District of Columbia May Restore Schools Ombuds

The DC Office of the Ombudsman for Public Education, which rose and fell with the political fortunes of former mayor Adrian Fenty, might be reopened. Last week, the DC Council tentatively approved a measure that would restore funding for the Ombuds and move it to the State Board of Education.

The office was created in 2007, when Fenty appointed Tonya Vidal Kinlow as the first Ombuds. Before the program was closed during a budget crisis in 2009, it employed three staff members and handled thousands of inquiries. The bill’s fiscal impact statement estimates the office would cost $340,000. If approved, the Ombudsman for Public Education could reopen on or after October 1, 2013. (Washington Post.)

Related posts: DC Schools Appoints First Ombuds; DC Schools Ombuds Lasts Just 14 Months; Washington Post Conflates Ombuds Reporting Line With Neutrality; DC Council Pulls Plug on Schools Ombuds After Less Than Two Years;  Loss of Ombuds is an Issue in Washington, DC School Board Election.