Public and public charter school students in the District have returned to the classroom amid concerns about the heavy presence of federal law enforcement personnel in their neighborhoods and around their Metro stops.
That’s why, with the District’s new social studies standards currently in effect, some teachers, like Donroy Ferdinand, are embracing the opportunity to speak with young people about the forces that have paved the way for President Donald J. Trump’s latest action against the District.
“Across the city, especially when we see this new curriculum in the eighth grade, I would not be surprised if there was activity in the space of advocating for change, specifically from students,” said Ferdinand, a D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) teacher in his third year as a middle school social studies instructor.
Last week, Ferdinand counted among several public school teachers who heard, and reacted to, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s insistence that only she, not D.C. teachers and administrators, focus on politics this school year.
While he said he interpreted Bowser’s imperative as well-meaning, Ferdinand said it’s impossible, especially with what youth have seen and experienced this summer.
“We don’t have the civil rights movement of the middle of the 20th century were it not for young people really advocating for their rights and their communities,” Ferdinand said.
In recent years, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education has been equipping teachers with the tools to facilitate an inquiry-based model of instruction that focuses on deciphering and scrutinizing information sources. As outlined in the revamped standards, students will be able to participate in activities centered on increasing civic engagement by the eighth grade. From that point, high school instruction will provide more opportunity for historic and social studies-based analysis of global, U.S. and District history, with a focus on historically marginalized groups.
With such parameters in place, Ferdinand said it’s hard to ignore his responsibility, in this moment, as a teacher.
“In terms of what my role is this year, I want it to be as much facilitating what students care about as possible,” Ferdinand told The Informer. “If the students care about what is going on and we need to give the background information on what is going on, we’re going to share that background information with them.”
For Ferdinand, failing to do so leaves students at risk of being harmed by local and federal law enforcement, and not understanding the historic, cultural, and socioeconomic underpinnings of such interactions.
“That does not mean that we are indoctrinating them. It does not mean that we have an agenda walking into that classroom,” Ferdinand told The Informer. “My agenda walking into the classroom is that my students walk away informed and empowered as young people and as members of society.”
Questions About Campus Climate and What Teachers Can Do
Last week, Bowser visited Phelps Agriculture, Construction and Engineering High School in Northeast as hundreds of teachers and staff members from that school and neighboring public schools marked the end of pre-service week with an annual rally.
After a couple sets by the Metropolitan Police Department’s (MPD) Side By Side Band, teachers’ remarks, and a moment of recognition for veteran educators, Bowser took to the podium and encouraged school personnel to treat the new school year like any other.
“Now this is not the same time…that we experienced an opening school last year,” Bowser said on the morning of Aug. 20. “But I want everybody to know whose job politics is in this room. It’s not yours. All right? Your job is to love all the kids, teach them, and make sure that they are prepared and to trust that I’m going to do the right thing for all of us.”
Later, while speaking to reporters, Bowser doubled down on her message that, despite anxiety around the federalization of law enforcement, teachers focus solely on their role in the classroom.
“They have the same latitude to instruct as they always have,” Bowser said. “There’s no change to their curriculum.”
Laura Fuchs, the Washington Teachers’ Union’s newly elected president, told The Informer that, while preparations are underway to combat federal-level challenges to social studies curriculum that may come down the pike, there’s little indication that teachers will immediately face pressure to water down their instruction.
“They made it clear that things have not changed from their perspective,” Fuchs said about DCPS central office leadership. “I think in some ways I can see why they’re saying that as a good thing, because we are allowed to discuss current events and we are allowed, especially as a social studies teacher, to utilize our curriculum to address the needs of the moment.”
Fuchs, a former DCPS social studies teacher, recounted meetings during which central office leaders pledged to uphold guidance issued by Attorney General Brian Schwalb’s office that District schools don’t cooperate, or share information, with federal law enforcement agencies, particularly Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
However, Fuchs said she would like to see more.
While she acknowledges some school-level support for teachers’ dissemination of know-your-rights pamphlets and other informational material of use to students, she told The Informer that conversations are underway with the goal of better solidifying the practice as a system-wide policy.
“I have asked the chancellor for some clarity as well as saying that we would appreciate just a clear statement that, at the very least, that the WTU members, should they wish to, can distribute material…in compliance with…what’s already written in the guidance from the D.C. Office of the Attorney General,” Fuchs said, “which says that discussing this is permissible in our classes, that we can share resources and other groups that can provide support. Like we can share that information with our families.”
The Informer unsuccessfully attempted to gather comment from DCPS about its policy involving teachers doling out such information to students.
