Chancellor Henderson, thank you for the opportunity to speak today. My name is Soumya Bhat, and I am the Education Finance and Policy Analyst at the DC Fiscal Policy Institute. DCFPI is a non-profit organization that engages in research and public education on the fiscal and economic health of the District of Columbia, with an emphasis on policies that affect low- and moderate-income residents.
I am here today to ask DC Public Schools (DCPS) to strengthen its effort to improve the transparency of public education funding in the District of Columbia. A transparent education budget ‘ one that provides accurate, clear, and timely information ‘ is critical to empowering parents and other residents to hold elected and public officials accountable for the delivery of public services.
This past budget season, DCPS released a new budget guide that included valuable information in a user-friendly format on the distribution of DCPS funding by funding type (central, school support, and school), school type, revenue source, and administrative office. This was a big step in the right direction. But, DCFPI believes there are several other ways that the DCPS budget process could be made more transparent and less confusing for residents: 1) demystify the budgeting process with more information; 2) allow adequate time for LSATs and school leaders to review school budgets; 3) work with the CFO to develop a common sense budget; and 4) explain how DCPS will invest in struggling schools.
Demystify the Budgeting Process With More Information
The process to fund DC schools can be difficult to understand and navigate, making it challenging for both parents and policymakers to get involved in school funding decisions. DCPS can avoid confusion by disseminating clear and current information for the way funds are allocated to individual schools. Specifically, information regarding funding sources, how the overall budgets are set, and what factors affect how funds are allocated to local schools should be easily accessible to the public well before final budgets are due back to DCPS. DCPS did not offer a briefing for the public after the fiscal year 2013 budget was released, leaving many DC residents confused about how dollars were being spent in education. We have found that these briefings can do a lot to clarify the major changes reflected in the budget and soothe concerns over proposed budget changes that may not be clear from the budget documents.
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