DC City Council Performance Oversight Hearing

Committee of the Whole

March 9, 2021

I am Elizabeth Davis, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union. The Washington Teacher’s Union represents over 5,000 active and retired teachers. We are dedicated to social and educational justice for the students of the District of Columbia and to improving the quality of support, resources, compensation and working conditions for the public servants and proud teachers who educate our students. I am a DC teacher and DC resident.

At last year’s public oversight hearing, my testimony included the following:

Citywide, 62.9% of those who took the English language portion of the PARCC exam did not achieve proficiency. In math, 69.5% citywide did not reach proficiency. Large achievement gaps persist between students of color, particularly African Americans, and their white counterparts. The barriers our students face are real and the resulting achievement gaps that are present in the District of Columbia are striking.

Unfortunately not much has changed since I wrote those words a year ago. In fact, due to the pandemic, we can expect that gaps have increased further. It is time for our city to embark on bold reforms to ensure that every single student in the District receives the education that he or she deserves. Our return to in-person learning cannot simply be a return to what was. We must return to a system that has learned and improved; that is changing its practices.

Read our full statement here.

For Immediate Release   

February 9, 2021

WTU Asks Mayor and Chancellor to Establish a ‘Situation Room’ to Handle School COVID-19 Emergencies and to Partner on Safety Metrics

 Death of DCPS Teacher Heightens Concerns 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Frustration and deep concern over continuing school safety problems heightened today as the Washington Teachers’ Union and the American Federation of Teachers sent a letter to the mayor and schools chancellor asking to establish a “Situation Room” to deal quickly with COVID-19-related emergencies and to partner on school safety safeguards.

The letter came as WTU members voted against authorizing their union leaders to call a strike, demonstrating that they still want to work with city and district leaders on urgent action to safely reopen schools and want to exhaust all other remedies before authorizing a strike. At the same time, they were mourning the death of a Ballou STAY Opportunity Academy teacher, Helen Marie White, who died this past weekend after succumbing to the virus. 

“We must make sure schools are safe. What keeps me up at night is that the District is putting the health of our city’s educators and students at risk with in-school learning because of continuing exposures in schools, numerous reports of violations of agreed-upon safety protocols and tragically, the death of a beloved teacher,” said WTU President Elizabeth Davis. “Our teachers are pleading with the mayor and chancellor to wake up to the reality that things are not right or safe in our schools.”

Read more...

The full press release and the letter to Mayor Bowser and Chancellor Ferebee are available via the links. 

WTU: Teachers Want to Go Back to School and Want It Done Safely

Click here for the full news release.

Council of the District of Columbia

Committee on Health

Public Roundtable: THE DISTRICT’S COVID-19 VACCINATION PROCESS

January 29, 2020

Testimony of Elizabeth A. Davis, President

Washington Teachers’ Union, AFT Local 6

Good afternoon. I am Elizabeth Davis, President of the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU). The WTU represents over 5,000 active and retired teachers. We are dedicated to social and educational justice for the students of the District of Columbia and to improving the quality of support, resources, compensation and working conditions for the public servants and proud teachers who educate our students. Many of our WTU members live and pay taxes in the District and have kids or family members that attend DC schools. I am a DC teacher and DC resident.

I’d like to thank you for holding today’s hearing. The vaccination of our city’s resident’s is a critical step in emerging from this global pandemic. While I know that many are anxious about receiving the vaccine, I want to emphasize that we believe it is safe and effective. The WTU urges all citizens to receive the vaccine as soon as they become eligible.

While the vaccine presents a significant step in our recovery and a return to “normal,” we must recognize that we are still in the midst of a global pandemic. In the District we have lost more than 900 of our friends and neighbors. Across the nation, more than 400,000 citizens have died from this deadly disease. While I know there is an urge to move forward quickly, we must recognize that it takes time for the vaccine to become effective.

On Tuesday, educators began receiving their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine. Following the schedule outlined by Rx companies, educators will NOT fully immunized until about a week after their second shots, which will occur about 3 weeks after their first, i.e., sometime between February 22 and March 4. Yet, we are embarking upon a massive reopening of our school system on Monday. A full three weeks before our staff are protected.

You can download and read President Davis' full statement here.

