Councilmember Grosso's FY2021 Budget Victories

On July 28th, the Council finalized a budget that was crafted in the face of devastating economic impacts brought on by a global pandemic.

As chairperson of the Committee on Education for nearly six years, Councilmember Grosso’s number one priority has always been to ensure that our schools have the resources they need to improve learning for all residents across the District of Columbia. 

Below are the budget highlights for fiscal year 2021, which represents the fourth straight budget of increased investments in our schools and a continuation of Grosso’s work to replace the school-to-prison pipeline with school environments that make our students feel safe, loved, and valued.
 
Education Investments

1. Maintains the 3 percent increase in per student funding marking the fourth straight budget cycle of growing education investments, with additional funding students at risk of academic failure.

2. Ends Metropolitan Police Department’s management of the security services contract for D.C. Public Schools in favor of DCPS managing it directly, and reinvests costs savings into our students’ social-emotional learning.

3. Enacts and fully funds Grosso’s School Expenditure Transparency Amendment Act which provides the public a clearer understanding of how both traditional public and public charter schools expend public dollars, as well as require greater transparency from charter schools by making them subject to the Open Meetings Act.

4. Provides $3.2 million to offer students the school-based mental health resources they need to achieve academic success.

5. Supports the social, emotional, and positive behavioral health of our students with additional investments in grants from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education to support positive school climate and trauma-informed emotional services.

6. Ensures more students are reading at grade level by third grade with an additional $900,000 at OSSE for the successful early literacy intervention grant programs, continuing Grosso’s steadfast support for the program.

7. Additional $5 million in child care center subsidies.

8. Improves D.C. libraries with $4.2 million to D.C. Public Library for collections in advance of the grand re-opening of the renovated Martin Luther King, Jr. Central Library and to maintain staff and hours at neighborhood branch libraries. $1 million for general improvements across the D.C. Public Library system, including moving up the planning for the Chevy Chase Library modernization and preserving the funding that Grosso requested for the Parklands-Turner standalone branch library.

Community Investments

1. Invests $5 million in community-based mental health service organizations allowing them to support our residents behavioral health needs while expanding school-based mental health work.

2. Fully funds the Strengthening Reproductive Rights Amendment Act to add protections for reproductive health freedom and abortion rights to the D.C. Human Rights Act.

3. Redirects over $500,000 to the Office of Human Rights for additional staff to clear the years-long backlog of discrimination and hate crimes investigations at the Office of Human Rights and restore the Bullying Prevention Coordinator.

4. Supports LGBTQ young adults experiencing homeslessness with $600,000 for transitional housing

5. Creates a study of D.C. government practices in hiring, retaining, and promoting transgender people, co-authored with Councilmember Robert White, including recommendations for how to improve and be a model for other employers.

6. Supports Councilmember Allen’s amendment continuing combined reporting for corporate income which raises $7.4 million for increased investments in school-based mental health, violence interruption, funding for excluded and undocumented workers,local rent supplement vouchers, and emergency rental assistance.

7. Approves Councilmember Trayon White’s amendment to lower the threshold for the estate tax raising $1.8 million to invest in violence interruption, school based mental health, and mentoring grants for at-risk middle school youth.

8. Approves Councilmember Nadeau’s amendment to end high tech incentives and raise $17 million for greater investments in school-based mental health, health care access, permanent and temporary housing supports, early childhood center grants, and homeless outreach.

 
Other Budget Highlights

1. Funds the complete implementation of the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act–introduced by Councilmembers Grosso and Silverman–by investing in enforcement at the Office of Human Rights  to hold employers accountable and investing in navigators to help both employers and employees understand the tapestry of leave laws in the District of Columbia.

2. Permanently ends the celebration of Columbus Day in the District of Columbia in favor of honoring Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

3. Reverses Mayor’s cuts to violence interruption and increased the grants as well as the Pathways Program created by the NEAR Act, while reducing the MPD budget.

4. Reverses Mayor’s cuts to homeless outreach and prevention programs and added 50 units of permanent supportive housing for individuals.

5. Maintains Mayor’s investments in TANF, Medicaid local match, and D.C. Healthcare Alliance to cover expected increased reliance on safety net programs as a result of the pandemic and economic downturn.

6. Reverses Mayor’s cuts to Emergency Rental Assistance Program and increased it by over $5 million.

7. Creates a new $9 million fund for excluded workers.

Grosso proposes budget that maintains D.C.’s growing investments in education

For Immediate Release:
June 24, 2020
 
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, mnocella@dccouncil.us, 202.286.1987

Grosso proposes budget that maintains D.C.’s growing investments in education

Washington, D.C. – Today, Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, circulated the committee’s draft fiscal year 2021 budget report that maintains increased funding for the District of Columbia’s students, fosters positive and supportive learning environments, and provides the public with greater transparency in the use of public dollars in the education sector.

The proposed 3 percent increase in per student funding is maintained in Grosso’s report, marking the fourth straight budget cycle of growing education investments.

“The ongoing public health emergency has hit the District’s economy hard and our students harder,” said Grosso. “As D.C. begins to recover, we have an obligation to students, especially Black and Latinx students and those who are economically disadvantaged, to continue the trend of increasing investments in the academic growth and emotional well-being of our students.”

In the report, Grosso recommends ending the Metropolitan Police Department’s management of the  security services contract for D.C. Public Schools in favor of DCPS managing it directly. 

“In the wake of police killings of unarmed Black Americans, the District of Columbia, along with the rest of the nation, is re-examining the role of police in all aspects of our lives, including in our children’s schools. The safety of our students is a priority but our current staffing of schools indicates that we are more interested in policing our students than we are in ensuring their academic success or supporting their mental and behavioral health,” said Grosso. “After discussions with many school leaders and students, I believe our students’ safety can better be provided for by DCPS–whose primary mission is the academic success and social-emotional development of our young people–without MPD’s involvement.”

