Councilmember Grosso expresses concerns to WMATA over cashless payment pilot for 79 express bus route

Earlier this month, Councilmember David Grosso sent a letter to Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Chairman Jack Evans lauding WMATA for its attempt to speed up service but expressing his concerns over the impact of the pilot program being undertaken on the 79 express bus route.  This pilot will ban the use of cash payment or SmarTrip reloading and Grosso fears that the change could worsen commute options for riders with disabilities or lower income residents.

"It is very important that we continue efforts to make our buses more efficient and faster, and I have no doubt that this proposed pilot for the 79 bus will show that this reduces overall trip times," Grosso wrote. "However, a speedier bus should not be a result of leaving some of our residents behind."

In the letter, Grosso made several suggestions to provide equitable service to all residents along the route.

WMATA General Manager Paul Wiedefeld responded to Councilmember Grosso with a letter dated June 21, 2018. Wiedefeld confirmed that nearly 10 percent of riders of the express route either paid their fare via cash or reloaded their SmarTrip onboard but did not elaborate on any plans to accommodate those riders beyond already existing options during the pilot.

Councilmember Grosso awaits the result of the pilot program and will continue to monitor its potential expansion to other routes to ensure that WMATA buses remain an option for all residents.

Both letters can be found below.

On June 25, Councilmember Grosso also introduced legislation to stop the trend toward cashless-only payments at local food establishments over concerns about equitable access for residents who are unbanked or underbanked.

06012018 Letter to CM Evans - WMATA Cashless Pilot by Team_Grosso on Scribd

06212018 WMATA Response Letter on Cashless 79 Route Pilot by Team_Grosso on Scribd

Grosso sends second letter to mayor laying out expectations for education leader search

On Thursday, June 14, Councilmember Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, sent a second letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser asking her to provide a proposed timeline and plan for the selection of a permanent Deputy Mayor for Education and Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools for Council review, as required by law.

Over two months ago, the councilmember asked the mayor to provide a timeline for a robust public engagement process that would put leaders in place as the city navigates a tumultuous time for public education. The mayor never responded.

"The District of Columbia currently has a vacuum of executive leadership on public education, and you have done nothing to fix that," Grosso wrote.

Since the mayor has failed to lay out her plan, Councilmember Grosso laid out his expectations for the search going forward.

• The mayor should go above and beyond the minimum legal requirements for the selection of the Chancellor by engaging in listening sessions with teachers, students, parents, and community members about the characteristics they want to see in our new education leaders.
• Create an advisory committee of individuals that can work with the mayor to identify and announce the nominations. The Washington Teachers' Union should have the opportunity to put forward suggestions of teachers to participate in that committee for the chancellor.
• Leaders should be committed to re-establishing public trust and closing the achievement gap.

The Committee on Education, under Grosso's leadership, intends to hold multiple hearings and, if appropriate, move the nominations through the legislative process during the Council review period to build the record and facilitate extensive public input. 

Unfortunately, the councilmember believes that D.C. Public Schools will begin a new school year without a permanent chancellor.

"While I believe it was a mistake to delay the chancellor selection processes, I hope that we can work together in making continued improvements to public education in D.C. for the benefit of our residents."

Second letter to Mayor Bowser on Search for permanent DME and DCPS Chancellor by Team_Grosso on Scribd

In Recognition of National Children’s Awareness Month

In Recognition of National Children’s Awareness Month

By: Malik Worthy*

The month of June is recognized as Children’s Awareness Month. Sponsored by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Children’s Awareness Month is trying to get people to make a safe environment for youth and gives us an opportunity to reflect on the vulnerability of children exposed to violence.

There are many forms of violence from gun violence, physical violence such as sexual assault or battery, and more. Violence is a form of anger that leads to aggression. Violence has many causes, including frustration, exposure to violent media, violence in the home or neighborhood or a perception that another person’s actions toward you are aggressive, even when they’re not. While violence affects us broadly, it should be stated that men become crime victims more often than women, African Americans experience more crime than other racial groups, and unfortunately, adolescents are most likely to be victimized.

Violence impacts children differently than adults due to their developmental differences. In 2014, nearly two-fifths of children ages 17 and younger reported being a witness to violence in their lifetimes. An experience of violence can lead to lasting physical, mental, and emotional harm, whether the child is a direct victim or a witness. Children who experience violence are more than likely going to have many effects, such as behavior problems, depression, anxiety, and other problems throughout life.

