Today the Washington City Paper published “D.C.’s Master Facilities Plan Will Shape the City’s Balance Between Neighborhood Schools and Charters,” a feature story on the District’s educational Master Facilities Plan (MFP). The article, written by freelance reporter Rachel Cohen, highlights many troubling aspects of the Mayor’s plan process, specifically failure to follow data transparency requirements in the Planning Actively for Comprehensive Education Facilities Amendment Act (“PACE”) of 2016. The PACE Act requires that the Mayor publish a comprehensive, 10-year master facilities plan with data from all public schools – DCPS and charter – including their current condition, enrollment capacity and projected future needs. The current process, if allowed to continue by the Council, would exempt some schools from publicly disclosing important data, and leave parents in the dark as to the adequacy of their children’s school buildings.
A strong master educational facilities plan allocates the city’s financial and real estate assets equitably and responsibly. It is hard to see how this process gets us there. The 2018 Master Facilities Plan needs to be grounded in a shared vision for public education in the District of Columbia and in community vetted DCPS and charter LEA school plans. The community and decision makers need comprehensive data to develop and evaluate educational facility master plan proposals.
This work is not without challenge but is worth the effort. Before approving a plan, the Council should insist that the Mayor follow the PACE Act. Specifically, the Mayor needs to provide data and information on all publicly funded school facilities. But in addition, the public needs to be a partner in developing plans and setting priorities for our buildings, grounds and facility-related resources. The Council can use our Master Plan Evaluation Guide, to assess the Mayor’s processes and plan—before approving this important plan.
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