The Committee is also set to recommend enactment and full funding of his School Expenditure Transparency Amendment Act, which would provide the public a clearer understanding of how both traditional public and public charter schools expend public dollars, as well as require greater transparency from charter schools by making them subject to the Open Meetings Act.

 “Over the past several years, there has been significant confusion around funding for both DCPS and charter schools,” Grosso said. “This has raised many questions from the public and elected officials about annual school funding cuts and increased calls for more transparency from both sectors. Enacting these provisions through the budget will provide the public and policymakers a more transparent way to digest and engage with how the District of Columbia funds schools.”

Other investment highlights from the Committee report include:

• Supports the social, emotional, and positive behavioral health of our students: The committee is making additional investments in grants from the Office of the State Superintendent of Education to support positive school climate and trauma-informed emotional services.

• Ensures more students are reading at grade level by third grade: The committee invested an additional $900,000 at OSSE for the successful early literacy intervention grant programs, continuing Grosso’s steadfast support for the program.

• $1.4 million in early childhood development subsidies.

• Improving D.C. libraries: As D.C. Public Library prepares to celebrate the opening of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Central Library, the committee is investing $1 million for general improvements  across the D.C. Public Library system as well as moving up the planning for the Chevy Chase Library modernization. The committee also preserved the funding that Grosso requested for the Parklands-Turner standalone branch library which was included in the mayor’s proposal. 

The Committee on Education received virtual, written, and voicemail testimony from over 330 individuals despite the ongoing public health emergency and modified Council budget process. 

“I want to thank everyone who provided testimony to the Committee on Education. The input you provided on school-based mental health, school safety, and more have been invaluable. Your involvement holds us accountable and drives the Committee to make equitable decisions for our students and schools.

“I also want to thank students, caregivers, educators, and administrators for their dedication to distance learning during the pandemic. These are unprecedented and uncertain times but I know that everyone is continuing to work together to set our students up for success.”

The Committee on Education will consider the budget report tomorrow, Thursday, June 25, 2020 at 2:30 pm via virtual meeting platform.

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Report and Recommendations of the Committee on Education on the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget for Agencies Under Its Purview

Today, June 24, 2020, Councilmember David Grosso, Chairperson of the Committee on Education released the draft Report and Recommendations of the Committee on Education on the Fiscal Year 2021 Budget for Agencies Under Its Purview.

You can now access the documents below:

• Draft FY21 Budget Report

• Proposed Budget Support Act subtitles

The Committee on Education will mark-up the District of Columbia FY21 Budget on Thursday, June 25, 2020 at 2:30 p.m.

Councilmember Grosso’s priorities funded in final fiscal year 2020 budget

For Immediate Release: 
May 28, 2019
 
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, (202) 724-8105

Councilmember Grosso’s priorities funded in final fiscal year 2020 budget

Washington, D.C. – Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, celebrated investments in his budget priorities included in the District of Columbia's fiscal year 2020 budget following today’s final approval by the D.C. Council.

“Putting our students in the best position to succeed requires a greater commitment to funding education. The Committee on Education was able to work with several other committees to increase per student and at-risk funding to better support our students’ needs and set them up for academic success,” said Grosso. “While we must continue to provide additional resources, I am proud of the budget we have passed today. It fully invests in the Committee on Education’s efforts over the past two years to reduce exclusionary discipline, combat sexual assault and abuse in our schools, and improve the academic success of our most vulnerable students.”

Education investment highlights include:

• Increases per-student funding by 3%, including an increase in the weight for students at-risk of academic failure to 0.225.

• Fully funds the Fair Access to School law to reduce the use of exclusionary discipline and address the root causes of student behavioral issues with $9 million more for school-based mental health services.

• Fully funds School Safety Act to ensure schools are working to prevent and properly handle cases of sexual assault and abuse through better policies, improved hiring practices, and age-appropriate consent education.

• Fully funds the creation of a multi-stakeholder Students in the Care of the District of Columbia Committee to identify challenges and resolve issues that students in detainment, commitment, incarceration, and foster care face in achieving academic success.

• Promotes safe passage to increase student attendance with funding for a District Department of Transportation safe routes coordinator to work with schools.

• Invests over $2 million in the successful early literacy intervention program that gets students at or above reading level by third grade.

• Restores funding for St. Coletta of Greater Washington to support their work educating the District’s most vulnerable students. 

Grosso also succeeded in his fight to restore $53 million for the long-delayed modernization of Banneker Academic High School and relocate the school to the former Shaw Jr. High site on Rhode Island Avenue NW to ensure it would not face further delays.

“Today’s budget passage is a major victory for the Banneker community which has waited far too long for a school building that meets its academic needs. I’m proud of the students and community members who have advocated for their school. Their voices have had a tremendous impact and their modernization will now move forward in a timely manner,” Grosso said.

In addition to his work on the Education Committee, Councilmember Grosso secured or supported changes to the budget in the areas of health, public safety, human services, the arts and humanities, transportation, and good government:

• Over $4 million increase to expand violence interruption teams to additional neighborhoods.

• Initial funds to implement Grosso’s Medical Marijuana Patient Health and Accessibility Improvement Amendment Act of 2019 when it passes, specifically to set up facilities where medical marijuana patients can consume if they are not allowed to do so at their home.

• Restores dedicated funding for arts and humanities grants and strengthens the independence of the Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

• Fully funds public restrooms legislation to build two new public restrooms sites each year and give incentives to businesses downtown to make their restrooms available to the public.

• Funds 60 new shelter beds, 50 new transitional housing slots, and 35 permanent supportive housing units to combat youth homelessness.

• Invests in ending chronic homelessness for about 600 individuals through permanent supportive housing and targeted affordable housing and continues homeless outreach despite the end of a federal grant.

