alt.education

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Anything can't help but help ... maybe ...

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"Plan Aired To Root Out D.C. Students' Problems"

By V. Dion Haynes
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, March 1, 2008; B01



Troubled D.C. public school students will get intensive intervention
services -- involving support for their families, behavior management
strategies and academic help -- in a forthcoming pilot program, Deputy
Mayor for Education Victor Reinoso testified last night.

During a more than 10-hour D.C. Council oversight hearing on schools,
Reinoso said that his office plans to target children with problems in
class. Charter school and school construction officials also testified
during the hearing.

Rather than just focus on a student's academic needs, he said, an
intervention team will probe a child's background to find what is
causing academic or behavioral problems.

He said his office will launch the program in two schools next month
and four or five in the fall. It will aim at helping the student
"before he is in a crisis," Reinoso said.

"We will work with a clinician on a comprehensive plan, working with
the child in behavior management and a program that will provide
support for the mother," he said. For example, he said, a child might
be found to be upset because his father has been jailed and his mother
has devoted her attention to an ailing brother or sister. The
intervention team, he said, might enlist the aid of a grandmother who
could spend more time with the child.

Reinoso said his office also is working with Schools Chancellor
Michelle A. Rhee on a program to assess needs of students in pre-
kindergarten and those entering kindergarten. "We don't have any
systematic way as a city to see where kids are at the starting line
and to intervene" for those who need help, he said.

He also said he is beginning work on an intervention program for
students who are on the verge of dropping out of high school. Charter
school advocates called on District officials to provide greater
financial support and increased access to excess D.C. public school
buildings.

The advocates complained that the charters were not included in last
fall's $81 million supplemental allocation to the school system to
cover a budget shortfall. The advocates said the law required
equitable funding distributions.

The "council gave [Mayor Adrian M. Fenty] exactly what he asked for,
despite certain reservations, ignoring the legality of the School
Reform Act and the protestations of the charter school community,"
said Ramona H. Edelin, executive director of the D.C. Association of
Chartered Public Schools.

But council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) disagreed that charters are
entitled to more money. In an interview, Wells said the $81 million
was needed to cover costs associated with last year's mayoral takeover
of the school system and not subject to the funding formula that
applies to charters. He also said the District's charters receive the
highest payment rate in the nation.

During the hearing, Wells said charters impair the system and
contribute to circumstances that have led to the proposed closure of
23 schools. "I think the charter school movement can undermine the
D.C. system," he said.

Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) said the school system and
charters should work together more closely so "we can lift up all
boats."

A school construction official updated council members on efforts to
modernize schools.

Allen Y. Lew, executive director of the D.C. Office of Public
Education Facilities Modernization, said staff members are devising a
master plan to guide the work. He also said he has recruited
contractors and subcontractors "with a track record and history of
performance" who had not worked with the school system in the past.

"I believe that our office has gotten off to a good start and that we
have demonstrated that we can get the job done," he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/29/AR2008022903605.html

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