Most children experience violence at school, home and in their communities. Annually, referrals to state child protective services involve 6.6 million children, and roughly 3.2 million of those children are subject to an investigated report. The District of Columbia is also facing an alarming trend. According to News Channel 4, more than half of the homicide victims in 2018 are teens or children. The Mayor, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and the D.C. Council have all done significant work to try and prevent increased crime. In late April, Mayor Bowser kicked off her Summer Crime Initiative and also launched a new MPD Crime Mapping Application. MPD has undertaken initiatives to hunt down illegal guns and more. 

Additionally, the Council has stepped up to make our streets and communities safe for everyone but most importantly, for youth. Bills such as Councilmember Grosso’s Childhood Protection Against Sexual Abuse Amendment Act and the Office on Out of School Time Grants and Youth Outcomes Establishment Act seek to ensure that our youth are protected and have opportunities afforded to them to keep them out of harm’s way. Other bills before the Council to address violence or adverse actions, particularly against youth include the Youth Rehabilitation Amendment Act, Neighborhood Engagement Achieves Results Amendment Act, Youth Mentoring Initiative Establishment Act and more. 

Many of the city’s leaders are working to stand up and stop the violence. They’ve introduced bills, held hearings, and had meetings in communities trying to resolve these problems.  Still, despite their best efforts, there is more work to be done as just in the past couple weeks, there has been an uptick in the number of homicides and incidences with guns across the city, primarily East of the River.

Addressing violence against youth is going to require ongoing efforts from all city leaders, residents, community organizations, faith-based institutions and many others but a broader conversation is also necessary.

Today’s youth are a product of the constant media churn, social media age and more. They are dealing with cyberbullying, an uptick in school shootings, worsening mental health, and the list goes on. As a rising senior at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School in D.C., I see these struggles play out in real time. From gun violence, gang violence, and bullying.  Though my peers are facing so many traumatic situations, we are fighters. We are survivors and we are pushing for change. Members of the Parkland, Florida community took to Washington, DC, for the "March for Our Lives" protest, honoring their friends and loved ones who were fatally shot at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The march was youth organized and youth-led. Black Youth Project 100 is another organization of youth committed to advocacy and pushing for change.

Despite all the challenges my peers and I face, we will change the world and we will inspire a nation. I’m glad to be a young person in this important time of youth activism and I can’t wait to see everything we will achieve.

*This post is part of an ongoing series of posts by Councilmember Grosso’s staff to support professional development. All posts are approved and endorsed by Councilmember Grosso. Malik is a rising senior at Cesar Chavez Public Charter School-Capitol Hill, and participated in the Cesar Chavez Policy Fellowship.*
 

Grosso announces summer education town halls in each Ward

Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, will hold education town halls in all eight Wards this summer.  Starting on June 25, parents, students, educators, and any interested community members are invited to share their thoughts, ideas, and concerns about moving D.C. schools forward and ensuring that every student is in the best position to succeed.  Dates and locations are below. All town halls will be held from 6pm-7:30pm. 

RSVP encouraged, but not required.

Grosso FY2019 Budget Victories

Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large), chairperson of the Committee on Education, celebrated investments in his budget priorities included in the fiscal year 2019 budget for the District of Columbia, which was given final approval by the D.C. Council on May 29, 2018.

“This budget comes before us during a tumultuous time in the public education sector, but I believe the funding we have approved move us forward in education reform and toward closing the achievement gap,” Grosso said. “It makes new investments that put students in the best position to succeed by creating positive school climates, bolstering community schools, and expanding access to multilingual education in D.C.”

The Council’s full budget largely preserves or increases investments approved by the Committee on Education in Grosso’s education priorities and makes investments in other areas of focus for the councilmember:

