Washington, DC—The DC State Board of Education (SBOE) supports the reintroduction of the Statewide Data Warehouse Amendment Act of 2019 (Bill 23-0515). B23-515 was first introduced by the State Board to require the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to expand the Statewide Educational Data Warehouse to include additional information on public-school teachers. 

Presently, there is no publicly-accessible statewide data system that tracks information on all teachers in District schools. The public does not have access to information on teachers, and turns to outside sources to procure information that may not be available or complete. Schools need data that can better inform them on recruitment and retention strategies for teachers in the District. 

Teacher turnover in the District of Columbia is higher than the national average and higher than many urban districts across the United States. The State Board conducted a survey of teachers in the District in spring 2020, in an effort to understand how and when teachers move into, across, and out of teaching positions in the District. If complete public information on teachers were readily available, the data would indicate how to better support teachers and promote retention.

The proposed legislation, Statewide Educational Data Warehouse Amendment Act of 2021 Bill 24-0355) would expand the Statewide Educational Data Warehouse to include information on teachers, and would allow state- and local-level policymakers to better understand the present challenges and opportunities facing the District’s educator workforce and to create public policy that recruits, hires, and retains more teachers in District schools.

If approved, the bill would require the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) to submit annual reports to include teacher identification numbers for all full-time and substitute teachers, teacher demographics (i.e.,race/ethnicity, gender, and age), the number of years of teacher experience, the type of teaching credential earned, and the name and type of teacher preparation program.

The bill requires OSSE to report annually to the Council on the state of teaching and teacher retention in the District, including data on the decisions of teachers to leave the teaching profession and the vacancies in teaching positions. The bill also asks OSSE to include this data on the D.C. School Report Card so that education stakeholders and members of the public have easy access to data relevant to understanding teacher retention and attrition in District schools.  

In the coming weeks, the State Board encourages teachers, students, and members of the public to contact the Committee of the Whole at [email protected] to voice their concerns about the lack of publicly accessible teacher data and to sign up to testify at upcoming hearings. 

Please contact [email protected] for media availability.

Contact: Milayo Olufemi

202-710-4641

[email protected]