• Combats family homelessness with 180 new units of permanent supportive housing and 200 new units of targeted affordable.

• Reverses the mayor’s cut of about $500,000 Emergency Rental Assistance Program and further increases it by over $600,000.

• Advances the design of the East Downtown protected bike lane project, for which Grosso has advocated.

• Leaves out an inappropriate Freedom of Information Act amendment which would decrease government transparency and accountability.

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Councilmember Grosso introduces progressive property tax to fund equitable public investments

For Immediate Release: 
May 13, 2019
 
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, (202) 724-8105

Councilmember Grosso introduces progressive property tax to fund equitable public investments

Washington, D.C. – Today Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, introduced legislation to generate new revenue for the District of Columbia’s budget priorities with a progressive tax on high-value properties.

“D.C. has experienced tremendous economic growth in the past decade, but not everyone has shared in that prosperity,” said Grosso. “Instead, the income and wealth gap has widened in that period and is starkest along racial lines.”

The wealthiest 20 percent of households in D.C. make 7.5 times as much income annually compared to the poorest 20 percent. The average wealth of white households is now 81 times that of the average Black household.

“Every budget cycle, investments in educating our students, ending homelessness, and preventing violence in our communities fall short. A high-value property tax would address racial inequity by raising resources from those most well off to fund public investments to lift up those who have been left behind,” said Grosso.

Currently, residential property is taxed at 85 cents per $100 of value, prior to deductions for principal residences and for senior citizens. The Residential Real Property Taxes Equitable Alignment Act of 2019 would create two additional marginal rates for high-valued properties, taxing $1.25 for every $100 of value over $1.5 million and $1.50 for every $100 in value over $5 million.

“The richest 1 percent of D.C. households pay less in property taxes as a share of family income than households at any other income range–just 1.7 percent compared to 3.6 percent for our lowest income families. My proposal makes our property tax structure more equitable by increasing the rates on those at the top,” said Grosso.

Grosso originally planned to offer the legislation as a budget amendment but decided to introduce it as a standalone bill to continue the public conversation.

“I appreciate the public engagement I have received on this issue since I first raised it as part of the Council’s budget working session last week. I have made changes to the original proposal based on that input, but believe we need to consider additional revenue streams to aid those who have not reaped the benefits of our city’s economic growth. I hope the public continues to share their thoughts through the traditional legislative process on this measure and other options for raising revenue.”

Councilmember Brianne Nadeau joined Grosso as a co-introducer of the legislation.

The legislation will likely be referred to the Committee on Finance and Revenue, chaired by Councilmember Jack Evans.

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Education Committee increases investments in students and fully funds discipline, school safety laws in budget recommendations

For Immediate Release: 
May 2, 2019
 
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, (202) 724-8105

Education Committee increases investments in students and fully funds discipline, school safety laws in budget recommendations

Washington, D.C. – The Committee on Education, under the leadership of Councilmember David Grosso, unanimously approved budget and policy recommendations that increase per student and at-risk funding over the mayor’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2020.

“Putting our students in the best position to succeed requires a greater commitment to funding education. Despite her contention that it represents ‘historic’ investments, the mayor proposed a budget that does not keep up with the rising costs of educating our students,” Grosso said. “The Committee on Education, however, was able to work with several other committees to increase per student and at-risk funding to better support our students needs and set them up for academic success.”

This increased investment allows for full implementation of three laws that Grosso introduced and the Council passed unanimously in 2018: the Student Fair Access to School Act, the School Safety Omnibus Act, and the Students in the Care of D.C. Coordinating Committee Act.

“I’m proud of the budget we passed today. It fully invests in the Committee on Education’s efforts over the past two years to reduce exclusionary discipline, combat sexual assault and abuse in our schools, and improve the academic success of our most vulnerable students,” Grosso said.

Despite the increased resources for D.C. schools, Grosso believes greater investments are necessary to make up for where the mayor’s budget falls short.

“The budget recommendations approved today are only the beginning. I will work with Chairman Mendelson and my colleagues as the budget makes its way through the Committee of the Whole and the full Council to further bolster the resources going to our schools.”

The Committee on Education received an unprecedented amount of public input during the performance and budget oversight process this year. Since the mayor released her FY2020 budget proposal in late March, the committee held approximately 23 hours of hearings, heard from nearly 300 witnesses and received over 1,000 pages of written testimony.

“I want to thank every single member of the public for engaging with the Committee on Education on a multitude of funding issues ranging from school buildings to mental health supports to the per student funding formula,” Grosso said. “Your involvement holds us accountable and ensures that we make fiscally responsible and equitable decisions for our students and schools.”

Investment Highlights

• Protects students’ right to an education - Fully funds implementation of the Student Fair Access to School Act with an increase in at-risk funding to support schools in addressing the root causes of behavioral issues, provide mental health supports to our students, and reduce the use of exclusionary discipline practices. Made possible with support from Councilmembers Vincent Gray and Kenyan McDuffie.

• Addresses and prevents sexual assault and abuse in schools - Fully funds the School Safety Omnibus Act to ensure schools are working to prevent and properly handle cases of sexual assault and abuse through better policies, improved hiring practices, and age-appropriate consent education. Made possible with support from Councilmembers Elissa Silverman, Charles Allen, and Brandon Todd.

• Improves educational outcomes for our most vulnerable youth - Fully funds the creation of a multi-stakeholder Students in the Care of the District of Columbia Committee to identify challenges and resolve issues that students in detainment, commitment, incarceration, and foster care face in achieving academic success. Made possible with support from Councilmember Trayon White.

• Promotes safe passage to increase student attendance - Transferred funds to the Committee on Transportation and the Environment for the District Department of Transportation to coordinate with schools and communities to plan safe routes to and from school for all modes of travel.