Council of the District of Columbia

Committee of the Whole

Public Roundtable: Re-Opening District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS)

January 21, 2020

Statement by Elizabeth Davis, President

Washington Teachers’ Union

I’m encouraged that the Council is holding today’s hearing. I hope this shows that the Committee of the Whole, under the leadership of Chairman Mendelson, will take seriously the many challenges facing our education systems in the District. The work ahead of us is daunting – our city is plagued by large opportunity and achievement gaps and the city lacks a unified plan for our school systems and to invest in school facilities to conquer these challenges. Immediately, before us, is our challenge to safely reopen schools to in-person learning.

As we have today’s conversation, we must remember: the virus is more prevalent in our community today than when we closed schools in the spring. There is a new, highly contagious stain that has emerged. And, new research continues to show that while students are not at a high risk for severe complications from COVID-19, they play a significant role in the virus’ spread.

Despite our desire to return to our school buildings and see our students, many teachers are frightened. They’re frightened of a disease that has killed more than 400,000 American citizens. They’re frightened that they’ll bring this deadly virus into their own homes as well as that of their students.

We cannot emphasize enough – as educators we can help student regain lost learning. We cannot replace a lost loved one.

In December, in an effort to clearly outline the conditions that the WTU believes need to be met to facilitate a safe return to our school buildings, including a facility checklist that would ensure every building that opened met strict safety conditions, the WTU and DCPS agreed to a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA). We had hoped that the agreement would mean that DCPS would move forward in partnership with its workforce and community partners, sharing data and information, to enable a safe return to our school buildings. However, the agreement has done little to change the conditions on the ground. I continue to have the same questions and concerns that the plans put forth by DCPS to reopen to in-person learning on February 1.

As in the fall, the WTU and our teachers continue to hear of plans to reopen our schools via press release and not through detailed communications.

Earlier this week, the WTU sent DCPS a letter requesting expedited arbitration of our concerns around the city’s failure to meet the terms of the MOA. The list of demands is included in my written statement. The two most significant concerns are that DCPS continues to withhold data around family demand for in-person learning seats and DCPS has continually failed to provide the documentation needed to ensure our school buildings are safe.

We urge the Council to require DCPS work with us to provide the information that teachers and families need so they can confidently return to in-person learning.

Teachers understand and sympathize with those who want to return to our classrooms. Distance instruction cannot replace the experiences our students get in a classroom. We understand the social and developmental concerns facing our students in this distance environment. However, as educators, our obligation is to serve our students, to educate them and help ensure they can live happy and fulfilling lives. We also have an obligation is to protect them from the ravages of a deadly virus.

We ask that the Council look closely at the plans and ask (1) do the plans being proposed truly serve those furthest from opportunity and help them regain lost learning? and (2) why are we rushing so many individuals back into our buildings when we are just weeks away from ensuring they’re protected from this deadly disease? We believe that the response will be eye-opening.

Thank you for your time.  I look forward to working with you to protect our communities and ensure every student receives a high-quality education across the District of Columbia. It is important to get it right. The challenges that we face are nothing compared to the loss of a loved one.

President Davis' full statement is available here.

For Immediate Release

December 22, 2020    

Washington DC Teachers Release Statement Council’s Decision to Disband Education Committee

WASHINGTON — The Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) President Elizabeth Davis released the following statement on the DC Council’s decision to disband the Committee on Education.

“We appreciate that the Council demonstrated the importance of education in the District by bringing it under the purview of the Chairman of the Council during the current Council period. However, the Chairman of the Council has many important competing priorities and our education system and students need a committee chairperson who has as their top priority the administration of the Committee on Education and oversight of the associated agencies. 

“In the coming Council session, local education agencies will be developing plans to safely reopen our schools. Additionally, over the coming months, our educational systems will need to develop plans to fully bridge the digital divide and achievement gaps that have long plagued our city, potentially with reductions in funding. In the coming year, the Council should also provide rigorous oversight on efforts to improve attendance and graduation rates, improve special educational services, and reduce school -based violence. These efforts will take significant action by the school agencies, as well as the Council to legislate and oversee the goals and activities of the Executive. 

“The Council is the only elected body in the District with the authority to provide oversight of our educational systems. It is a full-time job. And it is a job that needs a champion, an elected representative whose main priority is the investigation, oversight, and leadership of DC’s student’s needs. It is critical that this issue have the full attention of a member of the DC Council and a committed staff.”

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