Rhee Faces Irate Council At Meeting On Budget

She announced steps that would put a preliminary 2010 budget in the public's hands by late February. This year's spending plan wasn't posted on the D.C. schools Web site until mid-May. She also promised revisions in a school funding formula she had introduced to make sure that every school had music, art and physical education teachers. The formula led to staff shortages and funding disparities between schools in low- and high-income neighborhoods.

"I think we learned a lot and very much took into account what we were hearing," Rhee told the council roundtable on budget matters.

But Rhee spent the larger portion of her appearance deflecting at times bitter criticism of her treatment of the council, which also sits as a committee of the whole to oversee education.

Barry took exception to Gray's decision to allow Rhee to appear first, ahead of a long line of witnesses. He said it violated a council tradition of allowing private citizens to speak first.

Rhee said that parents and other people schedule meetings with her many weeks in advance and that they would have to reschedule if she waited several hours to testify. Rhee came to a July 11 council meeting but left after four hours without speaking because of other commitments.

Council member David A. Catania (I-At Large) said it appeared from the budget summaries that despite Rhee's assurances, numerous schools were without physical education teachers. Rhee said that there were only three vacancies for PE teachers in the system and that secondary school budgets lump PE teachers in with other instructors and don't include them as a separate line item.

Catania, who chairs the council's committee on health, said Rhee had made it impossible for parents to figure out that there are PE teachers in their schools.

"Who is responsible for organizing this? This is a joke," said Catania, who is generally supportive of Rhee.

Rhee indicated that the school system's chief financial officer, Noah Wepman, seated next to her at the witness table, was responsible.

"I will admit that the sheets could be more instructive," Wepman said.

Gray asked Rhee and her staff to provide a more coherent explanation of the budget changes by the end of next week.

Catania, noting the fiscal troubles of other school districts in the region, also advised Rhee to prepare for spending cuts in case the District's finances continue to deteriorate.

"If anyone is giving you the belief or the notion that schools will be held harmless . . . they are mistaken," he said.