DC Public Schools Budget

Joe Weedon

Representative (2015-2019), DC State Board of Education

LSAT Member at Eastern High School

past LSAT member at Maury ES, Eliot-Hine MS and others

FY2021 (School Year 2020-21)

$17.5 million in the operating budget

How is the education budget made?� The city level

It’s driven by Enrollment Projections

• The District allocates local revenue to DC public and public charter schools through the

Uniform Per Student Funding Formula -- UPSFF.

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• The formula starts with a foundation amount per student.
• (SY) 2020-21 = $11,400, a 3% increase over the prior year.

—plus adjustments by grade level.

At-Risk Funds

• The current school funding formula provides an additional $2,470 for every “at-risk” student

—44 percent below the recommended level. 

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Approximately $100m in FY2021.

At-risk funding also supports budget items that are outside of the general categories and that aim to ensure that all students, especially students considered at-risk, can take advantage of additional high-quality programs, curriculum, and instructional supports provided to all students. These items include additional Instructional Coaches for schools with more teachers to have content-specific coaches, and other positions either not allocated as part of the Comprehensive Staffing Model or are in addition to the allocations required by the Comprehensive Staffing Model.

How the Budget Gets Made� The LEA Level

The funds then go to each individual LEA (Local Education Agencies) to distribute to their schools how they see fit.

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The current (past??) DCPS budget is…� complicated.

• First, the Budget Allocation.
• Essentially, DCPS provides you a staffing model that meets the needs of your school body.
• That’s then translated into dollars.

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• Two Rules:
1. The dollar amount must meet the per-pupil funding minimum.
2. It cannot be a cut of more than 5% from the previous year.

What was the SY20-21 Walls � Initial Budget Allocation and Staffing?

• School Without Walls FY2021 Allocated Budget

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• And, again, with the dollar amount, comes a proposed staffing plan created by DCPS.
• Required:
• Principal
• Teachers
• Special Ed
• Optional Positions
• AP’s
• Librarians
• Counselors/Social Workers
• Office Staff
• Other School Supports
• Janitors
• Security

Budget Allocation� to the Submitted Budget

• After you get the dollars – your budget allocation – from DCPS, the principal and LSAT have to make their decisions.
• The submitted budget.

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• How do we support the priorities of our school?
• Trade: Librarian for ???
• Trade: What can we do to buy more Social-Emotional Programming and support???
• Trade: Office/Support Staff/AP for ???

How did the FY21 Walls budget compare� to past years?

• School Without Walls FY2021 Approved Budget

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Remember:

The Final FY 2021 (School Year 2020-2021) saw per Student Spending increase by 3%.

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Schools also saw cost increases due to inflation, new contracts for principals, janitors, and others that equate to approximately 4-5%.

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This resulted in CUTS of approximately $300k in staffing to Walls.

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The SY20-21 Walls Allocation� The math…

Total Per Student Formula Funding: $10,555 + At-risk DCPS minimum = $10,400

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The per student funding levels provided by DCPS are inclusive of special education and high school enhancements.

How does the Walls budget compare� to other schools?

• https://dcpsbudget.ourdcschools.org/

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Is Walls underfunded?

• Yes. When you factor in all the adjustments/enhancements that ‘should’ be made to enhance the Walls budget, the school is one of the lowest funder schools, per student in the District.
• Ie, the per student is the “floor.” Walls does not receive its enhancements for being a high school, special ed., etc as other schools do.

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ONLY General Education Dollars, before enhancements:

Inclusive of specialized enrollment funds:

Making the argument that Walls is underfunded?

• DCPS will claim that Walls’ budget meets its per-student minimum, however…

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• We can claim:
• The DCPS per student minimum is inadequate.
• Supplemental allocations (Special Ed, High School) NOT be included in the per-student minimum.

The Budget Reality?� DC’s Education budget

• Investment has not reached the “adequacy level” outlined in a 2013 report.
• Inflation and increased costs
• Teacher contract, Principal contract, Custodians contract, Security costs.
• Growth in the number of schools.
• More dollars go to overhead; less to classrooms. We have 20,000 empty seats across DCPS and the public charters.

