Washington, DC—The DC State Board of Education (SBOE) will testify at the Committees of the Whole & Education Public Hearing on Friday, October 23, 2020 at 9 a.m. on the Statewide Data Warehouse Amendment Act of 2019 (Bill 23-0515). B23-515 was introduced by the State Board to authorize the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to expand the Statewide Educational Data Warehouse to include additional information on public-school teachers.
Teacher turnover in the District of Columbia is higher than the national average and higher than many urban districts across the United States. Understanding how and when teachers move into, across, and out of teaching positions in the District is crucial to understanding how to promote teacher retention.
At present, there is no publicly-accessible statewide data system that tracks information on teachers in District schools. This legislation would expand the Statewide Educational Data Warehouse to include information on teachers, allowing state- and local-level policymakers to better understand the present challenges and opportunities facing the District’s educator workforce and to create public policy that recruits, hires, and retains more teachers in District schools.
If approved, the bill would require the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to submit annual reports of the following information:
- Teacher identification number for all full-time and substitute teachers
- Teacher demographics, including race/ethnicity, gender, and age
- Years of teacher experience
- Type of teacher credential earned and the name and type of teacher preparation program
The bill also requires that OSSE report annually to the Council on the state of teaching and teacher retention in the District, including state-, LEA-, and school-level data on teacher departures. Lastly, the bill asks OSSE to include this data on the D.C. School Report Card so that decision-makers and the public have easy access to data relevant to understanding teacher retention and attrition.
The State Board encourages teachers, students, and members of the public wishing to provide testimony during the public hearing to email the Committee of the Whole at [email protected] or [email protected] by noon (12 p.m. ET) on Wednesday, October 21, 2020.
About the SBOE
The DC State Board of Education is an independent agency within the Government of the District of Columbia that advises the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), the District’s state education agency. The State Board is comprised of nine elected representatives, each representing their respective wards, with one member representing DC at large, and two appointed student representatives. The State Board approves statewide education policies and sets academic standards, while OSSE oversees education within the District and manages federal education funding. More information about the SBOE can be found at sboe.dc.gov.
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Contact: Milayo Olufemi
202-710-4641