Dear Mundo Verde Families/Caregivers,
I want to highlight my concerns for how the proposed DC budget for the upcoming fiscal year will affect Mundo Verde staff and students. Mayor Bowser’s proposed budget provides more than three times as much funding to increase staff compensation for DCPS educators ($207 million) as it does for charter school educators ($59 million), even though the number of students in each sector is roughly equal.* As you know a critical factor in retaining teachers is ensuring that their compensation is appropriate to the work. While Mundo Verde has made good strides in improving compensation in recent years, the school’s ability to continue to improve compensation and to compete with DCPS for staff depends on the funding we receive from the District.
On Wednesday Director of Data and Accountability Rodrigo Salgado, and 5th Grade ELA Teacher at Cook Campus and DCACTS Acting President Kelley Ukhun joined me and 100 other witnesses asking the City Council to provide equitable funding for charter school staff and students.
Please join me in public action to support equal and fair funding for charter school staff and students. Our goal is to have as many members as possible in our school community (including parents, teachers, leaders and board members) reach out directly to the City Council, pointing out the funding inequities in the proposed budget, and pushing for common sense fixes. Before April 12, please do one or more of the following:
Sign this petition in support of fair teacher compensation today!
Share this 30-second video about education inequities in DC with friends, family, and colleagues
Tell DC Council directly to support equity for DC’s Public Charter School Students and Educators - Click AQUÍ
Send written testimony to the Committee of the Whole no later than April 12 in support of equitable funding cow@dccouncil.gov. Watch some of yesterday’s hearing or read some of the testimony, if you’d like to get a sense of how to do this.
Call or write to share with your Councilmember what you love about attending a charter school https://dccouncil.gov/councilmembers/
As over 100 witnesses in the April 5 public hearing explained, Mayor Bowser’s proposed budget provides DCPS with more than three times as much funding to increase staff compensation for educators ($207 million) than it does for charter school educators ($59 million) even though the number of students in each sector is roughly equal.* (See a few numbers in the chart below)
All educators deserve fair and competitive compensation for the hard work they do to support and educate our students all year long - regardless of the type of school in which they work.
In Community,
Kristin Scotchmer
| Sector/ Factor | DCPS | Public Charter Schools |
|---|---|---|
| Students | 52,873 (52.5%) | 47,918 (47.5%) |
| Forward pay | $59 million (60.2%) | $39 million (39.8%) |
| Back pay | $148 million | $20 million (11.9%) |