AJE’s Executive Director Rochanda Hiligh-Thomas Testified at the Joint Education Budget last week. Highlights from her testimony are below, and you can read all her comments here.

In the ReOpen DC Advisory Group’s recommendation to the Mayor, the group noted that its recommendations are anchored on DC’s core values of HOPE- Health,
Opportunity, Prosperity and Equity. There is no HOPE for the District without equity and the health and safety of our children and residents. Thus, as we work toward reopening the District and the Council considers the budget, equity and health must be the lens through which all funding decisions should be considered, especially for our most vulnerable residents…..

In addition, we agree with our Under 3 DC Coalition partners that childcare must be made a priority for a safe and inclusive recovery and urge the Council to hold the child care subsidy program harmless by rejecting budget cuts to an industry that is at the heart of a strong District economy. DC’s childcare businesses who participate in the subsidy program will require at least $90 million in the FY2021 OSSE budget to preserve their financial viability. This represents a $10 million increase from last year to account for pandemic-related needs such as more staffing and reduced class sizes to meet recommended safety and social distancing guidelines.  Last, we urge the Council to protect funding for the other Birth-to-Three for All DC health programs that serve young children and caregivers including Healthy Start, Healthy Futures, Help Me Grow, and Home Visiting programs…

The Council should ensure adequate funding to expand the school based mental health supports our students will need without any cuts to critical components of school based mental health services. We echo the urge of our fellow advocate partners for the members of this Committee to ensure that the school based mental health expansion is fully funded for FY21, by adding the approximately $4 million needed for the planned expansion. However, funding needed to expand essential school based mental health services for our students should not come at the expense of cutting community based mental health services. Our children cannot be considered in isolation but as members of a family and larger community unit to which they belong and who they rely on for their stability. As I previously noted, the traumatic impact of COVID-19 has impacted families, and Black and brown communities the hardest. Prioritizing the mental health and wellbeing of families and communities is critical to a successful recovery. Thus, investments in mental health must reflect this commitment to the whole family and communities.

The ReOpen DC Advisory Group has recommended that all students have access to technology and the internet, including technical support. To provide equitable access to education during continued distance learning we urge the Council to ensure there is adequate funding to support school’s ability to implement the Advisory’s Group recommendations…

Parents need adequate support to work collaboratively with schools during this unprecedented time. Parent counseling and training would assist parents in understanding the special needs of their child; provide parents with information about child development; and help parents to acquire the necessary skills that will allow them to support the implementation of their child’s IEP.  In our experience, this has been an underutilized related service. However, now it should be considered for every student’s IEP, and we urge OSSE to provide guidance to LEAs on this related service option and on good parent training models.

AJE’s Testimony Education Joint Budget Oversight Hearing.RHT. 6.4.2020