• Prioritizes students’ right to learn by reducing the use of exclusionary discipline: $3.4 million to fund the Student Fair Access to School Act to protect students’ right to an education, close the achievement gap, and foster positive school climates, including an increase to the at-risk weight of the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula.
• Improves educational outcomes by meeting students’ non-academic needs: An increase of $1.4 million for a total investment of nearly $3 million to expand community schools, which set students up for academic success by addressing their academic, health, and social needs through community partnerships.
• Invests in the mental and physical health of our students: Provides $3 million at the Department of Behavioral Health for school-based clinicians and $4.4 million at the Department of Health for school-based nurses.
• Increases access to multilingual education in the District: $367,000 to establish the Office of Multilingual Education in OSSE, with dedicated personnel whose mission is to increase cross-sector access to high-quality multilingual education across the city.
• Supports students with special education needs: Fully implements the Enhanced Special Education Services Act and includes $350,000 in new funding for teacher training in special education.
• Creates a world-class central library: $1.5 million for opening day collections at the newly-modernized Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, set to re-open in 2020.
• Preserves our local history for future generations: $500,000 for the D.C. Oral History project, a collaboration of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Humanities DC, and the D.C. Public Library, over the next four years.
• Provides resources to combat residency fraud: Provides four full-time staffers and $300,000 to OSSE to aid its mission of investigating and reporting residency fraud in D.C. schools.
• Expands equitable, high-quality out-of-school learning opportunities: Provides over $20 million for after-school and summer programming for students—more than double the current level of grant-funding for community-based organizations and unthinkable under the former D.C. Trust.
• Supports early childhood education: Includes a new tax credit for families to offset the high cost of raising a child in D.C. and increased the reimbursement rate for subsidized childcare.
• Continued investment in early literacy interventions: $1.6 million in continuing investments in the successful early literacy intervention program that gets students at or above reading level by third grade. 
• Invests in Fair Elections: Fully funds Grosso's legislation that establishes a strong public financing system for campaigns in D.C., weakening the influence of large donors and corporations in our elections.
• Fights homelessness and housing insecurity, especially for vulnerable populations: $15.6 million to combat homelessness including $1.6 million to fully fund the Interagency Council on Homelessness Youth Plan in 2019, with $300,000 from the Committee on Education to provide wraparound services at a new 24-hour drop-in center and additional youth beds.

Student Fair Access to School Amendment Act of 2018

On May 1, 2018, the D.C. Council unanimously voted to approve, on final reading, Councilmember Grosso's Student Fair Access to School Amendment Act of 2018 which aims to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline in both traditional public and public charter schools in the District of Columbia.

You can read the final version of the bill as passed by the Council here.

The law limits out-of-school suspension of students in kindergarten through eighth grade to serious safety incidents and bans its utilization in high school for minor offenses. If exclusion becomes necessary, the bill protects a child’s right to an education while they are off premises and requires a plan for the student to successfully return to the classroom.

You can read the Committee Report on the legislation which gives insight into the reasoning for the bill, however, a number of changes were made after the bill was passed out of Committee. The major changes include:

• Phasing limits on out-of-school suspensions for K-5 in SY19-20, along with 6-8;
• Clarifying what rises to the level of “bodily injury” and “emotional distress”, and that schools/LEAs have the ability to provide further specificity in their own policies;
• Raising the limit on out-of-school suspension days for grades 6-8 to 10 consecutive days;
• Removing the language that would trigger a manifestation determination review after 5 days rather than 10; and
• Changing the definition of in-school suspension to exclude supportive services like restorative conference or counseling, but requiring schools to still report the use of those interventions if an in-school suspension would have been warranted, to deter misclassification of interventions.

Councilmember Grosso included funding for much of the bill in the FY2019 budget, including over $2 million directly to schools through the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula. The budget also included additional funding for OSSE to provide support to schools:

• $450,000 additional for restorative justice practices;
• $400,000 for other training and supports;
• $1.4 million for community schools grants;
• $300,000 to collect further data and conduct a long-term evaluation of the law and any unintended consequences.

An additional $3 million was added to the budget the Department of Behavioral Health for new behavioral health clinicians in schools. These appropriations fulfilled the “subject to appropriations” clause for much of the bill, but not for the limits on the use of out-of-school suspension set to take effect in SY19-20 andSY20-21. For those to take effect, the Mayor and Council will need to identify and approve approximately $6M in additional dollars in the FY2020 budget cycle.

DCPS responses to Grosso's inquiries on graduation accountability

Today, Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, received a response from DCPS to a letter he sent to D.C. Public Schools Interim Chancellor Dr. Amanda Alexander with several questions in advance of the upcoming June 13, 2018 public oversight roundtable on graduation accountability. The purpose of the roundtable is to get an update from OSSE, DCPS, and PCSB on the implementation of Alvarez and Marsal’s recommendations on improving graduation accountability.  The response is below, along with response follow up questions from DCPS on questions asked at the May 10, 2018 roundtable.

DCPS Graduation Follow-up_Final by Team_Grosso on Scribd

5.23.18 Attendance Follow-up Responses_final by Team_Grosso on Scribd

Grosso raises concerns over proposed paid family leave regulations in letter to DOES

Today, Councilmember David Grosso submitted comments to the Department of Employment Services (DOES) on the proposed regulations of the Universal Paid Leave Act.

