Forcing Out Effective Educators in DCPS Through Buyouts
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| Forcing Out DCPS Effective Educators Through Buyouts |
Forty three DC Public schools Educators out of fifty-five signed up to testify at the DC City Education Chairman, David Catania's Round table on Public Education held on Saturday, December 14, 2013 at McKinley Senior High. I was among those DC educators willing to endure the brisk cold wintry Saturday morning to express my perspective on public education and discuss ways to help our students succeed.
The title of the round table was "Setting Students up to Succeed" although many in attendance questioned the motives of Chairman Catania's as seeking to get a political leg up on other DC mayoral candidates using support of public education as his platform.
I was glad that the Washington Teachers' Union (WTU) saw this event as an opportunity to elevate the voice of educators who as the inside experts can speak truth to power about what our students really need to succeed. WTU had panels of educators to bring testimony in a number of different areas including, budget and assessments, professional development, special education and teacher evaluations.
DCPS Chief of Human Capital, Jason Kamras was among those seated in the McKinley auditorium and didn't escape the attention of some teachers who expressed concern about fear of reprisal for testifying. Before the start of the hearing, I mentioned the audiences