According to the planned budget for DCPS, a number of the city’s public schools will receive less money in 2019.
Why it’s important Cuts, according to parents, educators, the teacher’s union, and D.C. Council members, deprive students and educators of resources at a time when test scores are falling.
Around half of schools would see their budgets decrease by up to 5%; while this is a relatively minor amount, it would have the greatest impact on the smallest schools.
According to a study by the DC Fiscal Policy Institute, a reduction in enrollment is the primary cause of many of the schools’ shrinking finances. This is so that DCPS may provide more funding for pupils who are deemed at-risk. The District has long supported individual schools based on student enrollment figures.Some schools, including Alice Deal in Tenleytown, Ron Brown in Deanwood, Turner near Fort Stanton, Savoy in Anacostia, and Hart in Congress Heights, anticipate enrollment declines.
What they say is this: Last Friday at a D.C. Council hearing, chair Phil Mendelson slammed the District’s proposal, questioning why schools were being slashed while DCPS as a whole had had a budget rise of 5.05%.
Teachers and parents expressed concern that budget cuts would result in the elimination of at-risk pupils’ support programs as well as staff members like librarians and English language teachers.
The Washington Teachers’ Union urged DCPS to enhance budgets in accordance with the union’s new contracts and avoid budget cuts by using monies from its central office.The other side: DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebree pushed back, telling the council that the proposed budget offers adequate funding for at-risk and special needs students, as well as students in need of language services.
He said some funding decreases might be tied to fewer students needing such services at a particular school.
