With enrollment in the District’s public and public charter schools reaching its highest levels in 15 years, education funding has been a hot-ticket item this budget season, especially for residents whose children attend public schools anticipated to lose thousands of dollars.
That’s why, with the D.C. Council scheduled to present adjustments to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s (D) budget proposal, Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) said he wants to ensure that all District public schools receive adequate funding.
“Something like 67 out of 116 schools were being cut — one-third of them were east of the [Anacostia] river,” Mendelson said on a special edition of WIN-TV that aired on March 27.
The 30-minute interview about the budget focused on housing, development, transportation, public safety and government accountability. However, education accounted for nearly half of the segment, perhaps because of what Mendelson described as a need to address quality-of-life issues that manifest in inequitable access to resources and low academic achievement.
“That’s wrong if we want kids who come to schools with challenges to learn,” Mendelson added. ”Every kid can learn but I don’t believe the chancellor believes that, or if he did, he would provide additional resources to these schools rather than cutting them.”
Funding and the Schools First in Budgeting Act
Over the last few months, Mendelson has struggled to get DCPS Chancellor Lewis Ferebee and Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn’s cooperation on adhering to the Schools First in Budgeting Act. This legislation requires DCPS’ central office to fund schools at a level no less than what had been budgeted during the previous fiscal year.
In February, DCPS didn’t send preliminary budgets to each District school by a deadline imposed by the Schools First in Budgeting Act. Ferebee and Kihn later explained that, given uncertainty about projected enrollment, it was difficult to estimate how much each school would receive.
As the duo warned at a council hearing, the budget proposal DCPS released weeks later deviated from the Schools First in Budgeting Act.
Under D.C. Public Schools (DCPS)’ budget model, no school loses more than 5% of their budget submitted during the previous fiscal year, regardless of enrollment shifts or one-time local funds that were included. According to the DCPS budget pocket guide, factors that determine the amount each school receives include enrollment, targeted support and year-over-year stability.
The goal, as Ferebee and Kihn explained earlier this year, centers on not only ensuring that each school has the staff required for the anticipated student population, but that schools can provide education services and weather mid-year enrollment increases.
For the 2023-2024 school year, enrollment-based funding came out to $709 million, while targeted supported funding and stability funding came out to $171 million and $29 million respectively. DCPS invested an additional $35 million in schools, compared to the previous year.
The education budget for the upcoming school year reflects declines in COVID relief funds and local revenue projections. Notable elements include: a 5.05% increase in per-pupil funding, the allocation of $5 million toward the launch of “My AfterSchool DC” central online hub for families to peruse after-school programs, $1.6 million for a teacher apprenticeship program, $6.8 million for a special education enhancement for childcare and out-of-school time slots for special-needs children.
In early May, the D.C. Council is expected to conduct the first reading on legislation that includes edits to Bowser’s budget proposal. Until then, council members will participate in hearings, committee markups and meetings that will determine what portions of Bowser’s budget proposal will remain intact, and what will change.
With nearly $20 billion on the table, and a $1.7 billion deficit to close, Bowser made across-the-board cuts that perturbed advocates and working-class District residents. For Mendelson, securing more funds so that no District school has funding less than what they received this year counts among his top priorities.
Since the start of this council period, the council chairman has also pressed DCPS about other budgetary matters, including contract procurement. At the culmination of a protracted teacher contract negotiation process, Mendelson questioned how DCPS and Bowser could’ve expedited the nearly four-year process. In aligning with his council colleagues Trayon White (D-Ward 8) and Robert White (D-At large), Mendelson has also cited school lunches and school building repairs as an issue worthy of discussion.
During his WIN-TV interview, Mendelson expressed a desire to continue exploring avenues for holding government agencies accountable and ensuring that funds are spent wisely on quality services.
“The council oversight process [can] expose where there’s waste and ineffectiveness,” Mendelson said. “We’ve seen that with efforts to get the Department of General Services to do a better job with our schools. The council doesn’t run the government, but we can do oversight to bring sunlight into what’s working and what isn’t working.”