Community Profile: Elizabeth Davis, WTU President | Washington Informer | African American newspaper, Washington D.C.

Community Profile: Elizabeth Davis, WTU President | Washington Informer | African American newspaper, Washington D.C.:

Community Profile: Elizabeth Davis, WTU President

Dorothy Rowley | 8/6/2013, 6:07 p.m.

Elizabeth Davis

Elizabeth Davis is the newly-elected president of the Northwest-based Washington Teachers Union. She won the vote by 55 percent, having defeated Nathan Saunders in a run-off election this summer, and officially assumed the helm on Aug. 1 to serve a three-year term.

The 62-year-old educator, who taught for 41 years in nine D.C. public schools, lists several items on her agenda for school reform. Among them is to work closer with Chancellor Kaya Henderson to determine what real school reform means and its impact on students' quality of learning, as well attracting and keeping good teachers.

"I want school reform to be more than students' ability to pass a standardized test," Davis said. "I've seen cases where the tests were not sufficient to get them through post-secondary education, and in some cases where students simply didn't graduate … Overall, I don't want to be a roadblock to reform [as] I see the WTU as an ally in helping the chancellor get the reform issue right."

Davis added that when it comes the issue of extended school days, student achievement doesn't result from a longer school day, but from having had a better school day.

"Why focus on extending the school day when students have