Opinion
School & District Management Opinion

Firing the District of Columbia’s Central Office - Or Turning it Into a Political Fiefdom?

By Marc Dean Millot — December 10, 2007 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Yesterday, I provided provisions of the District of Columbia Code relevant to the present debate over the status of employees in the DC Public Schools central office. Today, my analysis. It may be somewhat unexpected.How staff are fired today

It would not be surprising for a new Chancellor like Michelle Rhee to decide that some central office staff should be removed - fired - because they don’t do their jobs, don’t buy into the new program, or are in some way corrupt. Under the DC Code Section 1-616.51 this could be accomplished under regulations promulgated by the Mayor, within a few legal constraints.

The staff member would have to removed for reasons identified in the regulations and provided with notice of the reasons before being fired. Normally, the employee should have a written opportunity to be heard prior to separation. However, the Chancellor may remove the staffer immediately “to protect the integrity of government operations.”
Under Section 1-616.52, the employee may appeal the removal to the Office of Employee Appeals, but does not have a right to remain in place.

Why protect government employees?

The effect of these rules is simple – before the Chancellor can fire someone she needs to be sure of her case. She needs to have well-documented grounds for her decision. Why does every government agency in the United States – federal, state and local – have these rules? Because we don’t want every new administration to hire and fire arbitrarily; we want government’s administrative functions to be insulated from electoral politics; we want a check on arbitrary leadership.

What the Mayor and Chancellor want

Rather than finding a few bad apples, the Chancellor seems to have concluded that the overwhelming majority of some 150 central office staff are not competent. Instead of proceeding against each of these employees, she has convinced the Mayor to ask the City Council to give her sole power to decide who will stay or go. In effect, the Mayor’s proposal would separate all of these employees from the system – with severance but without appeal, and the Chancellor would have sole authority to decide whom to rehire. These rehires and anyone hired to fill the spots vacated by those separated from the system would be hired or fired “at-will;” to be precise, at the Chancellor’s will - for any reason, or no reason (except on the basis of age, race, etc). The bill says nothing about the criteria the Chancellor would apply to future terminations for very good reason – if it did, the employment status wouldn’t be “at will.”

A “one-time” option

No one is going to argue that the DC school system is not in a state of emergency. If this mass firing were a one-time event, grounded in an agreement by the City Council that the current staff is so lacking in capacity that the central office should be reconsitituted like a school - with everyone let go, reapplying for their jobs, and subject to the Chancellor’s approval, but NOT as at-will employees - I could probably accept it as a matter of public policy. I would prefer the Chancellor to set up a special unit to gather the evidence identifying the people who should be let go – the absence of this record gives any firing at least the appearance of being arbitrary and capricious. Still, I’ll admit that members of the City Council are far better positioned to judge whether that approach makes less sense and does more damage than tearing the central staff down and starting over. (I hope they have the evidence to make the decision on the merits.) Without the proposal’s at-will provision, a one-time change would solve the immediate problem identified by Chancellor, without too much risk of turning the school system into a political fiefdom for future Mayors.

Why the Mayor didn’t make this limited proposal in the first place is entirely beyond me.

Someone on the City Council should ask.

Thursday: What Do Fenty, Rhee and DCPS reform have to do with the school improvement industry anyway? More than you might think. Please come back and have a look. Tomorrow’s “Letter From” may offer helpful background.

Related Tags:
Opinion

The opinions expressed in edbizbuzz are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School & District Management Webinar
Breaking the Cycle: Future-Proofing Schools Against Chronic Absenteeism
Chronic absenteeism is a signal, not just data. Join us for a webinar on reimagining attendance with research & AI!
Content provided by Panorama Education
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Reading & Literacy Webinar
Trust in Science of Reading to Improve Intervention Outcomes
There’s no time to waste when it comes to literacy. Getting intervention right is critical. Learn best practices, tangible examples, and tools proven to improve reading outcomes.
Content provided by 95 Percent Group LLC

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Quiz Quiz Yourself: How Much Do You Know About Marketing To District and School Leaders at Conferences and Trade Shows?
Think you know what catches a K-12 leader’s eye at conferences? Take this quiz and test your marketing savvy.
120122 mb data conferences 1385168396
Image by Getty
School & District Management School Leaders Look Out for Students as Trump Steps Up Immigration Enforcement
Experts say there are steps schools can take to proactively address mental health concerns stemming from ramped-up immigration enforcement.
6 min read
GettyImages 1353122771
E+
School & District Management Q&A The Skills Education Leaders Need to Meet the Moment
Natasha Trivers, CEO of Democracy Prep Public Schools, will be the next leader of the Broad Center at the Yale School of Management.
6 min read
Illustration of two cliffs with a woman on one side and a man on the other. Both of them are holding a half of a cog wheel and bringing the two pieces together to bridge the gap between them.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management Quiz: Do You Know How Much Time Students Spend Learning at School?
Answer four true-or-false questions to see how much you know about the amount of time U.S. students spend in school and learning.
1 min read
Illustration of a larger than life clock with a professional adult keeping the hands of time from moving forward. Silhouetted group of students sitting at their desks with laptops open.
DigitalVision Vectors