Analyst: D.C.
schools’ budget would cut spending on special education services
Bill Myers, The Examiner
February 19, 2008
WASHINGTON -
D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee’s budget would slash spending on
the city’s already-troubled special education services by two-thirds,
according to documents.
Rhee also plans to farm out nearly two-thirds of the school systems’
jobs to private contractors if her budget is approved, an independent
analyst has concluded.
Mary Levy, a schools and budget expert at the Washington Lawyers
Committee for Civil Rights, examined Rhee’s proposed fiscal 2009
economic plan after city officials disgorged the documents to ward off
a lawsuit filed by parents and activists. She found that Rhee’s budget
slashes payroll by nearly $340 million and shifts the funds over to
private contractors.
Levy also said she was concerned that Rhee will chop spending on
special education services within the public schools from $56 million
to $18 million. “I’m just sort of mystified,” she said. “Somebody
should ask somebody in authority whether they really mean this.”
But top city officials downplayed the significance of the documents
released Friday under threat of a court sanction.
Acting D.C. Attorney General Peter Nickles said Monday it was too early
in the political process to draw any conclusions about Rhee’s fiscal
plans.
“It’s only a base budget. There’s a meeting every week with these guys
in green eye shades and you talk about how much more you need,” Nickles
said. “I’m not quite sure that the plaintiff parties understand that.”
Nickles also defended Rhee’s efforts to fix the schools — especially in
special education.
“Everywhere I look, and I’m sort of supervising all that, we’re making
progress,” Nickles said. “We’ve failed these kids for a long time and
we’re not going to fail them again.”
Neither Rhee nor Victor Reinoso, the deputy mayor for education,
responded to requests for comment.
But less than a year after Mayor Adrian Fenty took over the $1 billion
school system to popular acclaim, disillusionment is setting in.
Parents and activists are increasingly expressing their frustration at
what they see as the secrecy and confusion of the Fenty
administration’s efforts.
Last week, eight parents and activists marched into D.C. Superior Court
to demand that Rhee and Fenty explain their proposed budget. Fenty has
called a public budget hearing today at a remote high school and the
plaintiffs said that a 1987 law required the schools’ plans to be made
public before any hearing.
bmyers@dcexaminer.com
Examiner
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