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District of Columbia Public Schools’ (DCPS) FY 2025 budget, like that of other District agencies, highlights a post-pandemic environment where officials say they’re facing tough choices amid inflation, increasing teacher salaries, and the desire to fund programming once subsidized by federal dollars.
Such challenges during this budget season have compelled DCPS’ central office to recommend that local school advisory teams (LSATs) at each public school cut some full-time positions, the number of which ballooned during the pandemic.
“We’re thinking about how to invest differently with less buying power and that will be how schools will think about the budget process with the LSATs,” DCPS Chancellor Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee said.
“The budget represents a continued investment in at-risk students, English language learners and schools with a larger population,” he added. “We’re also committed to continuing the services we provide at neighborhood schools and schools of choice.”
In total, DCPS’ FY 2025 budget is $1.36 billion, nearly 80% of which has been allocated to local public schools. District officials said the total amount represents an increase of $181 million from the previous fiscal year.
More than 100 District public schools are anticipated to see an increase in their budget, Ferebee said. Per-pupil funding in the upcoming budget increased by nearly 12% while at-risk students, English language learners, and students attending adult schools and other alternative learning environments will receive more allocations.
However, officials say that such increases have been absorbed by teacher salary increases, programming once funded by Emergency Elementary and Secondary School Relief (ESSER), the continuation of the sixth grade academies, and device purchases.
This news comes as the deadline looms for DCPS to use its remaining ESSER funds, which, per Deputy Superintendent of Schools and Academics Danielle Branson, currently stands at nearly $116 million out of nearly $600 allocated over three years.
On Monday, Ferebee said that essential teaching positions won’t be on the chopping block. He instead pointed to central office support roles and school-based COVID-related positions. Those terminations have happened incrementally over the past couple of years, Ferebee told reporters.
Looking At the Bigger Picture
As the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education continues its school boundary study, Ferebee also attempted to allay concerns raised by parents living near underpopulated schools.
“There will be no plans to close any schools,” he said. “We’ll continue the implementation of our road map. There will be strategic investments [like] our focus on mathematics, middle school students making their transition to sixth grade.”
With D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) expected to release her FY 2025 budget proposal on March 20, there’s much anticipation about what’s been described as D.C.’s most constrained budget since the 2008 recession. Administration officials cite the Office of the Chief Financial Officer’s prediction about minimal revenue growth, along with Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) fiscal cliff, Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) collective bargaining agreements, and the expiration of federal COVID relief, as exacerbating factors.
That’s why the goal for FY 2025, as an official told The Informer on Monday, involves “right-sizing” the government.
DCPS currently has 8960 full-time school-based employees, including teachers, administrators, support staff and coaches. That number represents an 18% increase over the last five years. Within the same timeframe, DCPS’ student population increased by 2%, officials told The Informer.
Local school advisory teams are expected to submit their adjustments to DCPS’ budget by Feb. 23, less than two weeks after receiving the budget.
In years past, LSATs have complained about the short time window. Ferebee told The Informer that, this year, he’s focused on ensuring that school leaders are well versed on approaching administrators and LSATs around the guidance for cuts to full-time positions.
When it comes to budget cuts, DCPS central office told The Informer that it has turned its sights toward health technicians, not to be confused with school-based nurses, along with high-impact tutoring support positions. The removal of tutoring support positions wouldn’t affect the high-impact tutoring program, said Ferebee who expressed a desire to increase focus on math recovery, particularly eighth-grade algebra.
Local Education Leaders Weigh In About Processes, Transparency
Concerns about the long-term impact of the FY 2025 budget still persist at several District public schools. This is especially the case at elementary schools where student enrollment is anticipated to decline over the next few years.
With ESSER funds soon expiring, Dr. Marla Dean, chair of the Ward 7 Education Council said there’s a question of how schools will sustain essential programming. She told The Informer that the budget dilemma threatens efforts to secure high-quality academic resources in schools located east of the Anacostia River.
Dean, whose jurisdiction covers more than a dozen public schools, also raised concerns about the future of capital improvements, of which she said there’s a dire need for Ward 7 schools.
As it relates to LSATs’ budget deliberation, Dean described the Feb. 23 deadline as disadvantageous to parents and community members juggling several other obligations.
Though critical of what she called the D.C. Council’s hasty passage of the Schools First in Budgeting Act, Dean said that DCPS’ inability to submit its budget in accordance with the law shows a lack of interest in ensuring educational equity.
“What are schools going to do to address learning gaps? How will they support families? What’s going to happen with family engagement?” Dean asked. “We’re concerned about equity in technology to support learning at home. We’re concerned about socio-emotional support, not just the academic pieces. They need to be placed in schools that are in the communities that are still being impacted.”
As outlined in a D.C. Policy Center study titled “The fiscal future of public education in the District of Columbia,” ESSER funded DCPS’ summer programming, teacher training, support for English language learners and their families, high-impact tutoring, special education, and support for Science of Reading and multi-tiered support systems.
On Tuesday, hours before DCPS released the FY 2025 budget, D.C. Policy Center hosted a virtual presentation of the study. Solutions touted in the study include using remaining ESSER funds to meet future needs and sharing resources between local education agencies.
While Maya Martin Cadogan, founding executive director of Parents Amplifying Voices in Education, acknowledged D.C.’s precarious economic situation in her remarks at D.C. Policy Center’s event, she pressed for continued investment in District students who are still reeling from the academic and socioemotional effects of the pandemic.
“None of what they put into it is wrong, it’s finite,” Martin Cadogan said. “That’s why we’re here. As we examine the fiscal cliff, we can center what matters most and give [young people] the attention in our budgets to be loved.”
Gearing Up for a Likely Council Battle
Last budget season, Ferebee and Paul Kihn, deputy mayor for education, clashed with the legislative body due to their failure to meet a budget submission deadline outlined in the Schools First in Budgeting Amendment Act. Ferebee said, when it comes to budgeting, he and the council have different approaches. His office, he told The Informer, aims more for equity, rather than stability.
The latter, Ferebee said, proves detrimental because it funds seats that are no longer occupied and diverts funds away from students in need of support. He went on to tell The Informer that he’s been in communication with members of the D.C. Council about DCPS’ FY 2025 budget, though he declined to specify which members or how many.
D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), one council member confirmed to have received a call from Ferebee in advance of the budget’s release, said that he long warned DCPS against using one-time funds for programs and full-time staff positions.
His concerns this budget season include support for migrant students, the modernization of John Burroughs Elementary School in Northeast, and public safety at McKinley Technology Middle and High Schools, also in Northeast.
As it relates to the Schools First in Budgeting Act, Parker said that all District agencies, including DCPS, must follow the law, regardless of how they feel about it.
“If data suggests there’s a more equitable approach and the Schools First in Budgeting Amendment Act isn’t working the way it’s intended, then DCPS should send that,” Parker said. “I’m sympathetic to DCPS’ viewpoint about their funding approach but there’s a lack of clarity around their budgeting process so it’s hard to see the impact of investments they’re making in schools.”
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) too confirmed that Ferebee called him about the budget. He told The Informer that, much to his disappointment, Ferebee warned him about impending budget cuts for some District public schools.
Mendelson said, with that outcome, he stands prepared to restore funding to schools during the budget cycle. He went on to dismiss any notion that DCPS’ current funding formula ensures equity if it reduces schools’ funding level, regardless of enrollment.
“How do we improve schools with declining enrollment if we cut their budget? It’s a vicious spiral,” Mendelson said. “If DCPS releases budgets with cuts to schools, individual school communities are going to be very upset and fight like heck to avoid cuts and restore their funding. We don’t need that turmoil.”