DC City Council

Committee on Housing & Neighborhood Revitalization Public Hearing on

Bill 23-433, the “Rental Housing Act Extension Amendment Act of 2019”

November 13, 2019

Testimony of

Elizabeth A. Davis, President

Washington Teachers’ Union, AFT Local 6

Good morning. I am Elizabeth Davis, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union. I am here to talk about Bill 23-433, the “Rental Housing Act Extension Amendment Act of 2019.”

The Washington Teacher’s Union represents more than 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.

In spite of the dedication and best efforts of our teacher members, far too many students in the District of Columbia are stymied in reaching their full potential. It’s not because of the instruction that our students receive. It’s because of the barriers they face in our schools and in our communities. Barriers like the inability to have a safe and affordable place to live.

DC City Council

Health Public Oversight Hearing

“The Not-For-Profit Hospital Corporation”

Friday, October 25th at 11:00am

Testimony of

Elizabeth A. Davis, President

Washington Teachers’ Union, AFT Local 6

Good morning. I am Elizabeth Davis, president of the Washington Teachers’ Union. The Washington Teacher’s Union represents more than 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.

The core mission of the Washington Teachers Union is to raise the standards of the teaching profession by promoting conditions vital to effective services for all students. In spite of the dedication and best efforts of our teacher members, far too many students in the District of Columbia are stymied in reaching their full potential.

For too long we’ve measured the success of our school system and of our teachers on the achievement of our students, as measured by a single test. It’s time we stop and begin to look at – and confront – the challenges that our students and families face holistically. Children across our city, but primarily in low-income communities of color, contend with the consequences of under- or unemployment, crime and violence, homelessness, and a lifetime of economic privation and hardship. These conditions impact their academic achievement and are, in part, at the center of the immense achievement gaps that plague our city.

By Perry Stein

June 29

The District’s controversial teacher evaluation system could face significant changes under proposed legislation that would give the teachers union substantial input in the system’s design during collective bargaining.

The evaluation system — which was one of the first in the nation to tie teachers’ job security and paychecks to class performance — has been central to the District’s high-profile education efforts over the past decade and is one of the more controversial legacies of former D.C. schools chancellor Michelle Rhee.

By Perry Stein

Reporter covering D.C. education

April 25 at 7:42 PM

The demands of the protesters were clear: D.C. leaders need to give the city’s neighborhood schools more money.

More than 100 teachers, students and activists rallied near City Hall late Thursday afternoon, calling on Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) to invest more money in the public schools that draw students from the city’s poorest communities.

Raphael Bonhomme, a Turner Elementary School teacher, could not be more proud of the six students on the first-ever Flagway team to represent the District of Columbia. Neither could WTU President Elizabeth Davis.

Flagway™ was developed as part of the Algebra Project by Civil Rights icon Dr. Robert Parris Moses (Bob Moses), who won a MacArthur Foundation “genius” award for his work. Flagway is an exciting, action-packed game through which students can learn basic mathematical concepts. Moses developed it especially for elementary and middle school students who, through being neglected by many school systems, have been relegated to the lowest quartile.

Over the past two years, partnering with Young People’s Project (YPP), the WTU has offered DCPS teachers several Flagway^TM training courses.

To learn more Flagway^TM and the WTU's role in supporting this unique learning program, click here.

Read more here.

Due to a series of revelations in DC-area media, the administrators of DCPS have finally pledged to act on what WTU members had been saying for years: there is pressure on DCPS administrators, principals and teachers to change student grades and attendance records in order to present a rosier picture than actually exists.

The revelations were first about the practices and policies at Ballou High School, but it soon became evident that padding grades and allowing students who have poor attendance records to graduate are widespread.