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Articles
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| Ludlow-Taylor parents fret over school’s future |
VOICE writes, "BY BEN WEINSTEIN
D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee recently told parents and teachers that Ludlow-Taylor Elementary School’s principal will leave at the end of the year, but she refuted rumors about other big changes at the school.
Contrary to information circulated around its Northeast Capitol Hill neighborhood, Ludlow-Taylor will not close or end its special-education programs or stop receiving out-of-boundary students, Rhee said at a March 18 school meeting.
Many of the questions directed at Rhee stemmed from a flier posted around the school in early March that spurred arguments among parents.
“All of this stuff going on right now is for adults,” Rhee said. “My focus is on kids.”
Angry parents at the standing-room only meeting asked Rhee for assurances that out-of-boundary children could return to Ludlow-Taylor next school year and that special-education programs would not be discontinued. "
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The Voice could not obtain a copy of the flier parents were reacting to, but two parents said it advertised the March 18 meeting and said Ludlow-Taylor would stop accepting out-of-boundary students. It was unclear who distributed the fliers.
“That is absolutely untrue,” Rhee said. “I think that’s an incredibly important thing, so that’s not going to change,” Rhee said of the school system’s out-of-boundary lottery system.
It is unclear whether the flier said that the school would phase out special-education programs, as some parents suggested, but Rhee assured them those programs are not in jeopardy.
Another argument that erupted at the meeting revolved around the Friends of Ludlow-Taylor group. PTA member Terry Franklin questioned why the Friends group, of which many members’ children are not yet school age, met with Rhee while the PTA has not been able to win a face-to-face with Rhee.
“Shouldn’t we have a voice?” Franklin asked.
Rhee agreed to meet with the PTA. Franklin said that meeting will happen later this spring.
Friends of Ludlow-Taylor president Shahna Gooneratne said parents in the neighborhood with young children formed the group to strengthen the school’s academic programs and boost enrollment to increase funding.
Gooneratne said the group has proposed making Ludlow-Taylor a specialty school, along the lines of the Tyler Elementary Spanish-immersion program, to attract parents and help pull in additional arts, music or language programs. These are “things that are out of reach for many District schools,” she said in an interview with the Voice. “It seems like the schools that are doing well have a specialty focus.”
Gooneratne said several parents who questioned the Friends group’s motives assumed the group was tied to the misinformation disseminated in the flier. But she said the group wants to retain current students and has encouraged input from all parents. “Our whole goal is to increase enrollment,” she said. “We know that there’s an existing community there and we want to be part of it.”
Franklin said current school parents and teachers should have a stronger decision-making role for the future of Ludlow-Taylor. But he and Gooneratne seemed to agree on much of what that future should look like. “We need to have more music, art” and other programs, Franklin said. “That should be automatic.”
Parents also asked Rhee how decisions were made on school closures, even though Ludlow-Taylor did not make the cut list.
Rhee said it is a matter of use of resources. She said 144 schools for 50,000 students is an inefficient use of resources, particularly given the system’s funding formula.
“Right now, we have far too many schools in the District,” Rhee said, adding that the schools $25 million utility bill is higher than the school system’s utility budget. That’s $25 million going to utilities instead of staff, supplies and initiatives for students, she said.
Rhee said school closures will allow more money to go to teachers and resources than to underused facilities.
“We spend more money per student than almost any other jurisdiction in the country,” but teachers say it does not feel that way, she said.
As for the principal of Ludlow-Taylor, Rhee said he will be transferred to another school.
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Posted on Mar 27, 2008 20:41pm.
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