Carol Schwartz, Republican candidate for At-Large Councilmember
September 12, 2000, Primary Election
Parents United for the D.C. Public Schools Questionnaire
August 20, 2000

Appointed members of the School Board should have, above all, a sense of purpose about public education. The first question that an appointed or elected member asks herself or himself each day should be, "How can I improve public education for DC students today?" There is no prototype or ideal School Board member, appointed or elected. I would expect all of the appointed nominees who come before the Council for approval to have been thoroughly vetted by an appointment review body or commission convened for that purpose. I would look for balance in a set of appointments. I would look for civic dedication and community experience, and I would look for certain skill sets - analytical abilities and experience in dealing with procurement, budgeting, planning and policy formulation.

I would also look for a sense of independence. The appointment process should not be viewed as an avenue for political reward or advancement. Rather, it should be seen as an opportunity for public service, an opportunity to improve the city's public education system, and an opportunity to address the concerns of parents and citizens citywide. Most importantly, it is an opportunity to brighten the futures of our children - to give them the skills and training they need and deserve to successfully compete in the information age.

2) What is the difference between oversight and micromanagement of the school system? What is the role of the council with respect to public schools since some members of the School Board now have a relationship with the Council? How will you assure that the Superintendent is accountable to the School Board rather than pulled between the Mayor, Council and School Board?

The role of the Council with respect to public schools remains the same - legislative support and fiscal oversight to promote accountability and quality within the public school system. The Council, which has fully funded the District of Columbia Public Schools budget for the coming year and has increased its budget over the last several years, will continue in its oversight role to ensure accountability on the part of the DCPS administration. DCPS's success in helping students from all backgrounds achieve higher academic standards depends largely on its ability to achieve sound financial management. DCPS must get a handle on its spending, stop wasteful expenditures, become more efficient and reinvest resources on its most important asset, the children. DCPS's procurement and financing systems must be restructured to make it possible to track spending and deliver books and supplies to the classroom on a timely basis. The procurement contract negotiations process is also in need of major overhaul to assure that wasteful practices are eliminated and that we obtain the best possible services, products and fair prices. Guidelines must be established to ensure that programs to address the needs of impoverished students are meeting their goals, and DCPS must be able to take swift corrective action when a school is in crisis. DCPS must develop and maintain a special education program that meets local needs, one that handles assessment correctly and reduces the over-reliance on private placements. These are some of the goals that the Council has set in its oversight of the school budget.

Recognizing past micromanagement of DCPS by the Board of Education, I helped - as a member of the Council's Committee on Education - to more clearly define the. roles and responsibilities of the new Board. The Board's main emphasis should be on policy formulation and oversight of subsequent policy implementation. The Board's oversight extends to the Superintendent's leadership role of the public school system. Board oversight should entail communications and coordination with the Superintendent, especially on planning and policy goals for the education system. Oversight of the Superintendent's performance as CEO of the School System and as the principal link between policy formulation and operations is a critical area of Board oversight- Board oversight does not - and should not - extend to individual schools within the system, and the Board should not serve as a court of appeals for unpopular decisions made by local school principals. That is micromanagement.

Another critical oversight area is school budget formulation and coordination with the Superintendent. In my view, there can be no complete assurance that a Superintendent will not be affected by "political pressures." 1 would hope that the permanent Superintendent ultimately selected to run our schools will have the maturity, experience and wisdom to ask himself or herself the question that I want the Board members to ask themselves every day: What can 1 do for the children of the District of Columbia today? And I would urge all of my colleagues on the Council, the members of the School Board and the Mayor to give our Superintendent the latitude to answer that question using the skills and expertise that he or she brings to the job.

3) What steps would you take to see that the school system's operating budget and capital budget are adequately funded to meet student's needs for a high quality educational program? Please include comments on financing for new school construction and for funding high quality occupational/career development opportunities which do not now exist.

A first step would be to seek and receive additional federal grant funding for day care and Early Head Start programs, and for the classroom spaces needed to provide those services, and to help establish a DC Teachers Academy, where highly skilled, experienced teachers can improve classroom skills of new and current teachers.

A second step would be for DCPS to finally complete development of a facilities plea that, once it is thoroughly discussed in public forums, is put into place to guide the school system in the construction of new schools and the modernization of existing schools. The August 1, 2000, report by DeJong and Associates makes clear the challenges that the District faces in the rebuilding, through modernization and replacement, of its aging inventory of school facilities. We must agree on a plan and then work to finance school modernization and new school construction. Once a plan is in place, I would urge the Mayor to sell the extra buildings on the open market to provide additional capital for our school system.

A third step would be to improve the planning and coordination phase of the DCPS budget process to ensure that the Council knows in advance what is needed, and to enable the Council to prioritize the dollars needed for public education in a timely and well-ordered fashion at the front of the budget process, and not at the tail end.

A fourth step would be to analyze what incentives are needed to enable DCPS to hire and retain high-quality teachers. The critical shortage of quality teachers, which affects school systems across the nation, has been a legislative focus for me during this Council period. - I introduced one bill, which is now law, that authorizes paying signing bonuses to new teachers, and another bill to make teachers eligible for low-interest loans to purchase homes in the District. It makes no sense that contractors and consultants are paid healthy salaries when the people we entrust with the futures of our children are consistently relegated to the bottom of the pay scale, and I will continue to work to improve teacher pay and benefits and career development opportunities, if re-elected.

4) Our older students have such low achievement levels that they will not graduate with competitive skills unless they receive additional support What are you willing to do to raise achievement at the high school level? Would you accept differentiated diplomas so that students who do not pass requirements and tests receive a diploma that is different from the diploma for students who do pass requirements and tests?

While this is a policy question that will best be answered - and should be answered - by the Board of Education, working with the Superintendent, I must say it is a sad commentary that we are debating whether or not to allow students to graduate with less-than-adequate skills. In my view, our schools would best serve these young people by doing all that can be done to raise their levels of achievement so that they may graduate having successfully completed all requirements and tests. I would like to see the school system implement a plan to reward teachers and administrators who demonstrate results in getting underachieving students up to the levels of skill and knowledge needed to meet requirements for graduation.

I am opposed to social promotion, which is what has caused our school system to not do right by so many students. While it won't help older students who have already been shortchanged, the best way to end social promotion is to promote early intervention. Children who are not taught to read by the second or third grade should receive intensive reading instruction, whether in summer school, after-school programs or tutoring. Students should not be routinely promoted past the third grade unless they can read. Study after study shows that most children who cannot read well by the third grade keep falling farther and farther behind. I would hate to see our school system initiate differential diplomas, because I fear that they would be used as a reason to continue social promotion and, as a result, mediocrity in education. Early intervention with our younger students today will mean higher achievement levels in the years to come.

5) If you have children, do (did) your children attend D.C. Public Schools?

Yes.

Which schools? My three children attended Murch Elementary School, Deal Junior High School, and Wilson Senior High School.

For how long? My oldest two children, Stephanie and Hilary, attended DC Public Schools for 13 years (from kindergarten through the 12'h grade), and my youngest, Douglas, attended for 14 years (pre-K through the 12'h Grade).

I am proud that my three children attended D.C. public schools throughout their pre-college years. Each has gone on to begin successful careers - Stephanie as a lawyer for New York Legal Aid, Hilary as a marketing executive for USA Today in New York, and Douglas as a journalist and reporter for ABC Radio in London, England.