• Invests in a world-class central library on opening day - Provides additional investments in necessary technology and maintenance to ensure that the newly modernized Martin Luther King, Jr. Central Library is fully functional when it re-opens in 2020.

Policy Recommendation Highlights

• Directs D.C. Public Schools to research and identify alternatives to the current school budgeting method to create a model that gives schools the opportunity to thrive and address their specific needs.

• Recommends that DCPS seek public input on and fast-track its plan to support and expand dual language immersion programs.

• Directs the Office of the State Superintendent for Education implement the Healthy Schools Act to ensure comprehensive HIV education in all public schools, following a report that young people aged 13 to 29 made up the highest percentage of new HIV cases in a decade.

• Directs OSSE to support the District of Columbia Education Research Collaborative by improving access to MySchoolDC and Common Lottery data.

• Recommends that the Deputy Mayor for Education focus on improving student attendance by collaborating with DDOT to analyze student transportation times, options, and routes for students who regularly miss school.

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School Based Budgeting and Transparency Act of 2019

School Based Budgeting and Transparency Act of 2019

Introduced: April 2, 2019

Co-introducers: Chairman Phil Mendelson, Councilmembers Anita Bonds, Robert White, Elissa Silverman, Brianne Nadeau, Jack Evans, Mary Cheh, Brandon Todd, Kenyan McDuffie, Charles Allen, Vincent Gray, and Trayon White

BILL TEXT | PRESS RELEASE

Summary: To amend The Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public Schools and Public Charter Schools Amendment Act of 1998 to require that the District of Columbia Public Schools submission be based on the cost associated at each school based on projected enrollment and include detailed information for each school’s funding, a separate line-item for at-risk funding for each school, and a narrative description of programs and services funded by at-risk funds; that the DCPS submission delineate cost of the central office attributed listed categories of students in each grade level; that the Public Charter School Board shall publish the detailed budget and end of year expenditures of each public charter school; to amend the District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 to require the Boards of Trustees of public charter schools to comply with Title IV of the District of Columbia Administrative Procedures Act; and to require the Office of the State Superintendent of Education to create an electronic reporting system for the public to ensure the greatest degree of clarity and comparability by laypersons of expenditures among all public schools in the District of Columbia.

Councilmember Grosso's Introduction Statement:

Next, along with Chairman Mendelson, Councilmembers Allen, Bonds, Cheh, Evans, Gray, McDuffie, Nadeau, Silverman, Todd, R. White, T. White, I am introducing the School Based Budgeting and Transparency Act of 2019.

Over the past several years, there has been significant confusion around funding for DCPS schools. At the same time, there is less information about funding for public charter schools. The lack of information about public schools in both sectors has raised many questions around school funding cuts and transparency.

The Council and the public have had a number of conversations about the Universal Per Student Funding Formula, At-Risk Funding, and if fund allocations meant to supplement are actually supplanting.

I have long believed that we cannot have a full and meaningful conversation on this topic until we all have similar baseline information. Unfortunately, because of the disjointedness of our education system, and specifically our funding systems, we continue to have these conversations in silos.

Last year, the Committee on Education attempted to start this conversation when it approved a Budget Support Act subtitle to require the Mayor to be more transparent about how the executive formulates DCPS and schools’ budgets. Unfortunately, that language was not included in the final BSA.

This Council Period, we are attempting to start that conversation again because it is clear that the public is clamoring for a more transparent way to digest and engage with how the District of Columbia funds schools.

The School Based Budgeting and Transparency Act of 2019 attempts to bring about transparency in the following ways:

• First, it requires DCPS use a school-based budgeting model to fund schools, as opposed to the comprehensive staffing model, and submit that to DC Council. This would allow principals to have more autonomy of their local dollars and the ability to build their budgets based on their students’ needs, rather than the adults that Central Office dictates schools must hire. It would also require DCPS to delineate the cost of central office in its budget submission.

• Next, Public Charter Schools must be more transparent. It would subject charter schools to the DC Open Meetings Act. Additionally, it requires PCSB to publish both charter school budgets and school expenditures – currently, only school budgets are published. Also, the legislation makes clear that charters must delineate how at-risk funds are being spent at each school.

• Finally, the bill requires that OSSE publish school budget expenditure information in a way that ensures the public can compare expenditures by LEA and by school in a clear manner. This gives parents and policymakers clear information and finally allows us to see across all schools how tax dollars are being spent.

By no means do I believe this is the panacea to solve all the problems around school budgets that the Council and the public have identified. I do however believe this is a place to start the conversation and I look forward to having that discussion with all stakeholders.

Grosso FY2019 Budget Victories

Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large), chairperson of the Committee on Education, celebrated investments in his budget priorities included in the fiscal year 2019 budget for the District of Columbia, which was given final approval by the D.C. Council on May 29, 2018.

“This budget comes before us during a tumultuous time in the public education sector, but I believe the funding we have approved move us forward in education reform and toward closing the achievement gap,” Grosso said. “It makes new investments that put students in the best position to succeed by creating positive school climates, bolstering community schools, and expanding access to multilingual education in D.C.”

