Even though educational reforms are beginning to take root in the nation’s capital, a complete turnaround in D.C.’s struggling public school system could take up to five years, one of the system’s top officials said Monday.

State Superintendent Deborah A. Gist ­— whose agency is primarily charged with monitoring federal funds and enrollment — told The Examiner that test scores will probably increase by the end of this school term. However, achieving the kind of measured success ultimately planned will be a timelier process.

“People are going to see results right away,” Gist said Monday. “But I think for system wide change, it’s more along the three to five year range ... In three to five years, at a minimum, we have a good proportion on world-class schools. What we have now is 22 schools in their first year of restructuring. Well, there’s not another school to choose. And that’s a real problem.”

With Mayor Adrian Fenty’s takeover of the school system two months ago, and his appointment of Michelle Rhee as schools chancellor, the stakes are higher than usual with the beginning of a new school year, officials and advocates said.

This story continues below
Advertisement

In the eyes of the Washington Teachers Union, a feeling of hope could translate into tangible results, said Vice President Nathan Saunders.

“There’s a sense of optimism and hope that we started off with this school year that hasn’t been there in years past ... that maybe change could work this time,” Saunders told The Examiner.

Critics, however, caution that the efforts to transform a school district in the throes of such systemic problems could have a real cost.

“I am glad about the buildings getting some attention,” Gina Arlotto, of the advocacy group Save Our Schools, wrote in an e-mail. “... We’ll find out in a few months that we’ve blown through an unprecedented amount of money, and then we’ll see if the city council wants to keep up the pace.”

Rhee has promised to intensify classroom study by, among other measures, bringing in the nation’s best teachers and principals.

Accountability also has been highlighted by Rhee as a focal point.

“Even though the mayor is my boss, you’re also my boss,” she told students at Jefferson High School, before explaining that she will only meet her goals for the urban school system if pupils get the educations they deserve.

dlevitz@dcexaminer.com