Testimony on Additional School Funding
ANC 4D02 COMMISSIONER RENEE BOWSER’S TESTIMONY IN SUPPORT OF PROVIDING AN ADDITIONAL $1 BILLION IN REVENUE FOR DC PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Good day, my name is Renee Bowser and I am the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for ANC Single Member District 4D02. Rudolph Elementary School is located at 5200 2nd Street, NW in my SMD. Rudolph Elementary School is also a recreation center for this community’s youth. I am here to urge the DC Council to approve an additional $1 billion in revenue for DC Public Schools so that the well-documented need for capital improvements, as documented in the DCPS 2000 Educational Facilities Master Plan, as amended in 2003, can advance in a substantial way. Rudolph Elementary School is crying out for attention. I hear from several people in my neighborhood about Rudolph’s condition: those who volunteer there and those who have a family history with Rudolph and are distressed to see its continuing deterioration.
I am limiting my remarks to the capital budget. By capital budget, I mean the budget for planning, design, and construction of major building improvements, including replacing schools, modernizing and building additions to schools, adding new roofs, boilers, windows, and emergency repairs, asbestos and lead abatement, structural compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, improving temporary classroom space for schools under construction, replacing playground equipment, upgrading science labs, and salaries for the management of capital programs.
Rudolph Elementary School is in deplorable condition like most DC public schools. The deterioration has been happening over more than a generation. Capital improvements in DC Public Schools have been underfunded for years. Consequently, DC Public Schools are way behind in this area. In 1998, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted an assessment of DC school facilities. As of 1998, there had been no significant capital improvements since 1980 and no new school built. Between fiscal years 1990 and 1996, the District government spent an average of $18 million per year on capital improvements for all 150 of the District’s pubic schools. In fiscal year 1996, the District spent no capital funds for DC public schools.
To put this measly sum in perspective, remember that in December, 2004, the DC Council approved an $18.4 million dollar contract to complete renovations and improvements to RFK stadium. And remember, the $18.4 million for one facility was not for education advancement; rather it was for entertainment principally for a privileged few. Between fiscal years 1997 and 2003, the District has spent an average of $120 million per year on capital improvements for all public schools combined. Again, compare the $18.4 million spent to renovate 1 RFK stadium this year with $120 million per year over the last seven years for all 150 public schools. This means that the District’s public schools, which were already behind because of little capital spending in fiscal years 1990-1997 and almost none in the decades before that, were allotted an average of $800,000 per school over the 7 year period for all the capital improvements I listed above. At this rate, based on an analysis of simple mathematics and the costs of capital improvements today, DC public schools will sink further and further in the sink hole of disrepair.
So, it is a myth that the Council has appropriated sufficient funds for capital improvements for Rudolph Elementary and other public schools. Those who advance the notion that sufficient funds have been appropriated are misinformed or seek to misrepresent.
Furthermore, the Council should not impose fiscal conditions on DC public school capital spending that it fails to impose on other capital spending with District funds. While cost containment and adhering to proposed budgets is important, the District did not suspend construction of the new Convention Center even though in the end cost overruns for the Convention Center were a whopping 17%. Quite the opposite, the District declared the new Convention Center a success.
There are various phrases about education. For example, “education is liberation” and “education is economic development.” Both of these expressions, I believe, are true. But even if you don’t agree with me, I know you will agree that pubic school education should not be a cesspool of continued neglect.
Back to Rudolph Elementary. It has severe roof leaking problems; it has missing windows; and many, many more problems. The Council needs to pass a law that will apply $1 billion of to capital improvements for public schools so that Rudolph will get the capital improvements it desperately needs for our students, teachers, and community.
Thank you, Renee L. Bowser ANC 4D02 Commissioner Secretary, ANC 4D July 6, 2005
