Information sharing - please see email below.
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Ward Five Council on Education
Phone: 202-505-4309
About the Ward Five Council on Education
The Ward Five Council on Education is a 501(c)3 community organization dedicated to improving the quality of education in Ward 5 and citywide. The Council provides a forum for community stakeholders to share and resolve issues surrounding Ward 5 schools and works closely with the District of Columbia's education community to ensure that the quality of public schools – both traditional and charter – is exactly what Ward 5 students, parents, and the community at large deserves. The Council takes action through advocacy, education of all education stakeholders, and community involvement. Learn more at www.w5coe.org.
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|
 EMPOWER DC Organizing Community Power! |
| Empower DC Releases Internal DCPS School Closure Emails
"The bottom line is that overall there was not a huge difference performance change [sic] between students in schools which closed and all other students. The small difference there was was actually negative, so it's probably just better to avoid this angle if it does come up." -- Greg Garrison, DCPS Deputy Chief, Office of Data and Accountability (former) to Peter Weber, DCPS Chief of Strategy  In March 2013 Empower DC and our members filed a lawsuit to block the closure of 15 DC public schools. Although the injunction we sought, which would have stopped the closures entirely, was blocked the judge allowed the lawsuit to move forward on several counts, including our claim of disparate racial impact. The closures ultimately displaced 2,642 children, of which only 2 were white.
As part of the "discovery" phase of the lawsuit, Empower DC received thousands of internal DCPS emails related to school closures and had the opportunity to question under oath four high-level DCPS officials, including Chancellor Kaya Henderson. We undertook this lawsuit because we know that corporate education reform is hurting our communities, particularly Black and Brown communities where school closures have taken place. These emails show how external, education privatization organizations are having a significant influence on DC education policy behind the scenes, in particular pushing for closures, the rise of charter schools, etc.
Among the many emails that stood out to us are: - An exchange between Chancellor Kaya Henderson and former Mayor Vincent Gray dismissing Ward 8 advocates and residents
- An email from Peter Weber, DCPS Chief of Strategy, to Chancellor Kaya Henderson about setting up a "straw man" (definition: a fake argument set up to be defeated) for school closures
- An email from Chancellor Kaya Henderson dismissing the federal Department of Education and Empower DC's concerns about the discriminatory impact of school closures
Follow this link to all of the individual emails Follow this link to the merged emails for easier searching Though we've poured over these for hours, we know we haven't found all the significant emails yet. We are releasing all of the thousands of emails to the public. And we look forward to hearing what you find. What did we miss?  Note that the files contain many duplicate emails, and each PDF should be read from the last page to the first (the order in which the emails were sent). We have posted the emails as they were given to us, each with it's individual "Bates Number" stamped at the bottom right hand corner. We also posted each Disc of emails as one long merged pdf document so you can search the whole thing at once.
Additionally, we are making the deposition transcripts for Peter Weber - DCPS Chief of Strategy, Lisa Ruda - DCPS Deputy Chancellor of Operations and Kaya Henderson - DCPS chancellor available for your review. Our campaign to save neighborhood schools is not over, and with your help we will be able to learn as much as possible from these emails to inform the rest of our work. Tell us what you find by posting on our Facebook page (facebook.com/empowerdc), tweeting @empowerdc or by contacting Daniel, Empower DC's education organizer (202-234-9119 x104 / daniel@empowerdc.org). Some suggested search terms to get you started: Bowser, City Bridge, Catherine Bradley, WTU, Charter, Kipp, US DOE, Ed.gov, IFF, DME, ERS, Scott Pearson, Donors, Donor Briefing, Empower DC, Kamras, DC Public Education Fund, DCPEF, Vincent Gray, vcg6@dc.gov, Broad, Walton, DGS Parents, activists, City Council members, reporters, State Board of Education members - make sure to search your name as well! |
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