The Committee of the Whole public hearing on:

Bill 24-423, Coronavirus Immunization of School  Students and Early Childhood Workers Amendment Act of 2021

Nikki D’Angelo

Community Organizer

Democrats for Education Reform DC

Good morning Chairman Mendelson and DC Council Committee of the Whole:

My name is Nikki D’Angelo, and I am a Ward 5 resident, DCPS parent, former DC charter school teacher, and former DCPS central office employee. I am testifying on behalf of Democrats for Education Reform DC (DFER D.C.). I am pleased to testify in support of Bill 24-423, Coronavirus Immunization of School Students, and Early Childhood Workers Amendment Act 2021. I hope that this testimony offers a unique and helpful perspective.

Vaccinated people are less likely to be hospitalized, become seriously ill, and die due to COVID-19. Ensuring our children and those who work with our children and young people get vaccinated is essential to putting  communities and students’ health needs first. Many school districts across the country are making similar decisions, including Fairfax County schools, multiple New York Public Schools and the entire state of Hawaii, which  require all eligible student-athletes to be vaccinated. Additionally, outbreaks of the new Delta variant have caused nearly 700 schools nationwide to return to hybrid or fully online learning.  As a single, working mother of a Kindergartener, my child and I cannot afford to go backward, especially returning to online learning. His brain development and my ability to provide for him are at stake.  We must do all we can to keep our students safe and in school.

While I fully support this bill that will help keep students learning inside school buildings, I have a few concerns about how this bill would be implemented if passed.

• I am concerned about the eligible students who do not get vaccinated, even with the mandate, and what will happen to them.We do not want to exacerbate inequities for our public school students by closing school doors to students who are not vaccinated, particularly when they do not have much of a say when it comes to their health. As such, this bill, if passed, should be paired with an effort to ensure eligible students and child care staff have access to the COVID-19 vaccine and information about the vaccine.
• Relatedly, I am concerned about the rollout of vaccines for children ages 5-11. This age group could become eligible as early as November. What has the DC government learned since its last comprehensive rollout, and how will this one be better? I would recommend a phased rollout of the mandate, with students 12 years old and up being mandated first, and then students under 11 years old and below being mandated afterwards, earliest in January.
• The D.C. Council must consider who the responsibility of providing vaccinations falls on – schools, pediatricians, and/or the Department of Health – and whether they have the requisite resources.

Thank you for allowing me to testify in support of Bill 24-423.  If the bill advances in the legislative process, I hope my concerns will be addressed.

Nikki D’Angelo

Community Organizer

Democrats for Education Reform DC

Good morning Chairman Mendelson and DC Council Committee of the Whole:

My name is Nikki D’Angelo, and I am a Ward 5 resident, DCPS parent, former DC charter school teacher, and former DCPS central office employee. I am testifying on behalf of Democrats for Education Reform DC (DFER DC), and I am testifying in opposition to Bill 24-80, the DC State Education Agency Independence Amendment Act of 2021, and Bill 24-101, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education Amendment Act of 2021. I hope that this testimony offers a unique and helpful perspective.

Considering that our schools are focused on finally educating students in person, the DC Council should not contemplate these bills during the COVID Pandemic. Since March 2020, our education community in DC has been stunned and traumatized by the impact of COVID-19.  As a single, working parent, I can’t begin to explain the pressure that was relieved once our students were able to go back to in-person learning.  However, as the DC Council has heard from DC residents at length, our school communities continue to battle with the impact of COVID-19. Each school community has a unique set of challenges ahead of them. Still, there are a few issues I’ve seen come up District-wide: the vast need for facilities improvement, the need for accelerated learning, mental health supports for many students just returning to school, COVID testing at schools, and general logistical issues like school lunch. Considering the challenges schools face right now, OSSE should be entirely focused on supporting schools during these unprecedented times, not adjusting to a new structure. 

Additionally, DC has experienced much-needed progress in education, as recently reported by Mathematica.  In this report, findings concluded that since education reform efforts began in the 1990s until 2017, DC schools are improving outcomes for students – NAEP scores for math and reading in grades 4 and 8 have seen steady rises during the last few decades of dedicated school reform efforts.  We should be building on that progress by driving educational equity and expanding access, targeting resources, and providing enhanced support to students “at-risk” and students with special needs.  We have a massive opportunity to continue progress and right structural wrongs by investing in systemic change that directly improves outcomes for students who have been historically ignored – this should be our focus.

Concerning Bill 24-80 especially: the operations and work at OSSE is very important and works best with a narrow, direct connection to the Office of the Mayor. An additional layer to OSSE’s role does not benefit children and will pull the Superintendent and her staff in many different directions. Further, significant oversight of OSSE as an agency already occurs via the elected members of the DC Council. An OSSE under the State Board would subject the agency to the management of both elected bodies, which is burdensome and distracting. Concerning Bill 24-101, independent agencies are designated as such because they have responsibilities that should specifically remain separate or oversight requirements that are inherently separate from the executive. By definition of the broad array of duties and responsibilities at OSSE, it is not independent but interconnected by nature.   

Like many educators believe, every day is an opportunity to make a change – let’s focus our efforts on making improvements for our children so we can continue equitable progress for decades to come.

Thank you for allowing me to testify in opposition to these two bills.

