Opening Statement of Councilmember David Grosso, Chairperson

Committee on Education & Committee of the Whole Joint Public Roundtable on

PR23-0067, the Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools Dr.
Lewis D. Ferebee Confirmation Resolution of 2019
February 12, 2019

Today is Tuesday, February 12, 2019 and we are gathered in room 412 of the John A. Wilson
Building to hear testimony on PR23-0067, “Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public
Schools Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee Confirmation Resolution of 2019.” This resolution would confirm
the appointment of Dr. Lewis Ferebee as the Chancellor of DC Public Schools. This is our third
and final roundtable.

Across 115 schools, DCPS currently serves nearly 49,000 students. My time as chairperson of
the Committee on Education has afforded me the opportunity to see the growth and
resurgence of DCPS, but also understand its challenges and areas in need of improvement,
particularly the past year.

It was nearly one year ago, then-Chancellor Antwan Wilson was forced to resign, barely one
year into his tenure, after revelations that his daughter transferred from a DCPS application
school to Wilson High School outside of the lottery process.

Since then, DCPS has seen new Deputy Chancellors, a new Chief of Staff, new Chiefs of
Elementary and Secondary Schools, and new Instructional Superintendents. In fact, if you look
at the DCPS website now, six key senior leadership positions all hold “interim titles.”

This level of chaos has done tremendous damage to the stability of the by-right system
charged with educating our students, and one that accounts for nearly half of the city’s
operating budget.

It is my assertion that while Chancellor Wilson’s actions sparked this chain of events, all of us
played a role in creating that instability.

Right before Chancellor Wilson’s nomination, I sent a letter to Mayor Bowser outlining some
characteristics I thought were important for the chancellor:

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 ● A past record of closing the achievement gap;
● A commitment to equity, particularly equity of rigor;
● A track record of engaging the whole community to serve the whole child;
● A fierce advocate for DCPS and a thriving by-right school system; and
● An ability to "keep the trains running on time"—managing the daily operations of a
complex school system.

Given the short time since that letter, I feel it important to highlight that these qualities are still
in need – and I intend to ask Dr. Ferebee to showcase instances where he has consistently
exhibited those. I would however add that it is necessary that the next Chancellor have a high
level of political acumen.

As much as I hate politics in education, the past year has shown us that there are many people
with immense knowledge in schools and education system who are no longer in education in
this city because they could not get the politics right. I do not want to be in this situation a year
or two from now because of political unforced errors. Our youth deserve better.

I have kept these thoughts in mind as my staff and I have reviewed Dr. Ferebee’s qualifications
and experience in education. But newspaper articles, Board of Education minutes, letters from
former colleagues, and anecdotes from communities only tell part of the story, and so I'm
looking forward to hearing directly from Dr. Ferebee today on issues like his record on charter
schools, human capital, school budgets, and school turnaround.

Before I turn to my colleagues for any opening statement, I want to say one more thing. I
believe that all of us strongly want what is best for the youth of this city and while we may not
agree on how to get there, there is broad agreement on the need to increase achievement
particularly for our students of color and the need to expand opportunity.

With that in mind, I feel the need to say that I too have been frustrated by this Mayor’s lack of
community engagement and her lack of seriousness and commitment to addressing issues in
the education area.

From funding, to facilities, to transportation, when it comes to schools, the Mayor’s strategy
has simply been to hold a pep rally or to put on a production.

And while I have deep dissatisfaction with this Mayor’s control of education, I am still a believer
in the system of Mayoral control. I believe that the vast majority of the people in this city feel
that same way.

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The next Chancellor must be mindful of that and must be willing to find ways to highlight and
do what is best for children of DCPS even when it goes against the recommendations of Mayor
Bowser.

I want to thank you all for making time to be with us today. I look forward to hearing your
testimony and the conversation thereafter.

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