Councilmember David Grosso's letter to Mayor Bowser on his priorities for the Fiscal Year 2017 District of Columbia budget.
Viewing entries in
education
As the year draws to a close, Councilmember Grosso provides a brief video update, reflecting on his work in 2015. It was his first year as Chairperson of the Committee on Education, and his third year in office.
Today, Councilmember David Grosso and Chairman Phil Mendelson introduced the “School Attendance Clarification Amendment Act of 2015.” This legislation amends the District of Columbia’s compulsory school attendance laws based on lessons learned from the implementation of the South Capitol Street Memorial Amendment Act of 2012 and the Attendance Accountability Act of 2013. Many elements of the bill came from the work of the interagency Truancy Taskforce, which has been meeting over the past year to improve D.C.’s response to school attendance.
Today, the Committee on Education along with the Committee on Transportation and the Environment held a joint oversight roundtable on District of Columbia Public School (DCPS) modernizations. This followed the Committees' joint oversight roundtable on the topic on July 8, 2015, when the D.C. Auditor released her report on the lack of accountability and transparency within the DCPS modernization program in fiscal years 2010-2013.
As many of you know, the Committee on Education has been focused on trauma-informed schools and school-based mental health services for the past several months. Ensuring our students have the ability to overcome adversity is a top priority for this Committee.
For Immediate Release:
10/27/2015
Contact: Darby Hickey
(202) 724-8105
High School Scores a Sobering but Necessary Performance Reality Check
Washington, D.C.--Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, released the following statement on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) high school scores for the District of Columbia:
"As expected, today's release of PARCC high school scores is nothing to cheer about; however, we must remember that this is a recalibrating moment in our city for assessment of progress in the public education system. When the District of Columbia transitioned to the PARCC assessment, we knew that the test would be more difficult. But we also knew that it was important for us to raise our standards to ensure that our students are honestly "college and career ready." These results present a more accurate indication of how much work we still have to do. It is not an indication of students learning less, but rather a better understanding of where we need to be in the long run.
I am confident that our educators and school leaders will get to work and use these new scores and data to continue to improve. This is simply a new baseline. And it is important to remember that the PARCC assessment is not our only indicator of success or progress. We must continue to look towards NAEP/TUDA data, high school graduation rates, and other indicators that show public education in D.C. is constantly improving.
I am committed to supporting the work of our public schools, and continuing to push and innovate in other areas of our government whose work impacts our students. If we want to see these results improve, schools cannot be the only place where we tackle the achievement gap. Every single resident has to be committed to doing all we can to ensure that every child in the city is in the best position to learn."
###
Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, and Councilmember Mary Cheh, chairperson of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment announces the scheduling of a joint public oversight roundtable on DC Public Schools (DCPS) school modernizations. The hearing will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, November 2, 2015 in Hearing Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building.
On Saturday, November 7 at 10am, At-Large Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education will host an Educator Townhall focused on the curbing the school-to-prison pipeline.
Washington, D.C.--Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) issued the following statement after sending a letter to Chairman Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) on the planned vote to reauthorize the Congressionally-mandated school vouchers program:
Councilmember David Grosso announces the scheduling of a public hearing of the Committee on Education on early learning and early care in the District of Columbia and B21-19, the “Thurgood Marshall-Marion Barry Early Learning Academy Act of 2015”. The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, November 14, 2015 in Hearing Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building.
Councilmember David Grosso announces the scheduling of a public hearing of the Committee on Education on B21-361, “Youth Suicide Prevention and School Climate Survey Act of 2015” and B21-319, “Assessment on Children of Incarcerated Parents Act of 2015”. The hearing will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 27, 2015 in Hearing Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building.
Councilmember David Grosso announces the scheduling of a public hearing of the Committee on Education on B21-0039, “Military Installation Public Charter School Amendment Act of 2016” and B21-0428, “School Choice for Military Families Amendment Act of 2015.” The hearing will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 29, 2015 in Hearing Room 123 of the John A. Wilson Building.
Throughout the summer, Councilmember Grosso’s office worked with advocates from The D.C. Center, the Trevor Project, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and others on the “Youth Suicide Prevention and School Climate Survey Act of 2015” which Councilmember Grosso introduced today along with Councilmembers Nadeau, Allen, May, McDuffie, Todd, Bonds, Silverman, and Cheh.
According to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (a federal survey by the Centers for Disease Control last administered in 2012), 38% of our LGBTQ middle school students had attempted suicide in their lifetime and 28% of our LGBTQ high school students had attempted suicide within the last year.
Please join Councilmember Grosso and the Committee on Education for the following hearings and roundtables this fall:
D.C. Council member David Grosso kicked off the new school year with a tour of cafeteria food.
Councilmember David Grosso announces the scheduling of a public oversight roundtable of the Committee on Education on youth issues. The hearing will be held at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 21, 2015 in Hearing Room 500 of the John A. Wilson Building.
The purpose of this hearing is to hear testimony from District of Columbia youth regarding issues that impact their lives as they make their way through the education system. Youth, aged 21 and younger, who wish to testify can sign up online at http://bit.ly/YouthHearing10.
On Thursday, October 1, 2015, Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie, Chairperson of the Committee on the Judiciary, and Councilmember David Grosso, Chairperson of the Committee on Education, will hold a public hearing on Bill 21-0243, the “Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Automated External Defibrillator Requirements Amendment Act of 2015”. The hearing will be held in Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., at 2:00 p.m. The hearing will be immediately followed by a related hearing on the State of Emergency Medical Services in the District of Columbia and Bill 21-0290, the “Office of Unified Communications Training, CPR, and Modernization Amendment Act of 2015”.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Councilmember David Grosso announce a public oversight hearing of the Committee of the Whole and the Committee on Education on the State of Adult Education and Adult Literacy Initiatives in the District. The oversight hearing will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 24, 2015 in Hearing Room 412 of the John A. Wilson Building.
As this summer's violent crime spike continued and students were returning to schools, Councilmember Grosso wrote to Metropolitan Police Department Chief Lanier about her preparations for ensuring safety for students. Chief Lanier wrote back, detailing her approach to deployment around schools, and also attached the her report on school safety and security for the new school year.
On June 3, 2015 and June 22, 2015 the Committee on Education held a two-part public roundtable on the "Summative of Evaluation of the Public Education System in the District of Columbia," as required by PERAA. This report is a summary of those gatherings, prepared under the direction of Committee Chairperson Grosso.