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News & Press Releases Latest Councilmember Tommy Wells Votes to Support School Reform
News & Press Releases Latest Councilmember Tommy Wells Votes to Support School Reform | Councilmember Tommy Wells Votes to Support School Reform |
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| Written by Charles Allen | |
| Thursday, 19 April 2007 | |
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The Council of the District of Columbia today gave final approval of a governance change to give the Mayor authority and control of the DC Public School system. Councilmember Wells has worked very closely with the Mayor and Chairman Gray to amend and revise the initial proposal to create a stronger plan of action and structure to give the Mayor more ability to succeed on behalf of the District’s school children. “After the first vote two weeks ago, there were a few more ways I believed the bill could be strengthened. I was very happy to work with Chairman Gray to incorporate these additions,” commented Councilmember Wells. Mr. Wells asked for two significant changes before final reading – changing line item budget control by Council and increasing the transparency of the DC Public Charter School Board. The legislation passed today did both. The threshold for Council to make budget changes between schools was raised to require a 2/3 majority and the Public Charter School Board had several amendments targeted to create more transparency in their actions and meetings. “One of my biggest concerns with line item budget control has always been that councilmembers will be put in the position of making deals with each other on a single school’s budget or future – without seeing the impact system-wide. Raising the threshold from a simple majority to a super majority will help keep those of us on the Council in check and make sure budget changes are best balanced for all schools city wide. “I’ve also been concerned about the openness and transparency of the Public Charter School Board and its meetings - insisted that we hold them to a higher standard. With the changes included today, there is no question that they are subject to FOIA and open meeting requirements, as well as now being required to provide the public time to speak at each meeting,” added Mr. Wells. Responding to the final vote and the challenges ahead, Councilmember Wells said, “Today’s vote puts the Mayor in the driver’s seat of our school system. The next challenge is where he will take it. Much has been talked about New York City, but I don’t believe we should look to New York as the gold standard of an education system. They are a mediocre system at best and we must strive for more. After this debate and the significant changes made for the Mayor, our system can’t just be better. It must be radically different. The District is unmatched in our assets to create the capacity to teach and for our students to learn. We have the best museums in the country right downtown, we have some of the smartest people in the world working in our midst, we have every industry or career represented right here in DC. We must find the way to make the connections that shows our young people the world of possibility at their doorstep – and then deliver it to them. That’s where I expect this Mayor to go beyond anything we’ve seen before.” |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 19 April 2007 ) |
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