Councilmember Cheh's Statement on the need to replace DCPS Chancellor Wilson WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, February 18th, Councilmember Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3) released the following statement: “There are increasing calls for DCPS Chancellor Wilson to resign following news that he violated his own policy and sought a preferential placement for his daughter. Residents are angry and that’s understandable. But I think the Chancellor should be replaced for reasons that go well beyond the placement issue. He is committed to following the same flawed system that has led us to graduating students who are not at all ready for college or careers and, in some cases, are functionally illiterate, a continued and even widening achievement gap, demoralized teachers and one of the highest teacher turnover rates in the nation, social promotions, a loss of confidence in honest and truthful reporting, top-down administration with little room for creativity and flexibility, and a fixation on numbers rather than real educational achievement. At the same time, replacing the Chancellor and top DCPS staff must be done in an orderly fashion and we should not introduce immediate instability into the system. We need to take time to clarify what we need to do and then look for the leadership team that will move us forward. It won’t do to just find another person, interim or permanent, who will carry on the same failed and flawed policies. On a journey it is not always clear when or where you’ve made a wrong turn. But then the evidence piles up that you are going in the wrong direction. That’s the case with our school system now. We need a new direction and a new set of leaders to move us in that direction.” ###