DCPS is proposing to change their budget process

• Goals:
• Give schools more flexibility
• Provide Fiscal Stability
• Promote transparency

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Details:

https://dcps.dc.gov/budget

What would the changes mean?

• Move away from the comprehensive staffing model to a per-student based funding model.

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• Two Rules (still apply):
1. The dollar amount must meet the per-pupil funding minimum.
2. It cannot be a cut of more than 5% from the previous year.

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Critical for SWW – per student level is increased and does not include additions.

What’s ACTUALLY driving the change?

What’s ACTUALLY driving the change?

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Inflation and the increased number of schools means less dollars go to our classrooms.

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The problem with mayoral control:

The Chancellor reports to the Mayor. He is unable to publicly lobby for additional funds beyond the mayor’s budget, even as resources fall short. He will not lobby for structural changes to support DC Public Schools (ie, cap on the number of seats and limits to the expansion of DCPS/Charter schools).

What’s all this mean for SWW?

It’s Unclear.

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Costs are likely to rise – new WTU Contract

Shift to Per-Student Funding does not change structural issues

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The increased flexibility DCPS is promising only means something if you have funds that are “flexible.”

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What should we be fighting for?

• At the City Level: Increased Budget Allocations
• Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF)
• Increased per student minimum within the city budget. Meet levels set in the 2013 Adequacy Study.
• At-Risk Funding
• Increased allocations.

This gets more money to the LEA’s (ie, DCPS)

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• At the DCPS Level: Transparency & Increased Per Student Minimum
• Increased per student minimum within the DCPS budget, especially the HS Per Student Minimum (ie, ensure supplemental weights are NOT included in the per student minimum).

• Ensure At-Risk funding supplements and does not supplants spending.

This gets more money to the individual schools.

At the DCPS Level:

Transparency & Increased Per Student Minimum

What would enrollment changes look like at Walls?

• How could changes to who enrolls at Walls impact student needs?
• Are changes being taken into account in enrollment planning and at-risk funding?

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• Will changes to the enrollment process mean…
• More spending for Summer Bridge?
• Additional Academic Support / Remedial Courses?
• Additional Counselors / Behavioral Supports?

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• Given the pandemic, we can expect cuts to spending… and costs to schools are expected to continue to increase.

Our next steps -- Advocacy

• Assumptions:
• DCPS is going to move forward with their changes.
• New Education Committee Chair in January.
• Our first ask of the new chair:
• Require DCPS to release models in early 2021 for public input

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• Priorities:
• Investments.
• Meet 2013 Adequacy Levels. Increase At-Risk investment.
• Require LEAs to set a per-student minimum; establish a HS per student minimum, ensure at-risk, supplemental weights are truly supplemental.

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• Equity. All Ward 3 schools have a full-time librarian. Fewer than ½ of schools in Wards 7 & 8 have a full-time librarian.

What can we do?

• Testify
• DCPS Budget Hearing
• Council Oversight Hearings

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What’s the message:

• At the City Level:
• The DC Education Adequacy study recommended a base per-student funding level of $10,557, or $11,839 in 2020 dollars.
• The current Uniform-Per-Student-Funding-Formula (UPSFF) base allotment is currently seven percent below this recommended level.
• At-Risk Funding is also significantly below the recommended levels.
• $2,470 for every “at-risk” student
• 44 percent below the recommended level. 
• At the DCPS level:
• Increased per student minimum, establishment of a high school minimum.

DCPS Budget Hearing

• You can provide testimony at DCPS' annual Public Budget Hearing on Monday, November 23rd.

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• Find more information and register to testify at bit.ly/dcpsbudget.
• The deadline to register to testify is 3:00 PM on Thursday, November, 19.

FY2022 Budget Process

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November 2020 – DCPS Budget Hearing

December 2020 – Advocate for New Education Committee Chair

- Advocate for DCPS to release models of budget scenarios

January 2020 – Advocate for Oversight Hearings on Changes to Budget

- Advocate to Mayor to increase per student minimum