In D.C. Public Schools (DCPS), four-year high school graduation rates rose from 53 percent in 2011 to 64 percent in 2015. AP participation rates increased from 17 percent in 2011 to 24 percent in 2015. DCPS enrollment increased by 3,462 students from the 2011–12 school year to the 2015–16 school year. These reforms were a means to address money allocation issues, chronic absenteeism, and low graduation rates. They began with the firing of 98 employees and the hiring of new administrative and executive staff. This – along with strategies to tie teacher pay to performance – so high-performing teachers could earn higher salaries and bonuses, and to give principals the authority to dismiss low-performing teachers regardless of seniority.
In addition, innovative programs were developed to improve its school system, including the implementation of IMPACT, where teachers would meet weekly with peers and workshop coaches to discuss content, styles, and forms of teaching. Another initiative by DCPS was the Leadership Initiative for Teachers (LIFT). It provides high-performing teachers a career ladder with opportunities to reach a higher base salary, more leadership roles in curriculum development, policy implementation, mentoring, recruitment, and selection of students. DCPS also implemented Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). To better measure their students’ ability to solve complex problems and think critically.
The DCPS reforms were touted as a success. However, a 2017-18 investigation found that one-third of D.C.’s entire 2017 graduating class had not met graduation requirements. Ballou High School was the primary school investigated; however, reports indicate this was not isolated to the one school. In August 2026, a special federal grand jury led by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro began investigating attendance, truancy, and graduation records inside D.C. Public Schools, showing this remains an issue.
In trying to reform the D.C. public education system, DCPS developed a culture based on perverse incentives. The metrics used to inform the success of the reforms were the same metrics the administrators were judged on and given bonuses on. This incentivized fraud, as administrators would put pressure on teachers to pass students by giving absent or struggling students a 50 percent on assignments they missed or didn’t complete instead of a zero. When teachers pushed back against these practices, the administrators would retaliate against them by giving them poor teacher evaluations. Poor teacher evaluations led to decreased salary and could lead to firings. School administrators had full control over teacher evaluations, including classroom observations, instead of involving a third party.
In the process of educational reforms, regarding the allocation of money and chronic absenteeism, the D.C. public education system is a lesson that demonstrates the necessity for safeguards to be put in place to protect its integrity. Safeguards include the creation of a Chief Accountability Officer independent of normal administrative reporting lines. That CAO would be responsible for testing, research and evaluation, monitoring and accountability. Additional duties include verifying adherence to administrative procedures related to grading, grade changes, and attendance; and providing insights through rigorous data analysis.
Featured image/photo by Santi Vedri on Unsplash.
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