Dwight Singleton, Candidate for
Wards 3 and 4 Representative to the Board of Education in the
November 7, 2000, General Election
Parents United for DC Public Schools Questionnaire, October 2000

What are your three highest priorities for the Board? What will you do about them?

As a school board member for the District of Columbia Public Schools, the top priorities are attendance, facilities, policy making, and student achievement. First, many of our young people are not attending school, as they should, especially on the secondary level. Thus, I would make sure there is an effective plan as part of the school plan showing implementation and follow-up as important ideas. Second, facilities must be improved not only as an outer appearance, but the improvements must include our classrooms, bathrooms, hot water, and decent student and teacher lunch and planning areas, all of which provide clean and safe environments for our teachers to teach and for our students to learn. Third, student achievement is of the utmost of the priorities, as it has been during my prior service as a school board member. I will continue to be an active participant in efforts to make policy and work with the Superintendent, fellow school   board members, administrators, and teachers to bring about positive improvements, by providing and supporting those resources necessary to strengthening student achievement.

What is the role of parents in the DCPS at both the individual school and city-wide? Should the Local Restructuring Teams be continued and if so, how can they be made more effective?

The parents are the support groups at both the individual school and city-wide levels. Parents are stakeholders that should be included in planning and making decisions in conjunction with the Superintendent, school board members, administrators, and teachers. As such, the Local School Restructuring teams should be continued with modifications. The required participation of the support staff and parents should be monitored and, perhaps, signatures should be required to sign off on documents.

What is your view of the facilities planning process now underway?

I am ambivalent about some of the planning. However, as the past chairperson of the facilities committee, I am aware of the great needs that our facilities have. My support is steadfast and my willingness to study and monitor the process speaks to my expectations of better facilities for our schools.

What has been your personal involvement with the DC Public Schools? Have your children been enrolled and for how long? Why are you interested in this position?

As the current Ward 4 Representative to the DC Board of Education, I have had the distinct privilege and honor of working with and serving the talented and gifted children in our schools. Prior to the Board of Education, I worked with a variety of neighborhood organizations and parent advocate groups to gain a keen sense of parent concerns and educational issues. I volunteered my time and services to neighborhood schools assisting with fundraising projects as well as tutoring students in a wide range of subject areas. Specifically, I have served as President of the Truesdell PTA; as a member of Truesdell's Local School Restructuring Team ("LSRT"); as a member of the Rudolph Elementary School PTA; and I am a member of the DC Congress of Parents and Teachers Association. I have volunteered at several schools. For instance, I have taught pre-kindergarten at Truesdell School. I was a sponsor of the "Reach for Excellence," which is a mentoring program for youth at Rudolph School. I have served as a volunteer math instructor at Barnard Elementary School. I am a native Washingtonian and a graduate of the DC Public Schools (Truesdell Elementary School; Rabaut Junior High School; and Roosevelt Senior High School). I am a parent of a first grader who attends a District of Columbia Public School; my child has been enrolled in DCPS since pre-kindergarten.

As reform efforts are now in place with considerable focus on improving our public schools, school governance is critical. As an advocate for quality and accessible education for all children in our city, my participation and decision making is a priority. During my tenure, I have a proven record on the Board. I have demonstrated the commitment to improving education, raising standards, improving student achievement, and have actively participated in many positive improvements in the school system under Ms. Ackerman and under Dr. Vance. While serving as Vice President of the Board in 1999, I took proactive steps of sustaining a positive working relationship between the Board and the Superintendent, which involved the Board as an integral partner in improving student academic performance. As Chairman of the Committee on Facilities, I was instrumental in organizing a collaborative partnership between the school board, the Superintendent, the school administration, the Army Corps of Engineers, and other architectural consultants in preparing a realistic framework of the Long-Range Facilities Master Plan. I have successfully facilitated the active participation and involvement of the community (through the Committee of 21), which is now a key element in developing and implementing short and long-term goals, objectives, and strategies for determining the reconstruction and/or modernization of our school facilities. Further, I have extensive professional training in business and management, with over ten years of management experience in both the public and private sectors concentrating in such areas as finance and budget administration, as well as having earned a MBA and BS degree. In short, I am an involved DC Public School parent. I am committed to being a forceful advocate on behalf of our children; and I have the willingness to serve and the ability work as a team with the Superintendent to offer high quality educational opportunities that will improve our schools.

How can you avoid the acrimonious relationships between board members, and between the School Board, Superintendent, Mayor and Council that have prevented a concerted effort to bring to our children's schools all of the resources to provide the high quality of public education our children need and our city needs for them?

There have been many lessons to learn. This time around affords me the opportunity to implement and respond by using the lessons learned. Board members must be aware, knowledgeable, forthright, and policy makers. The spirit of collaboration and cooperation will allow us to make many achievements for our educational community. All efforts will be made to listen attentively, accept opinions of others, and share in decision-making, by putting our children's interest and needs at the top of the list.