The progress our students have made, marked this past year by historic gains in proficiency on DC CAPE and NAEP, would not be possible without the city’s commitment to support strategies with proven results. We know that accelerating this growth is possible through the example set by our boldest schools and with: 

• Sustained per pupil funding commensurate with the annual rate of inflation each year. Despite challenging economic conditions, the District has maintained strong investments in the base funding for our students. We urge you to continue this support by increasing the Uniform Per Pupil Funding Formula (UPSFF) in FY27. 

• Strong implementation of the recommendations of the early literacy task force, including grants to support and increase school capacity for professional development and coaching that strengthens instruction, assessment-informed resources for caregivers to support learning in the home, and evidence-based pilot programming; 

• A Districtwide math strategy to increase numeracy and accelerate academic proficiency for all schools; and 

• Continued commitment to scaling quality high-impact tutoring, which has demonstrated here in DC its power to accelerate student growth, adding nearly three (3) additional months of learning in math for students tutored in SY24-25. 

Our schools and their leaders have data that demonstrates the power of doing what works. Simply put, we know that investing in literacy, math, and high-impact tutoring are effective in raising outcomes for students. With their futures at stake, now is not the time to abandon the measures that have yielded results.