Washington, D.C. - Daniel K. Akaka, Chairman of the Senate subcommittee in charge of oversight of the District of Columbia, is holding a hearing tomorrow on reforms to D.C. public schools.  The subcommittee will review a Government Accountability Office (GAO) study, to be released tomorrow, which provides recommendations to the reform efforts for District schools.  Witnesses include D.C. schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee as well as educational experts from the D.C. Mayor's office, the Urban Institute and the Federal City Council.

Title: On the Path to Great Results for the District's Public Schools?

Date: March 14, 2008 at 10:00 AM

Place: Dirksen Senate Office Building, Rm. 342

Witnesses:

• Cornelia M. Ashby, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues, United States Government Accountability Office
• Ms. Michelle Rhee, Chancellor, District of Columbia Public Schools
• Mr. Victor Reinoso, Deputy Mayor of Education, Office of the Deputy Mayor of Education for the District of Columbia
• Mr. Allen Y. Lew , Executive Director , Office of the Public Education Facilities Modernization for District of Columbia Public Schools
• Ms. Deborah A. Gist , State Superintendent of Education, Office of the State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia
• Mr. John W. Hill , Chief Executive Officer, Federal City Council
• Dr. Jane Hannaway , Director, Education Policy Center, Urban Institute

In July 2007, the Subcommittee held a hearing assessing D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty's proposal to reform the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) system.  The hearing examined how the Mayor's proposal would specifically address failing math and science scores, unkempt buildings, poor management, and excessively high administrative costs.  D.C. Mayor Fenty and his team testified that the reform efforts were in their early stages. Thus, it was evident that until the reforms were implemented, performance and accountability measures would not be reached.  Following the hearing, Chairman Akaka and Ranking Member Voinovich requested that the GAO conduct a short-term and long-term evaluation of the reforms.  The purpose of this hearing is to examine the District's reform efforts thus far and GAO's evaluation of the first six months since the reforms began.

Daniel K. Akaka is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the District of Columbia, in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.  Akaka was a teacher and principal in Hawaii before entering politics. 

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