On the Path to Great Educational Results for the District’s Public Schools?

In July 2007, the Subcommittee held a hearing assessing DC Mayor Adrian Fenty’s proposal to reform the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) system. The hearing examined how the Mayor’s proposal would specifically address failing math and science scores, unkempt buildings, poor management, and excessively high administrative costs. DC Mayor Fenty and his team testified that the reform efforts were in their early stages. Thus, it was evident that until the reforms were implemented performance and accountability measures would not be reached. Following the hearing, Chairman Akaka and Ranking Member Voinovich requested that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) conduct a short-term and long-term evaluation of the reforms. The purpose of this hearing is to examine the District’s reform efforts thus far and GAO’s evaluation of the first six months since the reforms began.