Study: D.C. ranks near bottom of U.S. school systems
July 28, 2015
http://wtop.com/dc/2015/07/study-d-c-ranks-near-bottom-u-s-school-systems/
WASHINGTON — D.C. has the second to worst public school system in the United States, according to a new study from WalletHub, which analyzed dropout rates, math, reading and SAT scores, among other metrics.The city has the lowest math, reading and SAT scores of any school system in the U.S. It has the highest dropout rate and ranks last in school safety, according to the study.


The city’s graduation rate is disturbingly low, committee members reported: In 2014, the rate was 59 percent for public schools and 69 percent for charter schools. In the findings, the committee discovered low proficiency rates on math and science exams, and inadequate monitoring of English language learners and students with disabilities.
 

Last edited by Common Sense (2/19/2017 10:10 am)

OK Common, here is what the job description of the department of education is:

When Congress created the Department in 1979, it declared these purposes:

to strengthen the Federal commitment to ensuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual;
to supplement and complement the efforts of States, the local school systems and other instrumentalities of the States, the private sector, public and private educational institutions, public and private nonprofit educational research institutions, community-based organizations, parents, and students to improve the quality of education;
to encourage the increased involvement of the public, parents, and students in Federal education programs;
to promote improvements in the quality and usefulness of education through federally supported research, evaluation, and sharing of information;
to improve the coordination of Federal education programs;
to improve the management and efficiency of Federal education activities, especially with respect to the process, procedures, and administrative structures for the dispersal of Federal funds, as well as the reduction of unnecessary and duplicative burdens and constraints, including unnecessary paperwork, on the recipients of Federal funds; and
to increase the accountability of Federal education programs to the President, the Congress and the public. (Section 102, Public Law 96-88


Betsy DeVos has absolutely no, none, zilch, nada experience in education, teaching, administration, aid, substituting, coaching, virtually anything connected with schools other than fundraising for lobbying groups and elected officials that agree with her distorted point of view. Her main focus has been the dismantling of the public school system and replacing it with a mish-mash private, charter, and parochial schools. Her total disregard for the difficult job performed by public school teachers and administrations is evident due to her lack of actual experience in this area. Blaming the unionized teachers for the problems in public schooling is a red herring for her and others to hide behind because they refuse to put in the hard work necessary to aid in improving the public school system. DeVos' two faced handling of the situation detailed in the article I posted is further cause for concern on her ability to lead and direct the department of education. To praise the students, teachers, and administration as 'awesome' visiting the school only to later totally trash them all in her interview with Townhall is incomprehensible.

The bottom line is tha Ms. DeVos is unqualified to hold this office. Her focus on replacing public schooling for all with a system of private schools subsidized by the taxpayers, that does not require meeting certain educational norms, does not require verified certification of teachers, and does not hold administrators accountable for financial or academic standards is merely creating a shift and compounding of problems without offering solutions.

I wouldn't take my car to a McDonalds to get a mechanical problem rectified, and I wouldn't recommend a person totally devoid of any educational experience whatsoever to head the department of education. If it wasn't for the fact that she donated a lot of money to several senators re-election campaign coffers, she would have never been confirmed by the senate . . . Just ask Toomey.

DeVos continues to fail at the job, demonstrating the fact that she is totally unqualified for the position of secretary of education. Trump has made a lot of bad choices for his cabinet, but DeVos is one of the worst.


How is Betsy DeVos Bad for Public Education?

Let us count the ways.

Dana Hunter

Despite all our efforts, Betsy DeVos is the Secretary of Education. She's been on the job for several weeks now, and we've got a good idea of where she's taking America's public schools. In short: it's nowhere good.

So what has she been up to since she was confirmed?

She erased student debt protections against high fees charged to borrowers by guaranty agencies.

She installed a white woman as head of the department's Office for Civil Rights whose only real experience with civil rights law is 1) claiming she was discriminated against because she couldn't join a class section reserved for minorities and 2) writing an op-ed for the campus newspaper whining about affirmative action. Also, she apparently thinks women are only telling the truth about being sexually assaulted if they accuse a liberal man of attacking them.

She talked the talk about protecting trans students, but hasn't walked the walk. It's nice that she got language about LGBT students deserving protection from bullying, but it would've been nicer if she'd insisted they be allowed to use the bathroom that matches their gender identity. (You can join Laverne Cox's postcard writing campaign here.)

She's a huge proponent of the voucher programs that pour public money into private religious schools (yes, even the ones that use a terrible curriculum like ACE) – and this after it's been shown that voucher students "have fared worse academically compared to their closely matched peers attending public schools." Also, too, voucher programs are a great way to enable unscrupulous people to line their pockets with federal and state taxpayer money.

She paraded around at a STEM education event without mentioning the fact that Trump wants to eliminate NASA's education office, and the deep cuts his administration wants to make to her own Department of Education.

She blew off the concerns of undocumented students worried about Trump's anti-immigrant policies. She reassured them that Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelley had said rounding up DREAMers wasn't a priority. Of course, "not a priority" doesn't mean "won't ever happen," and DREAMers are, in fact, being deported by this administration at an ever-increasing rate. So we can see exactly what her assurances are worth.

She's all aboard with a proposed budget that devastates successful public school programs while funneling public funds to vastly inferior private and for-profit schools. She's deluded enough to claim that this budget "protects 'the nation's most vulnerable populations.'" I don't think she understands what vulnerable populations are or what they actually need.

She's displayed more of her penny-wise-pound-foolish tendencies by scrapping Obama administration plans to streamline federal student loan management – meaning companies that have already screwed borrowers over can continue to do so, and many former students will end up not being told of all their options when they fall on hard times.

She thinks kids are lacking in "values and character development" education – a judgement most often wielded against minority and disadvantaged/disabled students, resulting in excessive and disproportionate discipline that can compromise or end their schooling.

She's sure that all of us who have been protesting her appointment aren't genuine. We're all supposedly shills sicced on her by her enemies. That's so precious.

She's excessively keen on making education a state and local affair – to the extent she'd prefer to eliminate the department she was confirmed to run.

She has family and financial ties to an organization that wants to abolish the Department of Education, reducing it to an advisory council. They also want the Ten Commandments to be displayed and Bible classes taught in all public schools, "promote instruction 'from a Judeo-Christian perspective,'" and envision a "gradual, voluntary return at all levels to free-market private schools, church schools, and home schools as the normative American practice." Comprehensive public education propelled us to the status of a world superpower, but these people want to return us to colonial times.

She founded (and provided much of the funding for) a group dedicated to promoting charter schools in Michigan, whose head thinks it's appropriate to talk about shaking the female state official who challenged him, just like he claims to do to his wife.

And she managed to insult dedicated public school teachers from the beginning.

Great work, Secretary DeVos. Really first class. For unaccountable private school values of "first class."

We have a lot of work to do in order to protect the free and comprehensive education every child in this country is entitled to. Our public schools are too precious to lose. Please let your representatives on the local, state, and federal levels know that you're watching, and you will hold them accountable for the decisions they make. And watch this space for ways to oppose Secretary DeVos's misguided mismanagement of our nation's schools.