When Councilmember Grosso introduced this legislation in 2015 he sought to establish a program that would relieve families in the District of Columbia of the difficult choice between a pay check and taking care of a new child or ailing loved one.

One of Grosso's primary motivations for championing this law was the economic security it provides to working families. It allows both fathers and mothers the necessary time to bond with their new child without having to worry about how they will provide for their new family during that time. As chairperson of the Committee on Education, he knows how important these critical early days are to a child’s development. He believe they are vital to ensuring youth are in the best position to succeed in school and career later in life.

However, in his letter, Grosso raises several concerns about the many barriers that exist in the proposed regulations that will keep UPLA benefits out of reach for many of the families who need them most.  Such obstacles threaten families’ economic well-being and deprive children of a quality experience in their early days.

Councilmember Grosso's full letter is below:

05042018 CM Grosso Comments to DOES on UPLA Regulations by Team_Grosso on Scribd

Grosso requests timeline for nominations of new Chancellor, Deputy Mayor for Education from Mayor

On Friday, April 6, Councilmember Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, sent a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser asking her to provide a proposed timeline and plan for the selection of a permanent Deputy Mayor for Education and Chancellor of D.C. Public Schools for Council review, as required by law. 

Grosso Letter to Mayor Re Chancellor and Deputy Mayor Nomination by Team_Grosso on Scribd

Grosso sends follow-up questions to DHS on closure of D.C. General

On March 28, Councilmember David Grosso, a member of the Committee on Human Services, sent follow-up questions to Department of Human Services Director Laura Zeilinger after the Committee's March 28th hearing on the closure of D.C. General Family Shelter.

UPDATE 4/11/2018: DHS submitted responses to Councilmember Grosso., which can be found below, along with the original letter from Councilmember Grosso that was sent on March 28. 

DHS 041118 DC General Family Shelter Closure FINAL by Team_Grosso on Scribd

Councilmember Grosso Letter to DHS Re Closing of DC General by Team_Grosso on Scribd

Grosso joins state legislators to preserve state protections for student borrowers

Councilmember Grosso today signed on to a letter with 20 state legislators from 13 other states urging U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to withdraw her memo pre-empting state laws meant to protect student loan borrowers, such as Councilmember Grosso's Student Loan Ombudsman Establishment and Servicing Regulation law.

State Legislators' Letter to DeVos on Student Borrower Protections by Team_Grosso on Scribd

Council Budget Office releases Economic and Policy Impact Statement: Approaches and Strategies for Providing a Minimum Income in the District of Columbia

On Tuesday February 27, 2018, the Council of the District of Columbia's Office of the Budget Director released a report on the feasibility of a public program which would guarantee that every resident has enough resources to meet their basic needs entitled Economic and Policy Impact Statement: Approaches and Strategies for Providing a Minimum Income in the District of Columbia.  This report was prepared at the request of Councilmember David Grosso and Chairman Phil Mendelson and is the second report that the Budget Office has prepared under D.C. Council Rule 308. The first such report was on the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act, which is now law.

Four documents are linked below and can be found on the Council’s website:

• Economic and Policy Impact Statement: Approaches and Strategies for Providing a Minimum Income in the District of Columbia (Minimum Income Report)
• A detailed PowerPoint presentation summarizing the Statement (Minimum Income Presentation),
• A one-page document summarizing the Statement (Minimum Income One-Pager), and
• An executive summary excerpted from the Statement (Minimum Income Executive Summary)

From the Council's Budget Office:

This report offers the Council an evidence-based resource for weighing this proposal’s policy implications and economic costs and benefits.   The study is divided into three sections:

1. An analysis of D.C.’s cost of living versus the social safety net benefits available to low-income households.
2. A discussion of three methods for providing a minimum income: a negative income tax, a guaranteed minimum income, or a universal basic income.
3. An economic analysis of a minimum income program’s impact on the D.C. economy using REMI, a widely used economic forecasting model.

The report confirms that it is very difficult for low-income households living in the District to make ends meet. The public social safety net provides enough resources for some, but not most, low-income households to meet their basic needs. 

