Author: Council of the Great City Schools, Washington, DC.

Publisher:

Published: 2005

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13:

This report is a sequel to the Council of Great City Schools' 2004 report "Restoring Excellence to the DC Public Schools" that prompted the district school system to develop a new strategic plan, adopt strong academic standards, recruit new talent and accelerate professional development, and generally overhaul both buildings and curriculum. The current report urges the DC Public Schools to begin realigning its resources to improve student achievement by posing a new set of questions, including: (1) Is the school district ready to assume full responsibility for its own budget? (2) Does the school district manage its resources appropriately? (3) How does the school district spend its money compared with other cities? and (4) Is the system funded adequately? The main recommendation in this report is that the school district begin using its resources more effectively, over time, to raise student achievement based on findings that include: (1) Financial progress over several years, although the district is not yet ready to assume full responsibility for its budget; (2) The school district manages its resources better than it used to, but continues to address a number of operational weaknesses such as weak internal controls, poor staff training, weak procedures, redundant processes, poor position control, and out-of-date technology; (3) Higher per pupil spending, for both instructional and support purposes, than most big city school districts; and (4) Funding that is closer to adequate than most big city school districts, but high expenditures for special education, transportation, and an unusually large number of schools for students served, leave little for regular instruction. The document includes 13 appendixes: (A) Working Agenda; (B) Documents Reviewed; (C) Individuals Interviewed; (D) Strategic Support Team; (E) Curriculum-based Budgeting; (F) Great City Schools Budget Survey; (G) Glossary of NCES Terms; (H) Spending Comparisons with Other City School Districts; (I) Key Variables of the Great City Schools; (J) Spending Comparisons with Suburban Districts; (K) Recommendations of the 1999 External Transition Work Group; (L) History of Strategic Support Teams; and (M) About the Council. (Contains 96 footnotes, 20 figures, and 3 tables.) [For initial report, see ED486423.].