The Council’s full budget largely preserves or increases investments approved by the Committee on Education in Grosso’s education priorities and makes investments in other areas of focus for the councilmember:

• Prioritizes students’ right to learn by reducing the use of exclusionary discipline: $3.4 million to fund the Student Fair Access to School Act to protect students’ right to an education, close the achievement gap, and foster positive school climates, including an increase to the at-risk weight of the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula.
• Improves educational outcomes by meeting students’ non-academic needs: An increase of $1.4 million for a total investment of nearly $3 million to expand community schools, which set students up for academic success by addressing their academic, health, and social needs through community partnerships.
• Invests in the mental and physical health of our students: Provides $3 million at the Department of Behavioral Health for school-based clinicians and $4.4 million at the Department of Health for school-based nurses.
• Increases access to multilingual education in the District: $367,000 to establish the Office of Multilingual Education in OSSE, with dedicated personnel whose mission is to increase cross-sector access to high-quality multilingual education across the city.
• Supports students with special education needs: Fully implements the Enhanced Special Education Services Act and includes $350,000 in new funding for teacher training in special education.
• Creates a world-class central library: $1.5 million for opening day collections at the newly-modernized Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, set to re-open in 2020.
• Preserves our local history for future generations: $500,000 for the D.C. Oral History project, a collaboration of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Humanities DC, and the D.C. Public Library, over the next four years.
• Provides resources to combat residency fraud: Provides four full-time staffers and $300,000 to OSSE to aid its mission of investigating and reporting residency fraud in D.C. schools.
• Expands equitable, high-quality out-of-school learning opportunities: Provides over $20 million for after-school and summer programming for students—more than double the current level of grant-funding for community-based organizations and unthinkable under the former D.C. Trust.
• Supports early childhood education: Includes a new tax credit for families to offset the high cost of raising a child in D.C. and increased the reimbursement rate for subsidized childcare.
• Continued investment in early literacy interventions: $1.6 million in continuing investments in the successful early literacy intervention program that gets students at or above reading level by third grade. 
• Invests in Fair Elections: Fully funds Grosso's legislation that establishes a strong public financing system for campaigns in D.C., weakening the influence of large donors and corporations in our elections.
• Fights homelessness and housing insecurity, especially for vulnerable populations: $15.6 million to combat homelessness including $1.6 million to fully fund the Interagency Council on Homelessness Youth Plan in 2019, with $300,000 from the Committee on Education to provide wraparound services at a new 24-hour drop-in center and additional youth beds.

Councilmember Grosso requires increased transparency in education sector and invests in expanded educational opportunities

For Immediate Release:
May 4, 2018
 
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, 202.724.8105 - mnocella@dccouncil.us

Councilmember Grosso requires increased transparency in education sector and invests in expanded educational opportunities

Washington, D.C. – Under the leadership of Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large), the Committee on Education today unanimously passed its recommendations for the District of Columbia FY2019 budget. The Committee’s recommendations require greater transparency from the education sector when formulating its budget. It also makes new investments that put students in the best position to succeed by creating positive school climates, bolstering community schools, and expanding access to multilingual education in D.C.

“I share the public’s frustration with the lack of transparency in the development of school budgets,” Grosso said. “The policy changes included in this report will force DCPS and the mayor to explain their math when devising future budgets. With that information, not only can the Committee, the Council, and the public perform greater oversight, but the city can begin to grapple with the true cost of educating our students as it examines additional reforms to our public education system.” 

Policy Recommendations and Legislative Change Highlights:

• Greater accountability in the formulation of D.C. Public Schools’ budget: Legislative language in the budget requires DCPS to explain the cost that central office attributes to supporting each student, requires the mayor to report how the base of the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) is calculated each year before the budget is formulated, and ensures accuracy in enrollment projections for budgetary purposes.
• Greater transparency in the expenditure of at-risk dollars: By October 1, 2018, D.C. Public Schools must report to the Committee on Education how it will add an accounting line item to central office and school budgets allowing for more detailed tracking of funds intended for students at-risk for academic failure.
• Study transportation barriers that hinder school attendance: Requires the Deputy Mayor for Education to collaborate with the District Department of Transportation to analyze student transportation times, options, and routes for chronically absent students.

“The budget the Committee has passed also creates a positive school environment that values a student’s presence and strives to meet the non-academic needs of our most vulnerable students,” said Grosso. “By addressing these issues, we can begin to close the achievement gap and get students on track to graduate ready for college, career, and life."

Investment Highlights:

• Prioritizes students’ right to learn by reducing the use of exclusionary discipline: $4.4 million to fund the Student Fair Access to School Act to protect students’ right to an education, close the achievement gap, and foster positive school climates. This includes:
  • An increase of $450,000 for a total investment of nearly $1 million for Restorative Justice programs, which provide an alternative to outdated discipline methods.
  • An increase in the Universal Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) for students at-risk of academic failure.
  • Establishing the School Safety and Positive Climate Fund to support schools in implementing strategies to reduce suspensions and expulsions and facilitate training and technical assistance in positive behavioral interventions.
• Improves educational outcomes by meeting students’ non-academic needs: An increase of $1.4 million for a total investment of nearly $3 million to expand community schools, which set students up for academic success by addressing their academic, health, and social needs through community partnerships.
• Increases access to multilingual education in the District: $367,000 to establish the Office of Multilingual Education in OSSE, with dedicated personnel whose mission is to increase cross-sector access to high-quality multilingual education across the city.
• Creates a world-class central library: $1 million for opening day collections at the newly-modernized Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, set to re-open in 2020.
• Preserves our local history for future generations: $500,000 for the D.C. Oral History project, a collaboration of the Historical Society of Washington, D.C., Humanities DC, and the D.C. Public Library, over the next four years.
• Provides resources to combat residency fraud: Provides one additional full-time equivalent to the proposed three FTEs and $300,000 for OSSE to aid its mission of investigating and reporting residency fraud in D.C. schools.
• Expands equitable, high-quality out-of-school learning opportunities: Increased investment of $652,000 for OST grants with redirection of defunct tax donation line and transfers from the Committees on Labor & Workforce Development and Business & Economic Development. Total Education investment: $13.6 million.
• Supports services and housing for youth experiencing homelessness: The Education Committee transferred $300,000 to the Human Services Committee for wrap-around services at the 24-hour drop-in center and for shelter and housing for homeless youth.

