photo by Marine Pradel
From a press release:
“On Wednesday, March 19 dozens of students, parents, and teachers took over the steps at Tubman Elementary to rally to save the school from a devastating $1.2 million budget cut – the largest cut any DCPS school is facing.
“When the teachers and families found out we’d finally been chosen for modernization, there was so much excitement. But the bubble popped when the district decided to cut 10% of our budget – $1.2 million – as a result. This is exactly why schools like Hyde Addison and and Francis Steven’s budgets wrre not slashed like Tubman’s has been. The glaring difference between students at Tubman and Hyde-Addison? Race and class,” said Hannah Rasmussen, a first grade special education teacher At Tubman.
Tubman Elementary is a Title One school that serves largely low-income, minority, and immigrant families in Columbia Heights.
The proposed cuts come after Tubman Elementary was moved into a swing space while undergoing a critical building renovation. Yet while DCPS utilized a “hold harmless” provision to protect the budgets of other, often wealthier, schools undergoing a similar process — like Hyde-Addison, Francis Stevens, and Oyster Adams — DCPS has refused to protect Tubman Elementary’s budget during this transition period, forcing the school to face teacher layoffs and cuts to crucial programming, and leaving it unprepared for an estimated influx of between 200-300 additional students when it moves back to its permanent location.
The school has also been facing a lack of support from DCPS during this transition period, including the refusal to provide students with bus or transportation options to the new location, a lack of continuity with afterschool options, and a temporary building space that has flooded and faced mold, rodents, and heating/cooling issues. Despite these obstacles, Tubman teachers have continued to provide the highest quality education, increasing students’ math and literacy scores.”