Testimony – District of Columbia Public Charter School Board

Ralph F. Boyd, Jr.
Executive Vice President, Freddie Mac
Chairman, Freddie Mac Foundation

Monday, May 19, 2008

Good evening, and thank you Mr. Chairman, distinguished members of the Board, and staff for this opportunity to speak in support of the conversion efforts of the Center City Public Charter Schools Board.

My name is Ralph Boyd. I have the privilege of serving as the Vice Chair and Secretary of the CCPCS Board. On my "day job," I'm an Executive Vice President of Freddie Mac, and Chairman and CEO of the Freddie Mac Foundation.

As our concluding speaker, what I endeavor to do is to describe for each of you – as succinctly as I'm able – why my colleagues and I have invested so willingly our time, treasure, and talents to these conversion efforts.

And also why after nearly a year of strategic planning, the Freddie Mac Foundation concluded that targeted philanthropic investments in the schools and students of the District of Columbia, in each sector – the DCPS schools, high performing public charter schools, as well as independent schools serving vulnerable children and communities – is an important priority for us, and why in particular helping fund the Center City Public Charter Schools conversion is a worthy reflection of that priority.

The "why" from the Freddie Mac perspective is because we – and I know the other Foundations at the that support our conversion efforts share this perspective – we approach this as investors, investors in achieving meaningful, sometimes even life-saving human gain.

In this context, the objects of our investments are our children – the students of the District. They deserve not just an adequate education, they deserve the best education available, and it seems to me that each of us in our own ways, serving as stewards of the public trust, has a legal, moral, and common sense obligation to invest in these children and their schools to make sure that they receive the excellent educational product that we owe them, without exception or excuse.

We (and I'm wearing my Freddie Mac hat now) have invested literally hundreds of millions of dollars in this community over the course of the last two decades, not because we're generous, but rather I'd like to think because we're smart and savvy investors when it comes to deploying our financial, intellectual, and human capital.

We approach our work not as charitable "givers" but rather as investors in human gain. And because we're investors as opposed to givers, we have expectations about results and outcomes.

We invest based on need and the opportunity available to transform lives. We invest based on track record, on performance – on results.

This gets us to the "why" – "why" these schools ?

The answer to "why" is both profound and simple. It's because these Center City Schools have – and if approved, will continue to provide the highest quality education to the children of this City, and especially to students in some of our most vulnerable communities.

The evidence is here for all to see – the track record of results, the proven faculty, and the administrators and staff who've already demonstrated – quantitatively and qualitatively what they can achieve with a strong pedagogic approach that includes a research-based curriculum that's rigorously executed by committed and proficient faculty and staff.

I've seen with my own eyes what these schools have achieved (and can continue to achieve) in partnership with the students and families they serve.

There's a palpable rigor in these schools, but there's also an important sense of ownership and accomplishment that success brings and breads. Students and their families are actively engaged in learning, and they're co-owners of the results they achieve with their schools, teachers and the staff. There's a communal buy-in of sorts that I think makes a big difference in the outcomes these schools are able to achieve.

I thank each Member for the consideration and attention you're giving to our request – a request which if approved will allow us to further advance our important calling.