Resource
Testimony: Deputy Mayor for Education Oversight (FY15)
On March 10, 2015, Judith Sandalow, executive director of Children’s Law Center, testified at performance oversight hearing for the Deputy Mayor of Education. She advocated that the District needs a comprehensive school engagement plan.
Some of the changes recommended were:
- Improve the school climate and student engagement at high truancy schools;
- Strengthen existing school-based early interventions;
- Implement evidence-based programs proven to reduce truancy;
- Expand mental health services to all schools;
- Revise the “80/20 rule” to allow schools to better distinguish between students who are chronically tardy and chronically absent;
- Employ more effective methods for preventing and addressing misbehavior;
- Require meaningful school- or community-based intervention before students can be referred to court for poor school attendance.