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Council Budget Office releases Economic and Policy Impact Statement: Approaches and Strategies for Providing a Minimum Income in the District of Columbia

On Tuesday February 27, 2018, the Council of the District of Columbia's Office of the Budget Director released a report on the feasibility of a public program which would guarantee that every resident has enough resources to meet their basic needs entitled Economic and Policy Impact Statement: Approaches and Strategies for Providing a Minimum Income in the District of Columbia.  This report was prepared at the request of Councilmember David Grosso and Chairman Phil Mendelson and is the second report that the Budget Office has prepared under D.C. Council Rule 308. The first such report was on the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act, which is now law.

Four documents are linked below and can be found on the Council’s website:

• Economic and Policy Impact Statement: Approaches and Strategies for Providing a Minimum Income in the District of Columbia (Minimum Income Report)
• A detailed PowerPoint presentation summarizing the Statement (Minimum Income Presentation),
• A one-page document summarizing the Statement (Minimum Income One-Pager), and
• An executive summary excerpted from the Statement (Minimum Income Executive Summary)

From the Council's Budget Office:

This report offers the Council an evidence-based resource for weighing this proposal’s policy implications and economic costs and benefits.   The study is divided into three sections:

1. An analysis of D.C.’s cost of living versus the social safety net benefits available to low-income households.
2. A discussion of three methods for providing a minimum income: a negative income tax, a guaranteed minimum income, or a universal basic income.
3. An economic analysis of a minimum income program’s impact on the D.C. economy using REMI, a widely used economic forecasting model.

The report confirms that it is very difficult for low-income households living in the District to make ends meet. The public social safety net provides enough resources for some, but not most, low-income households to meet their basic needs. 

• The estimated level of income that three, typical households in the District would need to pay for their basic necessities absent government benefit programs is higher than the current minimum hourly wage of $12.50.   The income levels are as follows:
  • Single adult:  Annual income of approximately $36,988 or an hourly wage of $17.78. 
  • Single parent with one child: Annual income of about $66,113 or an hourly wage of $31.79.
  • Single parent with two children: Annual income of roughly $96,885 or an hourly wage of $46.58.
• A prototypical single, working age adult without a disability whose earned income falls below the Federal Poverty Level would not be able to meet their basic needs even if they received all the public social safety net supports to which they are eligible.
• The existing social safety net is robust enough to allow a prototypical extremely low-income single parent with one or two children to meet their families’ needs, assuming they can access all the public benefit programs to which they are eligible (including a housing voucher). It is important to note that eligibility for a safety net program does not guarantee receipt of the benefit.  

The study forecasts economic conditions under four possible minimum income scenarios relative to a projection of the conditions if there was no change in policy. The study predicts that a minimum income program would negatively impact economic growth, although the magnitude varies greatly depending upon the program’s design.

• Raising households’ income to 100% of the Federal Poverty Level is likely to have a relatively small negative impact on the District’s economy and labor force. It would cause the D.C. economy to add 1,600 to 3,000 fewer jobs and increase GDP by $99 million to $185 million less over the next ten years than otherwise projected.
• Raising households’ income to 450% of the Federal Poverty Level—roughly D.C.’s cost of living—could have major implications for the District’s economy and tax base. It would reduce the number of jobs in D.C. held by residents by 101,000 to 138,000 over ten years. The District would likely forgo about $2.6 billion each year in federal payments and grants. Such a program could increase local expenditures by $7 billion to $9 billion per year, essentially doubling the District’s current local funds budget.

Grosso sends letter to Mayor Bowser outlining budget priorities for FY2019

Today, Councilmember David Grosso, chairperson of the Committee on Education, sent a letter to Mayor Bowser outlining his budget priorities for the Mayor to consider for inclusion in her FY2019 budget proposal.

Ensuring that our students are in the best position to succeed remains Grosso's number one priority as the Chairperson of the Committee on Education.  Fully supporting our students, teachers, and school communities means providing the necessary resources.  For FY2019, Grosso asked the Mayor to:

1.       Meet the non-academic needs of our students through increased investment in the Department of Behavioral Health’s School-Based Mental Health program.

2.      Invest in the successful early literacy intervention program that gets students at or above reading level by third grade.

3.       Give our teachers the tools to educate all our students by funding school-based special education teacher training.

4.      Support the expansion of vital out-of-school time programs with increased funding for the Office of Out of School Time and Youth Outcomes.

5.      Continue equitable investment in community based organizations who are providing care to at-risk pre-kindergarten children.

6.      Aid child care providers by raising the subsidy reimbursement rates to more closely align with the cost of care.

Additionally, Grosso asked the Mayor to support funding for many of his policy priorities that have become law in the past few years:

1.       Provide financial stability for workers caring for themselves or their family by investing fully in the implementation of the Universal Paid Leave Amendment Act of 2016.

2.      Assist residents managing their educational financing by funding a separate student loan ombudsman at the Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking.

3.       Support the newly established D.C. State Athletics Commission with funding for two new full-time position.

4.      Provide equitable access to vital identity documents by funding fee exemptions for low-income residents.

5.      Remove the influence of big dollar donors and promote equitable participation in our local elections by fully funding the Fair Elections Amendment Act of 2017

You can read the full letter to Mayor Bowser below.

Letter to Mayor Boswer on Grosso FY2019 Budget Priorities by Team_Grosso on Scribd

Council approves 2018 budget with Grosso priorities

For Immediate Release: 
June 13, 2017
 
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, (202) 724-8105

Council approves 2018 budget with Grosso priorities

Washington, D.C. – Today, the Council of the District of Columbia gave final approval to the budget for fiscal year 2018, which contained top priorities that Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large) worked closely with his colleagues to include.

“The budget approved today invests in education, our children, our neighbors, and the future of the District of Columbia,” Grosso said.

As chairperson of the Committee on Education, Grosso fought for increased investments in education, including per pupil funding, early childhood literacy, and the public library system.

