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During its first budget vote on Tuesday, the D.C. Council unanimously approved a fiscal year 2024 budget proposal that allocated an additional $15 million to the charter sector.
That amount, on top of what D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) initially earmarked in her proposal, provided the charter sector a total of $73 million for teacher and staff compensation.
While a far cry from what charter sector advocates rallied for on the front steps of the John A. Wilson Building last week, some people, like Jacque Patterson, remain hopeful that District teachers will be recognized and rewarded for their work, regardless of whether they’re employed by a public school or public charter school.
Patterson, an At-large State Board of Education (SBOE) member and KIPP DC’s chief community engagement & growth officer, counted among those who took part in the “Stop the Shortchange Rally” on the morning of May 10.
This event, coordinated by the DC Charter School Alliance and Education Reform Now D.C., centered not only on the allocation of educator pay raises through the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula, but the expansion of those pay raises to instructional coaches, social workers and other staff members.
“Teachers [in the public and public charter sectors] recognize they want a fair salary that allows for a comfortable life in D.C. As a whole, they should be appreciated for their work,” said Patterson, who spoke to the Informer in his capacity as an SBOE representative.
“Families and students don’t distinguish between charters and D.C. public schools,” Patterson continued. “They don’t want to be penalized because their child is in a charter school losing a health practitioner because of a different funding model that doesn’t pay as well. It becomes political, but it’s [about] families and educators.”
Other speakers at the “Stop the Change” Rally included D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D), SBOE Representative Brandon Best (Ward 6), parent Latiya Loring and Jessica Giles, executive director of Educator Reform Now D.C.
The rally took place weeks after charter sector leaders pushed back against Bowser’s budget proposal, which only provided matching Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) contract funds to public charter schools applying for grants requiring the online release of teacher salary and retention data.
Other stipulations that incited fury among charter sector leaders included back pay for charter sector teachers going back two years, instead of four years as outlined in the WTU contract, along with the 12.5% pay bump not closing pay disparities between the two sectors.
In speaking about the pay equity conundrum, D.C. Council member Trayon White (D-Ward 8) said that he supports equal funding for all schools, especially as it concerns his constituents who often rank education and public safety among their top concerns.
For four years, WTU leaders worked to solidify what would ultimately become a retroactive contract with Bowser and D.C. Public Schools (DCPS). That process culminated during the latter part of last year with the ratification of a contract, and later some agreement that public school teachers would receive their back pay by May.
During Teacher Appreciation Week, however, District public school teachers found out that the District could only secure only a tiny portion of their back pay by May 19. Earlier this year, the Office of Labor Relations and Collective Bargaining designated that date for the full receipt of public school teachers’ retroactive payments.
WTU President Jacqueline Pogue-Lyons told the Informer that she learned that teachers would receive the rest of their back pay by mid-June. She said such an outcome doesn’t give her much reassurance about District officials’ ability to stick to a deadline, especially with another round of contract negotiations coming around the corner.
“If we would have contracts done on time, we wouldn’t have to worry about retroactive pay,” Pogue-Lyons said. “One of the things we need to do is make sure we’re never in the rear with contracts so you don’t have to apologize for not giving people money. I’m worried about making sure that what they promised [during Teacher Appreciation Week] actually happens.”
On the morning of May 18, the DC Caucus of Rank and File Educators (DC CORE), a WTU caucus, is scheduled to set up shop at Waterfront, Benning Road, Anacostia and Columbia Heights metro stations in demand of a timely retroactive payment.
Laura Fuchs, a teacher at H.D. Woodson High School and DC-CORE member, told the Informer that DC-CORE isn’t collaborating with WTU leadership for the protest.
The D.C. Council’s fiscal year 2024 budget proposal included $23.9 million in additional funding to fulfill the tenets of the Schools First in Budgeting Act, which requires District public schools to receive funding equal to what had been allocated during the previous fiscal year. Other education-related features of the budget include $3.9 million for flexible teacher scheduling and $6.3 million over the next four years to subsidize a social worker new degree program pipeline.
Proposed cuts to DCPS central office incited concern among some people, including D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), who said that he hopes that council members and central office could find a middle ground.
Earlier this week, Mendelson not only espoused support for public and public charter sector pay equity, but charter school teachers’ ability to unionize. In regard to the DCPS back pay situation, the council chairman said he didn’t expect any foul play on the part of Bowser and DCPS officials. He only acknowledged the complexity of ensuring that teachers receive their long-awaited funds.
“I get that teachers wait[ed] four years for their contract,” Mendelson said. “The government should move quickly. I know it’s a time-consuming process. It’s complicated to get those payments done. There’s thousands of employees getting checks. It’s complicated since it goes back several years.”