Tutoring Programs 

Many of the partnerships include tutoring, a one-on-one relationship between an adult and a child, as a vital component. Every one of the nearly 200 law firm volunteers involved in tutoring has a very important learning partnership with a child. Like any successful partnership, it is based on sustained commitment and mutual benefit, and these partnerships are successful. The students can tell that their reading and math skills are improving. So can their teachers and tutors, and many say that improvement is reflected in their test scores. The tutors, in turn, receive much satisfaction and reward in a relationship in which a child responds positively in the tutoring relationship.


Parent Partner Enrichment Program  

The Parent Partner Enrichment Program matches money pledged by law firm partners with money raised by parents for the educational enrichment of students. Partner law firms pledge a minimum of $500. Parent groups at their partner schools raise the matching money and plan the educational enrichment programs. The program was initiated in the fall of 1999.


Mentoring 

Mentoring is becoming an important component of more and more law firm/school partnerships. Mentors can fit activities with students into busy schedules and take part in activities that meet the individual and changing needs of students. To both students and firm volunteers, mentoring brings the rewards of a one-on-one relationship.

Three key elements for effective mentoring programs are identified in recent research by Public/Private Ventures. These elements - screening, orientation, and support - prove to be more critical than pairing youth with adults who have the same gender or ethnic background.

• Screening must make it possible for select adults who understand that their primary role is to develop trust first and then a friendship with the youth. The adults selected need to have the time to devote to regular meetings over a sustained period.
• Orientation and training should give mentors the information and strategies they need to build mutually satisfying relationships with youth. It should also direct volunteers toward realistic and rewarding goals.
• Ongoing supervision and support are crucial to ensure that mentoring pairs meet regularly. When mentors experience frustrations, which are common in the early days of a match, consulting with a coordinator or meeting with other mentors is particularly helpful.
  

Information, Data, and Analysis

The Washington Lawyers' Committee provides parent and community organizations, as well as public officials and the press, with information, reports, and advice on D.C. Public Schools' legal, budget, and education reform issues. Examples include regular analysis of and reports on DCPS staffing and budget allocation; student demographics and outcomes; and facilities.

Technical Assistance  

The Washington Lawyers' Committee provides Parents United, DC VOICE, and other parent and community organizations with assistance and information in developing their positions and activities to improve public education in the District. The Committee also provides pro bono assistance and advice in formulating legislation and policy on subjects such as creating a state education office; revising school system policy on non-cafeteria food sales; documenting student residency; and teacher contract provisions.


Litigation  

The Washington Lawyers' Committee is unable to offer representation to individuals in public education matters, but does periodically sponsor litigation for the benefit of the entire school system. The last such case was Parents United v. Barry (D.C. Sup. Ct., Civil Action No. 92-03478).

Because of decades of neglected maintenance, poor construction, and lack of capital funding for major repairs, D.C. public school buildings have had thousands of Fire Code violations, as well as multiple other hazardous conditions for many years. Washington Lawyers' Committee litigation filed in 1992 to enforce the Fire Code led to intensive activity to correct specific Code violations under the threat of judicially ordered closing of some or all of the D.C. public schools. Continuation of the underlying conditions, however, led to continual recurrence of violations. Thanks to this lawsuit, funding has been greatly increased, but building deterioration is so extreme that years of work and funding will be required to correct it.

Parents United, the District, the school system, and the Congressionally-appointed Control Board reached a settlement in November 1997, taking the case out of court in exchange for a commitment to implement a renovation and repair plan, to fund it, to maintain yearly conscientious inspections, and to have an independent advisor monitor compliance with the agreement and implementation of the building improvement plan. The school system replaced dozens of roofs, hundreds of windows, and a number of boilers and HVAC systems, as well as making a variety of other major repairs and renovations. 

Per Student School Funding Formula 

The D.C. School Reform Act of 1995 mandated that the District fund both the public school system and individual public charter schools on the basis of a uniform per pupil allocation, with exceptions from uniformity permitted for students at certain grade levels, for disabled students, and for students below minimum literacy levels. Washington Lawyers' Committee staff, based on its experience in school finance litigation, has provided professional legal and research assistance to the D.C. Council staff and others in preparing the formula and drafting appropriate legislation. The Council enacted permanent legislation in the fall of 1998 and important amendments in the summer of 2000. These provisions determine DCPS and public charter school funding.