Opening Statement of Councilmember David Grosso

Chairperson, Committee on Education

“District of Columbia Public Schools Family and School Community Fundraising
Equity Act of 2019”
December 3, 2019

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Today, along with Councilmember Vincent Gray, I am introducing the District of Columbia Public
Schools Family and School Community Fundraising Equity Act of 2019.

In 2018, The 74 Million reported that DCPS parent-teacher organizations raised more than $5.5
million for only a quarter of DCPS elementary schools. This revenue equates to almost an additional
full-time teacher or three additional instructional aides for each DCPS elementary school in DC.

The schools whose PTO’s brought in the least revenue — less than $60,000 on average — had an
average of 74 percent economically disadvantaged students. Seventy-five percent of elementary
schools did not report any PTO revenue.

The Center for American Progress reported that in 2013-14, the District of Columbia’s five wealthiest
PTO’s, all located west of Rock Creek Park, raised over $2.9 million. The top PTO raised almost $1.4
million—about $2,220 per student—while the next four PTO’s each raised more than 300,000 dollars.

And just recently, the DC Fiscal Policy Institute reported that “DCPS students who attend by-right
schools in wealthier neighborhoods are more likely to benefit from increased school funding through
parent organizations and that these extra dollars are likely giving their children an academic edge,
further exacerbating school inequities.”

These funding inequities are not unique to the District of Columbia , as PTO’s across the country are in
aggregate raising hundreds of millions of dollars to support programming, services, and staff for their
districts’ most resourced schools.

Well-funded DCPS PTO’s are supporting essential school needs like staffing and instructional
materials. Specifically, they are hiring grant writers, full-time tutors, and instructional aides. These
employees are not DCPS employees, which raises concerns about safety, accountability, and liability.

The bill I am introducing today would address these funding inequities that ultimately exacerbate the
disparate academic experiences and outcomes of DPCS students.

It will improve funding transparency by requiring PTO’s to submit annual budgets to DCPS;

It will require an equitable allocation of funds by prohibiting PTO’s from expending funds to hire
instructional staff members;

It will require an equitable solicitation of funds by prohibiting PTO’s from requesting a specified
donation amount from family members; and

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By prohibiting PTO’s from requiring family members to donate funds in order to vote on PTO-related
measures, which amounts to a poll tax for parent participation.

Finally, it will establish a DCPS Equity Fund to aggregate equity fees from PTO’s that expend over
$10,000 in monetary and in-kind value. These equity fees will then be distributed in an equitable fashion
to DCPS PTO’s.

Because we have not funded our schools at a higher level, something I have pushed for year after year,
some wealthier communities are able to supplement their school funding. This is inherently unfair.

We must continue to increase investments in our schools so that outside fundraising by PTOs are not
necessary to provide the supports our students need.

I am not claiming that this bill will solve our funding inequities, but it will force us to no longer be blind
to the fact that we have not been providing those investments and have been allowing the wealthy to
step in and fill those gaps.

Until we provide those investments, we must take a bold stance to address and level inequitable
academic experiences and outcomes for DCPS students that PTOs can exacerbate.

This bill also represents a bold stance nationwide as over the last several decades school districts across
the country have struggled with addressing PTO funding inequities.

Thank you, Chairman Mendelson and I welcome any co-sponsors

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