“Ensuring that every child is in the best position to succeed is my top priority on the Council. I’m heartened to see that the other members of the Council share that priority.  Nowhere is this more evident than in the collaborative efforts to double the mayor’s proposed per student funding increase to three percent,” Grosso said.

He also pushed to accelerate the modernizations of D.C.’s aging school buildings in order to provide a quality learning environment for every student. Working with his colleagues, he was able to move up West Education Campus, Jefferson Middle, Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, and School Within a School at Goding, among others.

The Council also funded many policies that were enacted through legislation that Councilmember Grosso authored, such as startup funds for the implementation of the universal paid family leave law, investments to provide youth quality out of school time programming, and incentives for first time home buyers.

In addition to the councilmember’s education priorities, he supported and worked with his colleagues to secure funding for other vital programs. Click here to learn more.

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Grosso Budget Victories

Grosso Budget Victories

Education

As chairperson of the Committee on Education, Councilmember Grosso’s number one priority during the budget process was ensuring that our schools have the resources they need to improve learning for all residents across the District of Columbia. 

The Council largely endorsed the work of the Committee on Education that increased per student funding, invested in early childhood learning, and improved the resources of our public libraries, while also accelerating modernizations for many schools to provide a better learning environment.

Highlights of the education budget include:

• An increase in the uniform per student funding formula of 3.0%, doubling the mayor’s proposed 1.5% increase, with a special thanks to Councilmembers Cheh, Gray, and Chairman Mendelson in particular for making that possible.
• Investing in the successful early literacy intervention program that gets students at or above reading level by third grade.
• Accelerating the modernization of schools, including West Education Campus, Jefferson Middle, Eaton Elementary, Capitol Hill Montessori at Logan, School Within a School at Goding, and planning for the now-vacant Shaw Middle School.
• A commitment to alternative approaches to school discipline with an enhancement in the Restorative Justice program funding.
• Additional investment in the Community Schools program to improve student outcomes.
• Funding to set up the Office and Commission of Out Of School Time Grants, which was established in legislation introduced by Councilmember Grosso.
• Enhancing the learning opportunities of all D.C. residents with investment in expanding D.C. Public Libraries’ collections.
• Preserving local history with ongoing funding for the D.C. Public Libraries’ D.C. Oral History Project, through partnerships with D.C. Historical Society, and Humanities D.C.

In addition to his work on the Education Committee, Councilmember Grosso secured or supported changes to the budget in other areas.

Judiciary and Public Safety

• Commit D.C. to a new approach to public safety by investing in the NEAR Act which the Council passed unanimously last year.
•  Funded a grant for organizations working with incarcerated young adults utilizing literacy-based interventions to improve their success while incarcerated and upon transition back to the community.

Health

• Supported a rate increase for behavioral health providers.
• Increased funding for in-home delivery programs for D.C. residents living with chronic health conditions such as HIV/AIDS, cancer and diabetes.

Human Services 

• Supported Councilmember Nadeau’s changes to strengthen Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits for District residents by reducing penalties and eliminating time limits.
• Supported further investment toward meeting the goals of the Homeward D.C. plan to end homelessness, and implementing the new plan on youth homelessness.
• Supported additional funding to the Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) Rapid Housing program to help youth emancipating from and aging out of foster care achieve housing stability.

Housing

• Supported strong investment for the Housing Preservation Fund to preserve affordable housing units across the city.
• Supported reducing the waiting list for tenant-based Local Rent Supplement Program vouchers with the allocation of the additional funds.
• Funding for Grosso’s First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit to lower the barrier to home ownership in the District of Columbia.

Business and Economic Development

• With monies provided by the Committee on Education, funded a study of the feasibility of establishing a public bank in D.C.
• Supported the inclusion of a study of certified business enterprises’ capacity to better understand why so many waivers are granted in government-assisted projects.

Labor and Workforce

• Supported investment for adult transit subsidies for adult learners, removing a barrier to educational attainment for non-traditional students. Grosso appreciates Councilmember Silverman's efforts on this issue.

Committee of the Whole

• Supported funding to establish the administrative infrastructure for paid family leave, which will provide a competitive advantage to businesses and relieve families of the difficult choice between paying their bills and caring for their loved ones.

Transportation and the Environment

• Supported allocation of funds to the Department of Health to waive the fee for birth certificates for D.C. residents experiencing homelessness.
• Working with Councilmembers Evans and Cheh, included language to qualify rooftop farms for tax incentives.

Stop The Cuts

On Tuesday, May 30, 2017, the Council of the District of Columbia will consider Mayor Bowser’s proposed fiscal year 2018 budget. I’ve said many times on the record that this is the worst education budget I’ve seen in my five years on the Council. It’s not only the education portion of the budget, but the entire city budget that needed improvements. The Council has worked together to improve this budget, but there is still more to be done. In particular, I have yet to understand why we are continuing to give tax cuts to the wealthy while we are underfunding education, social services, and the arts and humanities.

Just in the Education budget, the Committee on Education worked to restore cuts to early childhood literacy programs, increased the Universal Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF) to 2.38% over last year’s approved budget (the Mayor’s increase was 1.5%), expanded the number of pre-K enhanced slots, and increased the book budget for the D.C. Public Library. You can find out more about the Committee’s work here. However, we still have so much more to do not only in education but throughout the entire government.

This is why I support stopping the estate tax cut, which will only benefit approximately 150 families in the District of Columbia, and cost the District $12 million in annual revenue. I also support a new proposal by the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute of stopping the implementation of the business franchise tax reduction for businesses earning $5 million or more in annual revenue. This would save the District approximately $21 million per year that we could put right back into education, social services, and the arts and humanities. We can also use this money to plan for potential federal funding losses due to Trump’s reckless policies and heartless budget proposal.

