2001 School Facilities Repairs

WIN organized parent, teacher, and community teams in 25 schools across the city and secured a commitment from DC Schools Superintendent Paul Vance to make priority building repairs identified by the WIN teams.  In March 2001, Dr. Vance appeared before 450+ WIN leaders at Moten ES in Ward # 8 to be publicly graded for fulfilling his pledge to fix bathrooms, classroom lighting, water fountains, and other crucial issues by March 31^st. In all, WIN secured $12.5 million in repairs over a three-month period in 25 schools—more work our parent leaders noted than had been done in the past 15 years combined. WIN accountability led to major changes in DCPS facilities operations, a Washington Post article challenging DCPS’ oversight of private contractors doing building repairs, and a pledge from Dr. Vance to add 10 new schools to the WIN/DCPS Facilities Partnership.  During the year, WIN trained 50+ school leaders on broad-based organizing.  This training enabled parents and teachers to organize to secure victories on a variety of issues, including refurbishment of the playground at Ludlow-Taylor ES and securing back pay raises due custodians and other support staff.