GOVERNMENT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE)

	
  

Open Government Report 2014
	
  

	
  
To institutionalize a culture of transparent and open government, accountability, and to expand
opportunities for resident participation and collaboration, this Report describes how the Office of the
State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) has and will continue to develop and enhance
transparency, public participation, and collaboration. In accordance with Mayor’s Order 2014-170,
this report addresses the following topics:

Transparency
Sharing information with the public
Agency website:
All documents intended for public consumption are published on the Publications page of our
website.
Press Releases:
All press releases are posted to the Press Releases section of our Newsroom page as well as on the
Featured News section of the homepage.

Meeting obligations pursuant with the District’s Freedom of Information
Act and Open Meetings Act
FOIA Webpage:
All documents and document feeds are posted to the Open Government and FOIA page of our
website.

Steps to increase public access to Information
Social Media:
OSSE uses social media (i.e., Facebook, Twitter) to share important information with the public.

Steps to make more of our data available to the public
OSSE is working closely with the Office of the City Administrator (OCA) and the Office of the
Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) to identify a significant number of datasets that OCA and OCTO
expect to publish online later this year. If no dataset from OSSE is selected to be included in this
2014 release, we will continue to work with OCA and OCTO to identify datasets appropriate to
publish in 2015. In the future, requirements for open data reporting will be provided by the Chief
Data Officer.

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Public Engagement and Participation
Providing online access to proposed rules and regulations and securing
public input on them
Currently, our proposed policies, rules, and regulations are posted to the Publications page of our
website in the Policy and Regulations types, respectively. Feedback is received either through
Google Forms or email.

Sharing information and resources to keep the public properly informed
FOIA Page:
All materials for public information along with portals to GradeDC can be found on our Open
Government and FOIA page.
Agency sidebar:
The public can also find a portal to provide feedback on our Agency Sidebar that appears on the lefthand side of every page. The OSSE Agency Sidebar has links to our Facebook, Twitter, Youtube,
Wordpress, GovDelivery newsletter opt-in, Pinterest, GradeDC, and the “Ask the Superintendent”
form.

Identifying stakeholders and inviting their participation
Throughout the year, OSSE participates in numerous community meetings and forums to engage
stakeholders in various education related topics. Additionally, OSSE regularly seek public input
through surveys and opportunities for public comment on key policies and regulations.

Improving public engagement and participation
OSSE will continue to participate in regular public meetings and forums as well as engage the public
in surveys and opportunities for public comment on key policies and regulations.

Collaboration
OSSE regularly collaborates with other District government agencies, community organizations and
non-profit/private organizations through MOUs, joint partnerships and community engagement
events. OSSE’s senior leaders are members of public/private taskforces and working groups aimed at
improving the education of District youth. Additionally, the agency obtains public feedback via its
website on key policies and regulations. The agency will continue to improve collaborative efforts
with all parties through public engagement events as well as digital media initiatives.

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