions

  1. Would require DCPS to give schools 100% of their previous year UPSFF funds

  2. Would eliminate the Chancellor’s ability to reduce a school’s budget on the basis of a “substantial instructional or programmatic change”

  3. Allows DCPS to give a school less than 100% of previous year’s UPSFF funds if a school is losing a grade or is consolidated

  4. The 100% rule would not apply if DCPS’s overall UPSFF budget is projected to be 5% less than previous FY

Outstanding Questions/ thoughts

●       CM Mendelson has prioritized stability for DCPS budgets in these two proposed bills.  If this is indeed a priority, it would suggest that policies to adequately fund and stabilize the DCPS system, which is governed and managed by the city, are a recognized priority

●       Mary Levy is working on a simulation to look at what the consequences of B24-0570 “Schools First in Budgeting Amendment Act” would have been for each school’s budget this year.

●       What is the intended goal, expected and unintended outcomes of requiring DCPS to use actual salaries?

●       What outcomes is the Council expecting to see considering we still don’t know what school budgets will look like underneath the forthcoming budget model?

●       How would the Council ensure that DCPS does not simply code certain positions to make it appear as though $ is going to one bucket or another? [Does the provision requiring more funds for costs transferred into school budgets takes care of this]

●       Does charter funding fit into these bills in any way? While it re-distributes funds within the DCPS budget, it assumes adequate funding and assumes the way we currently fund all schools to be efficient and equitable.

●       What does the elimination of “substantial instructional or programmatic change” mean? [It was meant to cover elimination of grades or whole programs – but DCPS used it to cut budgets in schools losing the extended year programs, even though their funding – at risk – remained, which really hurt those schools]

●       What are the consequences if DCPS violates the bills if they were to become law?