Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON – (WMAL) The news that one out of every three D.C. Public School graduates last year were in violation of attendance policies is prompting changes in the way the system deals with accountability, training, and enforcement.
The report laid out by D.C.’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education presented startling numbers: In 2017, 34% of DCPS high school graduates benefited from lax enforcement of attendance and credit requirements. In some cases, investigators found school administrators were changing attendance numbers reported by teachers. Four school officials were placed on leave: The principal at Dunbar High School, which saw the highest number of adjusted attendance numbers, the principal and assistant principal at Ballou High School, where reports of students graduating without meeting requirements first surfaced, and DCPS’ Chief of Secondary Schools.
“DCPS teachers and school leaders are subject to a variety of institutional and administrative pressures which have contributed to a culture in which passing and graduating students is expected, sometimes in contradiction to standards of academic rigor and integrity,” the report read. It also found oversight from DCPS’ Central Office was lacking.
Out of the District’s 19 high schools, policy violations were found at all but two.
Chancellor Antwan Wilson, who started in the position in Feb. 2017, pledged to make a number of changes as a result of the report’s findings.
One of the most troubling aspects, he said, were teachers that had attempted to raise red flags but went unheard.
“We are standing up an office that has an ombudsman-like role to make sure that our policies, our procedures are being implemented with fidelity, and our teachers and community members have a place to go that they know that the issues will get to me in a timely fashion,” Wilson said at Tuesday’s news conference.
He also said teachers are being retrained on the system’s attendance policies.
“The staff need to be well-prepared. They need to be well-trained,” Wilson said. “They need to understand what we mean when we say accountability. They need to understand what we mean when we talk about integrity. That’s where that training comes in.”
In addition, each member of the class of 2018 is having his or her transcript reviewed, he said.
The scandal has its roots in a triumphant announcement from DCPS in June 2017, noting each member of Ballou High’s graduating class was accepted to college for the first time. The school is located in a troubled area of Southeast D.C. An NPR investigation found dozens of the school’s 164 graduates did not meet attendance requirements. The OSSE report found the issue was not limited to Ballou.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser noted none of the changes being made will make any difference if kids do not feel compelled to go to school.
“We need to remind everybody that waking up in the morning, getting on the bus, and getting to school – that’s a family and community responsibility as well,” she said. “We all have to be part of the solution.”
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