Call to Order 

President called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM

 Approval of July Meeting Minutes 

Minutes were unanimously approved.

Treasurer’s Report 

The Treasurer presented financial report for consideration.

President’s Report The President abbreviated his report to accommodate the guest speaker.  He thanked Chancellor Rhee for making time to address the club and committed to working with her in support of the Administration’s education reform goals. 

Vice President for Political Affairs Report 

The VPPA distributed copies of the membership survey results.  He is working with an analyst to review the data and will make a presentation at a subsequent meeting. 

Guest Speaker: Chancellor Michelle Rhee 

Chancellor Rhee addressed the club and provided an overview of her background and experience.  She spoke about her work in education reform and the vision that she shares with the Mayor.  She highlighted key areas that she intends to address including the DCPS work culture, attitudes among staff, and broken internal systems.  She spoke candidly about the issues that she believes have been the result of complacency within the system such as the disrepair within school buildings and facilities themselves. 

Several club members brought forward issues such as inclusive curriculum development, health education, HIV prevention, and the development of gay-straight alliances.  She acknowledged that the culture within DCPS has significant homophobia throughout.   She spoke about the degree to which teachers and administrators allow homophobia (passively and intentionally) into the classroom.  A huge challenge for her administration will be working within the culture to ensure that personal views do not impact classroom performance.  The Chancellor committed to work on developing strong training, but did not specifically commit to other approaches.  She also acknowledged that several of her top officials are gay and that she intends to meet with organizations such as SMYAL to gather ideas about changing the system and culture.  

Office of LGBT Affairs Update 

Chris Dyer provided an update on the Office of LGBT Affairs.  He intends to work with the Chancellor’s office on several initiatives.  He also spoke about the upcoming transgender job fair and deployment of Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit officers at the MPD. 

Adjournment 

Meeting was adjourned at 8:45PM