• The estimated level of income that three, typical households in the District would need to pay for their basic necessities absent government benefit programs is higher than the current minimum hourly wage of $12.50.   The income levels are as follows:
  • Single adult:  Annual income of approximately $36,988 or an hourly wage of $17.78. 
  • Single parent with one child: Annual income of about $66,113 or an hourly wage of $31.79.
  • Single parent with two children: Annual income of roughly $96,885 or an hourly wage of $46.58.
• A prototypical single, working age adult without a disability whose earned income falls below the Federal Poverty Level would not be able to meet their basic needs even if they received all the public social safety net supports to which they are eligible.
• The existing social safety net is robust enough to allow a prototypical extremely low-income single parent with one or two children to meet their families’ needs, assuming they can access all the public benefit programs to which they are eligible (including a housing voucher). It is important to note that eligibility for a safety net program does not guarantee receipt of the benefit.  

The study forecasts economic conditions under four possible minimum income scenarios relative to a projection of the conditions if there was no change in policy. The study predicts that a minimum income program would negatively impact economic growth, although the magnitude varies greatly depending upon the program’s design.

• Raising households’ income to 100% of the Federal Poverty Level is likely to have a relatively small negative impact on the District’s economy and labor force. It would cause the D.C. economy to add 1,600 to 3,000 fewer jobs and increase GDP by $99 million to $185 million less over the next ten years than otherwise projected.
• Raising households’ income to 450% of the Federal Poverty Level—roughly D.C.’s cost of living—could have major implications for the District’s economy and tax base. It would reduce the number of jobs in D.C. held by residents by 101,000 to 138,000 over ten years. The District would likely forgo about $2.6 billion each year in federal payments and grants. Such a program could increase local expenditures by $7 billion to $9 billion per year, essentially doubling the District’s current local funds budget.

Grosso sends letter to Mayor Bowser outlining budget priorities for FY2019

Today, Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, sent a letter to Mayor Bowser outlining his budget priorities for the Mayor to consider for inclusion in her FY2019 budget proposal.

Ensuring that our students are in the best position to succeed remains Grosso's number one priority as the Chairperson of the Committee on Education.  Fully supporting our students, teachers, and school communities means providing the necessary resources.  For FY2019, Grosso asked the Mayor to:

1.       Meet the non-academic needs of our students through increased investment in the Department of Behavioral Health’s School-Based Mental Health program.

2.      Invest in the successful early literacy intervention program that gets students at or above reading level by third grade.

3.       Give our teachers the tools to educate all our students by funding school-based special education teacher training.

4.      Support the expansion of vital out-of-school time programs with increased funding for the Office of Out of School Time and Youth Outcomes.

5.      Continue equitable investment in community based organizations who are providing care to at-risk pre-kindergarten children.

6.      Aid child care providers by raising the subsidy reimbursement rates to more closely align with the cost of care.

Additionally, Grosso asked the Mayor to support funding for many of his policy priorities that have become law in the past few years:

1.       Provide financial stability for workers caring for themselves or their family by investing fully in the implementation of the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016.

2.      Assist residents managing their educational financing by funding a separate student loan ombudsman at the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking.

3.       Support the newly established D.C. State Athletics Commission with funding for two new full-time position.

4.      Provide equitable access to vital identity documents by funding fee exemptions for low-income residents.

5.      Remove the influence of big dollar donors and promote equitable participation in our local elections by fully funding the Fair Elections Amendment Act of 2017

You can read the full letter to Mayor Bowser below.

Letter to Mayor Boswer on Grosso FY2019 Budget Priorities by Team_Grosso on Scribd

DOH, DBH responds to Grosso letter regarding safe injection sites to combat the opioid crisis

Councilmember David Grosso received a letter from Department of Health Director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt and Department of Behavioral Health Director Dr. Tanya Royster in response to his Sept. 19 letter urging exploration of supervised injection facilities (SIFs) as part of a comprehensive public health approach to combating the opioid crisis and saving lives in the District of Columbia.

DOH/DBH's letter details Dr. Nesbitt's findings from a recent site-visit to a SIF in Vancouver. SIFs there have led to a decrease in opioid-related deaths and, to date, have not experienced an overdose related death on-premises. 

DOH and DBH noted that the success of such facilities has been made possible by coordination between local and federal authorities in Canada, which could present a barrier to implementation in the District of Columbia.

However, the Opioid Working Group is committed to reducing harm and deaths associated with the opioid crisis and will consider what would be required to implement SIFs in D.C. as it develops the Opioid Strategic Plan over the next few months.

You can read the response letter and the original letter sent by Councilmember Grosso below.

DOH/DBH Response to CM Grosso regarding supervised injection facilities by Team_Grosso on Scribd

CM Grosso Letter to DOH on Safe Injection Facilities by Team_Grosso on Scribd