Kyle Myers

Community Organizer

Democrats for Education Reform DC

Good evening. My name is Kyle Myers. I am a Ward 5 resident, and a fifth generation Washingtonian. I am writing this testimony on behalf of Democrats for Education Reform DC. I am pleased to offer testimony on the importance of ensuring the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) statewide annual assessment gets administered to students next spring, and increasing equity within our DC School Report Card Star Rating System. I believe that both are essential to helping ensure our students are successful.

OSSE must administer the PARCC Assessment in Spring 2022

The PARCC statewide annual assessment has not been administered to our students in two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It is absolutely necessary that it returns in the Spring 2022. The PARCC exam provides a citywide view of where all of our students are academically to drive change, direct resources to schools that need them most, and provide critical information on the DC School Report card. However, the PARCC exam should not be tied to accountability in spring 2022.

There are many ways to improve the PARCC exam, including the following: shorten the length of the exam; shorten the time it takes to get results back; and ensure students and families have the PARCC exam scores, understand why the exam is important, and know how to get appropriate accommodations if necessary. The exam should be shortened because over time a student may lose focus on the test because of how long they are just sitting there in between sections, and how many questions they have to answer. In my previous experience talking to students who have taken the test, some have admitted to giving up two thirds of the way through the test because it was just too long. Further, the importance of the exam should be communicated to students and families. In order for us to measure where a student really is, they have to put forth their best effort. Some students know that the test does not count against them grading wise, and I have witnessed them not even trying because of that fact. I understand explaining the means of the test, but the importance of its outcome should be stressed way more. Results need to come back faster than they have in the past. The faster we know where the students are, the more help can be provided to students and schools. It is crucial that the results are shared with parents so that they are also aware of their child’s academic level. Additionally, schools should be sharing with families opportunities to get testing accommodations when needed based on issues they may have taking the exam.

Ensure the DC School Report Card is Equitable

I would also like to share my support for the DC School Report Card and Star Framework and the need to increase equity within it. An equitable public education system provides equitable access, inclusion, and resources. It ensures opportunities and prevents performance gaps between student groups. All of these things require objective student data about student outcomes. In furtherance of this, we should assign higher star ratings to schools that are effectively educating certain student subgroups (e.g., students with disabilities, English learners, at-risk students). Additionally, specialized support for students with disabilities should be included on the DC School Report Card. These supports can include the following: information on sensory rooms for students with disabilities, specialized service offerings (i.e., for deaf and hard of hearing), the percentage of successful completion of Individual Education Plans, and the percentage of transition plans that are provided to students with disabilities who are 14 years old. These are the sort of improvements that we should be incentivizing with the DC School Report Card and Star Framework.

In closing, I hope the DC State Board of Education will help ensure the PARCC exam is administered in spring 2022 and recommend changes to the DC School Report Card and Star Framework that include objective measures of equity. Thank you for allowing me to testify on these important topics.

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The Committee of the Whole and

the Committee on Transportation & the Environment Public Hearing:

Kyle Myers
Community Organizer
Democrats for Education Reform DC

Good morning Chairman Mendelson, Councilmember Cheh, Committee of the Whole, and Committee on Transportation and the Environment:

My name is Kyle Myers, and I am a Ward 5 resident and 5th generation Washingtonian. I am testifying on behalf of Democrats for Education Reform DC (DFER DC). I am pleased to testify in support of Bill 24-66, the Safe Passage to School Expansion Act of 2021. Our children’s safety has to be a number one priority. I commend you on the efforts already put forth and the different resources that have been provided.

As we know, our students are vulnerable to many different hazards on their commute to and from school, especially if traveling alone. Some fall victim to harassment, violence, traffic danger, and all sorts of other obstacles. This can result in physical, mental, and emotional trauma that can hinder a child in a learning setting. Causing them to feel unsafe, anxious, and possibly affect their behavior. It is our responsibility to ensure the exact opposite. More immediate action needs to take place for these things not to happen.

I asked two of my nieces and nephews about their experiences on their way to school using. metro public transportation.  While some days are normal, they expressed that they do face some uncomfortable situations on buses and at metro stations, specifically at Anacostia metro station. My niece mentioned her commute home from school is always more troubling than her commute in the morning. She has faced verbal harassment from people who like to post up at or around the station for long periods. Sometimes they have enough gall to approach or even follow her. This ultimately puts my nephew, her brother, in a very compromising position on her behalf. Also, they both mentioned that there have been times when they have had issues with other students while using the metro. With the proper supervision, a lot of these situations can be prevented.  Providing shuttle buses from metro stations to school does provide some relief to harmful outside. exposure. It also gives the student a sense of security. We need to have more personnel posted in. neighborhoods, school districts, and metro stations during school hours, people that are designated for our students’ guidance and safety. These resources also provide security for the parents. Knowing that their child has a safe commute to and from school can save on stress and anxiety. It may also lighten the load for parents who feel obligated to personally take their. children to school, due to the risk factors along the way.

Our students’ safety is always the highest priority and the first step in providing a healthy education. We must ensure all aspects of their learning environments are covered because it all plays a huge factor in how they grow and the path they follow. I recognize and again commend you on all the resources provided for our families, and I look forward to seeing. continued improvement.

Thank you for allowing me to testify in support of Bill 24-66, the Safe Passage to School Expansion Act of 2021.

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