Let the Council know that the wealthy should not benefit while our education system, social services, and arts and humanities communities suffer. E-mail and call your Councilmembers and let them know that you support stopping the estate tax cut permanently, and only allowing the business franchise tax cut to be implemented for businesses earning under $5 million in annual revenue. This will provide much needed investments across the District of Columbia.

Mayor Bowser attempts to game Council budgetary process

For Immediate Release: 
May 11, 2017
 
Contact:
Matthew Nocella, (202) 724-8105 (Grosso), Kelly Whittier, (202) 431-5697 (Cheh)

Mayor Bowser attempts to game Council budgetary process

Washington, D.C. – Councilmember David Grosso, Chairperson of the Committee on Education, and Councilmember Mary Cheh, Chairperson of the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, released the following joint statement in response to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s errata letter on the education portion of the D.C. Fiscal Year 2018 budget:

“Several weeks ago, after months of planning, Mayor Muriel Bowser submitted to the Council her budget for fiscal year 2018. We, along with parents, teachers, students, administrators, and advocates were very disappointed when we received a budget that leaves our schools without the resources to put every child in the best position to succeed.

“Our committees, like all council committees, have examined agency funding levels, historical spending, and will make a determination as to the appropriate spending for fiscal year 2018.  We found that the mayor drew up her budget and, like many mayors, built in funds to be used at her discretion, beyond effective Council control.

“Today, she sent the Council an errata letter, usually meant to fix minor mistakes in the submitted budget.  However, this letter bears all the hallmarks of an attempt to regain control of those funds. And it irresponsibly claims to have solved the uniform per student funding formula shortfall that the mayor created. In truth, it includes only one-time money.

“Through our oversight of the budget, we have found sources of funds that can be reallocated to provide a more sustainable solution to investing in our students’ futures by providing recurring, not one-time, dollars to increase the uniform per student funding formula over the mayor’s original proposed 1.5 percent.  Recurring dollars represent a real commitment to our students, providing year-to-year funding, rather than having to go through this exercise in the next budget cycle.

“The mayor now attempts to defeat that reallocation by saying ‘Oops – we see some errors and want to correct them.’

“The public is ill-served by the mayor’s political gamesmanship which lacks transparency and is contrary to the system of checks and balances. The mayor proposes, the Council disposes. And that’s exactly what we, working with our colleagues, intend to do, regardless of today’s letter.”

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Budget Responses from Agencies

The responses to questions posed to the agencies under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Education, chaired by Councilmember Grosso, as part of the annual budget process are now available.

D.C. in the age of Trump

The first month and a half under President Trump has been dizzying, to put it mildly.  He’s taken actions promising a range of harms to include: withholding federal money from “sanctuary” cities, a travel ban aimed at seven Muslim-majority countries, and even rescinding the student protections based on their gender identity.  In addition to the stress-inducing actions of the president, congressional Republicans are still committed to repealing the Affordable Care Act, a move that would have massive implications for millions of Americans.

We are living in incredibly uncertain times, which has given rise to the #resistance movement. Millions have joined marches to protest the disheartening steps taken by the Trump administration and states across the country are developing strategies to protect themselves against potentially sweeping federal policy changes.  Unfortunately, here in the District of Columbia, our circumstances are more precarious. 

Statehood confers certain protections, though those protections are not without limits.  By virtue of having it, states are afforded more avenues through which they can act to thwart ill-conceived federal action.  Similarly, states have at their disposal clear defenses and certain recourse. 

As D.C. is not a state, it begs the question—what can we do to protect ourselves?

The District of Columbia has long been a pawn in the political meddling of Congress.  Congressional leadership has wrongly interfered with the city’s ability to govern itself by attacking the rights of women and families to make their own reproductive health decisions, blocking the city from using local funds to legalize marijuana and, most recently, attempting to block D.C. physicians from prescribing medication to terminally ill residents.  

While most attempts fail, we are faced with an unpredictable executive administration and an emboldened Congress.  The current climate requires us to be more diligent, defiant, and creative.

As the city is currently enjoying a $2.4 billion General Fund Balance and our cash reserves have reached $1.165 billion, we need to be prepared to establish a new, non-lapsing special fund to help us continue to provide services to our residents in the event of something catastrophic, like the repeal of the Affordable Care Act.

The resources to establish a new fund are ample and could be available now. 

I have stated repeatedly that the time is ripe to reassess our reserves, how they are currently spent and how they should be spent in the future.  Continuing to pursue 60 days of cash on hand may not be the best approach, particularly if we are unwilling to exhaust all of those funds to ensure that our residents have access to needed services in the event of federal changes.

Nevertheless while our cash reserves, the contingency cash reserve in particular, could be used to help residents in need due to “unexpected obligations created by federal law,” any money taken from our reserves must be paid back within 2 years.

Last month, I introduced the Reserve Fund Improvement Amendment Act of 2017, which standardizes the reserve fund calculations to allow the city to meet its reserve requirements this year, freeing up $89.7 million of the reserve funding surplus to be used immediately for other investments. Though legislative amendments would be required, this money is a perfect example of available funding to establish a new fund.

Similarly, the city’s Chief Financial Officer recently revised the local fund revenue forecast upward by $128.1 million in FY17 alone.  Pursuant to recommendations of the Tax Revision Commission, current law requires that all recurring revenue above the prior year’s February forecast be allocated to tax policy changes.  This year, the current law should be amended and the Council should move the additional revenue into a new, non-lapsing fund. Combined with the $89.7M of potential reserve fund surplus, the city should be able to immediately deposit $217.8M into the new non-lapsing fund.

As a city, it is time we stand ready to fight.  We cannot allow ourselves to be lulled into complacency.  Though we have yet to see the full scope of what could happen at the federal level, we know with certainty that we have an obligation to our residents.  We need to act decisively and with a sense of urgency to pursue all strategies to ensure that our residents are protected and our coffers are properly resourced.