Two years ago, DC's elected leaders made an unprecedented pledge to devote $2.5 billion over a decade to fix up the city's dilapidated public school buildings, adding to the $1.4 billion that had been spent since 1997. Then Adrian Fenty became mayor and made improving K-12 education his top priority. Fenty tapped Allen Lew, who oversaw construction of the Convention Center and the baseball stadium, to handle the physical rehabilitation side. It seemed like all the stars had aligned perfectly.

So why aren't we jumping for joy? Why are we worried, in fact, that the school modernization effort is off track? For starters, there's the $200 million of school modernization funds spent this past summer on a super-blitz of repairs. It went so fast and had so little community participation, oversight or quality control that we're not sure the funds were used well.

Then there's the new draft master facilities plan, which will govern the next 10 years of school upgrades. It, too, was developed with little public input, lacks fundamentally important project scope and budget information, and may leave us with schools that are not truly modernized.

We can and need to do better. DC deserves a school facilities plan that goes beyond repairs to create environments that help improve the quality of teaching and learning, that enhance our neighborhoods, and that strengthen our city. We have sufficient funds to do this, and we cannot afford to squander this opportunity.

A Plan Built without Community Input that Lacks Community Vision
The draft master facilities plan for DC public schools was released in September, over six months late. Even with the extra time, it was developed without consulting parents, principals or teachers. Community meetings following the release of the draft were bungled with cancellations and rescheduling with little advance notice. It's no surprise that few people showed up.

And it’s no surprise that the draft plan does not offer a community vision for our schools. Ideally, each school should be planned to be a vibrant community center, and the physical layout should reflect its unique character and needs – its philosophy, mission and educational approach. We don’t just need better buildings, we need better schools. But the plan doesn’t really touch on this.

Also, there is little insight into what criteria were used to set priorities and ensure a fair repair schedule across the city. There are crowded schools in wealthy neighborhoods that could use more space, but there are low performing schools in neighborhoods with lots of public school children where poor maintenance, design and utilization are barriers to their health and success. How did the draft plan try to balance these tensions? It doesn't say. Explaining why one school is ahead of another on the repair list is critically important in any community, but especially in a city that is as racially and economically divided as DC.

Will We Get the Schools We Need?
The draft facility plan calls for working on elementary and middle schools in three phases. The first phase is to make sure all classrooms are in good basic shape – painted, well-lit and air-conditioned. Since that's where kids spend most of the school day, it's not a bad concept. But we're not sure it will work.

Most schools would go through Phase 1 repairs over the next five years. Phase 2 involves fixing up common spaces like bathrooms and gyms – followed by Phase 3, which would be working on infrastructure like heating and cooling systems.

But this could mean that classrooms may get touched up now only to be torn up again in a few years when electrical, plumbing or other upgrades are made. The piecemeal approach also means that many schools won't get fully modernized – stripped to the core and fully redone – as has happened at schools like Hardy, Sousa and Cleveland. If you saw these beautifully rebuilt schools, you'd understand why this is important. Rather than going in phases, isn’t there a way to do it all together, at least for some schools?

More extensive building improvements are envisioned for the DCPS high schools, with $500 million for 10 schools. But at $50 million per school, we wonder what, exactly, this will do. McKinley High School needed nearly twice this amount for its modernization completed three years ago. We don’t know if all high schools will get the same amount per square foot (or student) or whether the amounts will change based on some other criteria.

Will We Get Our Money's Worth?
Spending $2.5 billion over a decade is a lot to manage. This past summer’s experience, when the District spent $200 million on repairs, does not inspire confidence that we're using this money wisely. No detailed information has been provided on what was done at each school or how much it cost. With crews working weekends, nights and extra-long shifts, the price tag for many tasks undoubtedly was far higher than it needed to be. We also don't know about the quality – although early reports are that it is mixed. Many teachers were pleased to have better lighting and clean finishes in their classrooms, but others were puzzled by undersized white boards or new computer data ports without electrical plugs.

Looking forward, what we have offers only a sketchy view of the work that will get done.

Plans for each school are not included – and there are no dollar figures associated with the year-by-year list of school projects – making it hard to call it a real facilities plan.

Getting a Better Plan
The draft master facilities plan for the schools is a start, but the council should not approve it without major changes and a real effort at public dialogue. The specifics of who gets what and why in the MFP are important and should not be left out.

The plan is now in the hands of the DC Council. Along with the council, the public needs to look at it to decide what is best for each local school and neighborhood and how to achieve a balance of investment throughout the city.

To do that, the Mayor’s Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization needs to provide options on how to implement the vision so it is manageable and affordable. And if we can’t afford to do what we need, the public needs to know this and be part of downsizing the vision and the plan.

Providing high quality public education – including the buildings where most schooling is done – takes a village. Let’s all do our part to bring high value to our children and neighborhoods with our public funds.