Earlier this year, students participated in real-life social studies lessons as they practiced civic engagement via at least two trips to Capitol Hill in demand of the District’s $1.1 billion tied up in a continuing resolution advanced by House Republicans. A contingent of young people also launched a 40-day campaign that culminated in the compilation of policy suggestions for local leaders.
Well before Trump intensified federal control of the District’s public safety ecosystems, many parents and community members also advocated for a stronger response to altercations that broke out on school campuses and nearby metro stations.
While many residents have embraced Bowser’s emergency curfew legislation, MPD’s weekly designation of curfew zones— and even the federalization of MPD, to some degree— tense interactions between youth and law enforcement in recent weeks has raised concerns about how, or if, police officers will act if called to quell conflicts occurring on school grounds.
DCPS Chancellor Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee said staff will utilize training to act as the first line of defense during such situations.
“Educators, school administrators have been working hard over the summer to create an environment that is welcoming,” Ferebee said last week. “And we equip students with tools to deal with issues as they come up. We’ve had a big emphasis on, for example, restorative justice strategies that have been proven to be effective.”
Ferebee said that school campuses have become safer in recent years.
“If you look at violent acts among students in schools, in DCPS specifically, we’ve seen a decline in those events that are happening on our campuses,” he told The Informer. “So we anticipate the response from administrators will be the same and they’ll be prepared for day one on Monday.”
Two State Board Members Look Into REAL IDs, and While Others Demand Better Metro Processes State Board Representatives Advocate for REAL IDs
On Monday, Jacque Patterson, a District parent and at-large representative of the D.C. State Board of Education (DCSBOE), said the first day of school had remnants of joy, but proved to be a bit different from years past.
“There are parents who basically wanted to see the first day of school, so they took their kids…but I’m also seeing parents that were concerned about making sure that their kids were not in the subway system,” Patterson told The Informer.
In recent days, National Guard troops from at least four Republican-run states have converged on the District, setting up shop at Union Station and at least nine other stations. They are operating alongside MPD, Metro Transit Police Department, DEA, and ICE.
According to recent reports, these troops, like their federal and local law enforcement colleagues, are now able to carry arms.
Last week, Patterson and DCSBOE Representative LaJoy Johnson-Law (Ward 8) issued a letter suggesting that the District provide youth with REAL ID cards. While Bowser has cited the Kids Ride Free card as a critical tool in avoiding law enforcement interactions on Metro, Patterson heralded the REAL ID card as an extra, cost-effective layer of protection of mutual benefit to youth and District officials weathering the storm of the current federal law enforcement occupation.
“If you have troops that are coming in from all different states, and most of these states being red, they may not give much credence to a school ID,” Patterson told The Informer. “But what they will see is that a person with a REAL ID has something that not only allows them to show that they have that identification, but will also hold them accountable for arresting a child.”
Bowser, in response to an inquiry about Patterson and Johnson-Law’s campaign, told The Informer on Monday that she would look more into the policy suggestion.
Kids Ride Free cards for the 2024-2025 school year are scheduled to expire at the end of September, which, for some parents, provides some time to secure new cards that will allow their young ones to travel through the Metro Transit system this school year.
For this school year, District residents who are between the ages of five and 21, and enrolled in a D.C.-based school, are encouraged to request their Kids Ride Free card from their school ID administrator. However, some people, like Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Lisa Gore, cite past instances when parents in her single-member district experienced delays in securing or replacing Kids Ride Free cards.
Gore, chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 3/4G, a jurisdiction that includes Chevy Chase, Barnaby Woods, and Hawthorne, told The Informer that it’s incumbent upon school leaders to ensure that all eligible students receive a Kids Ride Free card.
“What I would ideally like to see is some form of transparency with data to make sure that within the first week or two weeks that pretty much all of our cards are passed out to kids,” Gore said. “That kids have picked up and are actively using these cards. I just can’t accept even one kid in our city getting harassed or potentially charged.”
Weeks after WMATA’s rollout of the Better Bus Network, concerns persist about new routes and eliminated bus stops. Gore told The Informer that, in years past, buses haven’t arrived in a manner frequently enough to get students home efficiently.
She expressed her fear that, with the new bus system, and some confusion among young people traveling from Lafayette Elementary School, Deal Junior High School, and Jackson-Reed High School, students could be in danger at any time.
“Parents don’t want their kids hanging out under these circumstances where you know they’re at a Metro stop doing what kids do and that draws the attention of some National Guard troop or some federal agent,” Gore said. “So we need to not only make sure that they got their cards [and] the things that they need to transverse the system, but we need to make sure when they’re out of school, they’re getting on their buses, are taking a Metro, and getting home as soon as possible.”
agree with teachers like Ferdinand that empowering students to understand and engage with real issues is vital