: News

Filed Under:

Private Funders Of Teacher Contract Reserve The Right To Reconsider

April 27, 2010
Play associated audio
comments
Private funders of the D.C. Public Schools teacher contracts reserve to reconsider their funding if DCPS leadership changes. Whether D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee will stay in her post after the mayoral race has become a political issue.
Kavitha Cardoza
Private funders of the D.C. Public Schools teacher contracts reserve to reconsider their funding if DCPS leadership changes. Whether D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee will stay in her post after the mayoral race has become a political issue.

By Rebecca Blatt

New information about private grants for the tentative D.C. Public Schools teacher's contract reveals that a change in DCPS leadership could put the funding in jeopardy.

Private foundations have pledged more than $63 million to fund raises and bonuses for teachers under the tentative labor agreement.

In grant approval letters, the foundations reserve the right to reconsider their funding if the District fails to meet anticipated achievement and teacher retention --- or if there is a "material change in DCPS leadership."

DCPS leadership has been an issue in the D.C. mayor's race. Council Chairman and mayoral candidate Vincent Gray has not said whether he would keep Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee if elected.

But Cate Swinburn, the President of the D.C. Public Education Fund, who serves as a liaison between DCPS and private foundations, says the conditions were not intended to be political.

She says the clauses are standard for foundation grants.

Arts & Culture

NPR

Fictional 'Mothers' Reveal Facts Of A Painful Adoption Process

After years trying to conceive, novelist Jennifer Gilmore and her husband decided to adopt. What they thought would be a relatively simple process was instead a long and painful one. In her latest novel, Gilmore channels these autobiographical experiences into fiction.

Food

NPR

How Genomics Solved The Mystery Of Ireland's Great Famine

Although scientists have known that a funguslike organism caused the potato blight that triggered the Great Famine in Ireland in the 1840s, they didn't know which strain was the culprit. But they do now, thanks to the genes in some 19th century potato samples.

Politics

NPR

Oregon's Cash-Strapped Counties Reject Public Safety Levies

Two Oregon counties have reportedly rejected property tax increases that would have funded law enforcement and public safety services. The counties once received federal timber subsidies, but those days are over — and now they're scrambling to pay for essential services.

Technology

NPR

How That 'Nigerian Email Scam' Got Started

You've probably seen it in your inbox before: Someone who claims to have come into a fortune needs your help. You can share in the profits — if you send along a deposit or your bank account number. Boston Globe correspondent Finn Brunton talks about the history of the "Nigerian prince" or "419" scam, which actually got its start long before email.

Leave a Comment

Help keep the conversation civil. Please refer to our Terms of Use and Code of Conduct before posting your comments.