District of Columbia Public School, Census and Enrollment Oversight

Book excerpt: The Subcommittee on the District of Columbia of the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight held a hearing to discuss an accurate census of the District of Columbia public schools and the system's enrollment. Subcommittee Chairman Thomas M. Davis (Virginia) noted that an accurate and reliable count of student enrollment is directly related to the system's ability to determine how many classrooms are needed and how many teachers, administrators, and support personnel are required. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (District of Columbia) concurred and mentioned some of the issues that make an accurate enrollment count difficult, and Congresswoman Constance A. Morella (Maryland) also voiced her agreement. The first statement of the first panel was from Cornelia M. Blanchette of the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), who described the GAO's August 1997 report and the actions the District of Columbia schools reported taking in response to the report. George Grier, representing a statistical consulting firm, talked about the difficulties of obtaining a correct count of students in an urban district where many students come from or go to surrounding jurisdictions. General Julius W. Becton, the Chief Executive Officer and Superintendent of the District of Columbia Public Schools, reported on efforts to improve the accuracy of the school counts. Richard Wenning of the District of Columbia Public Schools discussed steps taken to improve the enrollment counts, and a general discussion of the problems and potential solutions followed. The afternoon panel consisted of: (1) Joyce Ladner, Member of the District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority; (2) Bruce K. MacLaury, Chairman of the school system's Emergency Transitional Education Board of Trustees; and (3) Wilma Harvey, President of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia. These officials discussed enrollment counting in the context of the transitional Board of Education and the overall District of Columbia educational reform effort. Prepared statements of the witnesses at this hearing follow their remarks or are substituted for them in some instances. (SLD)