Kaya Henderson, chancellor of the DC public schools, intends to close another 20 public schools.
DC is now the second largest urban district with the greatest proportion of its students in privately managed charter, after New Orleans.
Unlike New Orleans, DC did not suffer a natural disaster. Instead, its leaders don’t know how to improve its schools so they look for private managers who might know how to do it.
People should not accept positions of leadership when they don’t know how to do what is expected of them.
DC is a major beachhead for the privatization movement. It’s a shame that those in charge don’t know how to improve schools. They just close them.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
dupes aster — a person who who aspired to dupehood, but failed.
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I have a suspicion that Kaya Henderson did exactly what was expected of her.
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Indeed, the wouldn’t improve the schools if they knew how. It’s all about turning them over to private operators.
Market fundamentalism at its most extreme.
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Save the students and teachers. This is ridiculous. I agree with Florillo,
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In Chicago 100 schools are on the chopping block.
How will billionaire Bruce Rauner make money from renting the the closed schools to charters? Gregz Hinz of Crain’s Chgo Business alluded to this, but I wish someone would research and write about this.
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To hear a 2nd grader and 3rd grader stand up for their school in Washington DC, check You Tube: “DC Kids Stand Up!”
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I work with Empower DC a grassroots organization here in Washington DC that has been raising awareness and fighting these proposed closures. Since 2008 an era marked by Rhee-form 28 schools have been closed in the District and now they, Vincent Gray (mayor) and Kaya Henderson, want to close 20 more. We have Charters growing uncontrolled in the very same neighborhoods that are affected by the cycle of school closures and we recently heard that TFA is looking to set up multimillion-dollar development here that will include new apartments (for its teacheres) and office space. The main narrative DCPS (Kaya Henderson) has put out to justify these closures is under enrollment, but just yesterday Vincent Gray DC’s mayor put out a public statement that there have been “9,000 births each year since 2008, the District is experiencing a baby boom” and since the last Census count the city has seen 1,085 new residents per month. I ask if we are growing at this rate why are continuing to close more schools??? Privatization and money extraction is what is going on in the District and Henderson and the rest of DC govt. are complicit in helping this to happen. They have certainly washed their hands of educating students and are focused on pushing those they are charged to serve out of the District of Columbia. We will continue pushing back against the unjust, discriminatory cycle of school closures.
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I looked around a bit and have not been able to find any data on changes in the absolute number of persons under the age 18 in DC. The city does have an unusualy low percentage of the population under 18 (17%) compared to the national average (23.7%).
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Dear Diane Ravitch,
Thanks for the blog post about DC schools. Here is a short one-minute video I made last week of elementary students here in DC speaking about why their school should not be closed. It is the Thurgood Marshall Elementary school, and I know Thurgood Marshall would be proud of them! They and their parents are part of a growing citywide effort to keep the schools open.
I heard you at the SOS conference in DC. I’m so glad I found your blog, which helps me keep up on the “civil rights issues of our time.”
In 1965, when I was in 8th grade, I was one of several students suspended for wearing black armbands to school to mourn the dead in Vietnam. The ACLU took our case, which went to the Supreme Court. In 1969, the Court ruled that students in schools do have First Amendment rights, with some limitations (students can’t substantially disrupt school, and they can’t intrude on the rights of others.) As a result, I spend a lot of time encouraging other students to speak up for themselves.
As everywhere in the country, our issue is the closing of our public schools. As you know, Kaya Henderson, is a cookie cutter of Michelle Rhee, only with a better PR staff. The schools she has proposed to close are mostly in lower-income neighborhoods with mostly students of color live. Of 3700 students who would be affected, it is estimated that 85 are white. 83% of the students are low-income, although the school system overall has 66% low income.
The good news is that, as you have shown through your blog, community members and students are speaking up. And that is happening here as well. There may be a national movement to close our public school system, but there is also a national movement to keep and improve public schools, and we join with you in that.
Thank you for your leadership and all that you do, Mary Beth Tinker
________________________________
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Now here is a Christmas present idea: Imagine if all the Bill/Gates/Waltons/Broads folks along with their ALEC friends suddenly had a scrooge change of heart and thought “lets take all of the billions we are using to break public education and just do 1 simple, research proven, sure thing: invest in early childhood support. Imagine if they put their backs into investing in resources and passing legislation for real children rather than pet projects. Imagine the profoundly real and lasting impact they could make, right here, right now, for the good of children in DC and around the country. Imagine if they turned to the people doing the work, in the trenches and asked, “how can we help?”Imagine.
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Imagine if this community engineered experiment could be curtailed and redirected
toward the improving of neighborhood schools for the purpose of education. This
experiment is less about children and learning and more about a global workforce and
skirting the education laws and busting the unions. As for the closing of the schools,
someone should follow the money.
This has been brilliantly executed and the money that has gone into the public relations
over the last twenty years has been well spent for the entrepreneurs who are funding
their interests. It has been methodical and patient, expensive but calculated for the financial return to come later, global and corporate wound around governments. In other words, brilliant and disgraceful!! The education piece of the budget was too tempting for corporate interests to ignore. Market share, real estate interests, even the incorporation of returning work opportunities for our vets, an expansion of law enforcement into the learning plants, technology contracts while shaping and even
controlling minds, so forth and so on. Far fetched?! I think not. It has already happened.
While this was happening individuals were reticent to speak up for fear of losing their
job (understood), being discriminated against by their peers who were worried about
the consequences of saying anything, and the perceived notion that this whole movement
could not be stopped (they may be right), or there was a financial incentive attached.
All the while the architects believed there was no way to save the public school system
or not enough time. In addition, special education was costing too much (even though
it was always underfunded) and the federal mandates were restricting the flow and use of money and the numbers of children were increasing. Standardized tests all the while
putting a nail in the coffin of these schools who have open enrollment and must meet
the standard of the law, while their dollars were being siphoned off by charters that
bounced the special education challenged learners back to them. Machiavellian!!
All the while in the name of the children. Really?!!! Do No Harm?!!! Inclusion before
readiness with a push through drop out result and prison ready for the really hopeless
and under prepared learners. America, wake up and speak up!!!! It is better to have
done something then look the other way while the blatant sorting mechanism of some
for the discarding of others is being manipulated. This is nothing like what we as
Americans envisioned for our children and the hypocrisy of the educationally elite and
corporate raiders is flagrant and unremorseful. Shame!!!
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Seen this? http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/12/21/mass-school-closings-why-the-numbers-dont-add-up/
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Once the economy heats up they won’t be able to keep staff in those schools. Just watch. Will they close the charters when they fail too? What’s their next solution.
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Yes, that’s what I think too. Every time the economy is strong DC and other really bad districts have a terrible time hiring teachers. And now we all know why.
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Maybe the plan is for the economy never to heat up.
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Bingo.
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Who is making this plan?
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I would look first at the ones who are best served by the economy being the way it is now.
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Who are these people? How are these plans being carried out?
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You’re the economist — what information do you have to share? I never made an assertion, I only said “maybe”. Can you disprove the hypothesis?
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I’m not a fan of conspiracy theories. I hoped to Learn from someone who believes in them.
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You ought to know the difference between a theory and a belief. Can you disprove the theory, or not? Never mind — I already know that you can’t.
I think it is best to keep an open mind. Closing one’s mind completely to anything that looks like a “conspiracy theory” is probably as bad as accepting every conspiracy theory that comes along.
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