Dr. Erin Bibo’s Public Testimony Before the Committee of the Whole on the Education to Employment Data System

Public Testimony Before the Committee of the Whole 

February 28, 2024 

Good afternoon Chairman Mendelson and Committee Members. My name is Erin Bibo, and I am Vice President of Strategic Initiatives at CityWorks DC, a nonprofit organization focused on ensuring that DC’s youth of color are better prepared for, hired into, and succeeding in the District’s good jobs. I’m also a Ward 6 resident and parent of three DCPS students. 

I am here today to support the city’s continued investments in the Education to Employment Data System. In the FY24 Budget Support Act, the DC Council charged the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Education with creating the District’s Education Through Employment Data System. This fiscal year, the District has made significant strides in advancing this work. It has created and staffed the Office of Education Through Employment Pathways, which will lead this work; established an initial research agenda that will be released for public comment this spring; and commenced to recruit residents to participate in the Public Stakeholder Advisory Board, which will launch this spring. 

The work of the Office of Education Through Employment Pathways will allow us, for the first time, to truly understand the employment and earnings outcomes of the graduates of our education and training programs. This System will allow us to answer questions like: 

● Are recent graduates of DC Public and public charter schools earning a living wage? 

● Which training programs are most likely to have graduates employed in a relevant field? 1

● Are students who enroll in CTE programs more likely to be employed or earning more than their peers? 

● With limited resources, which education and training investments are our best bets? 

Without this information, we can’t understand how well the residents we educate and train are faring in our economy - the best available information we have indicates that our public school alumni are not faring well, that they are earning approximately half as much as peers who move into DC from other states. And without this information, we miss a chance to empower our residents and employers with data they crave to make better decisions. 

I’m a firm believer that what gets measured gets done. I know we all are working hard to do our best for our residents. And I am so happy that we finally have a system that will shine a light on where we are succeeding and where we need to do better in preparing our residents for economic success. 

Thank you for your support of the Education through Employment Data System and Office and your consideration. I’m happy to answer any questions.