D.C. Schools Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee, who as the district’s longest-serving leader oversaw its recovery in math and reading scores after the pandemic, is leaving the role to join a national education nonprofit.
Ferebee will become chief executive of EdReports, a nonprofit that reviews instructional materials, officials there announced Wednesday. Dana Nerenberg, chair of the organization’s board of directors, praised Ferebee in a news release as a “student-centered educator whose leadership has driven meaningful outcomes in large public school systems.”
Ferebee, who plans to finish out the current school year with D.C. Public Schools, said he saw the new job as a chance to elevate his career to a national platform and “influence the conversation” around high-quality instructional materials.
The news of his upcoming departure came shortly before Ferebee appeared with D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) at an event at Garrison Elementary School to celebrate the school district’s performance on the latest Education Scorecard, which analyzes student test scores from across the country. The report, produced by researchers from Harvard and Stanford universities and Dartmouth College, ranked the District first in academic growth in reading and math between 2022 and 2025 — though performance still lags behind pre-pandemic levels.
D.C. has offered intense tutoring to support students who fell behind during the pandemic — largely supported through emergency aid from the federal government. The school system has also boosted training and other support for educators.
Ferebee said Wednesday that he was confident those gains would continue even as federal aid has waned, noting that the city has continued to put local money toward the tutoring efforts.
“The goal, ultimately, has always been that we would have less students that would need that intensity of service as we continue to improve our outcomes,” he said. “And so we’re going to work our way out of that challenge.”
In addition to praising Ferebee for the post-pandemic math and reading recovery, Bowser said at the Wednesday event that he also helped the school system progress in other ways.
“You have built a talented team of educators, principals, central services staff and leaders who have consistently delivered results,” she said. The mayor noted that he oversaw the system as it reached record enrollment and graduation rates, secured crucial philanthropic investments in school improvements, and expanded career and technical education.
Bowser, who is not seeking reelection, said Wednesday that it would be up to the next mayor to appoint a permanent chancellor but that she would select an interim leader in the meantime.
Ferebee was appointed D.C. Public Schools’ chancellor in 2018 after having served as superintendent of Indianapolis Public Schools and, earlier, in district leadership positions in North Carolina.
His tenure in D.C. was marked by the challenge of leading the school system through the pandemic, as student outcomes suffered with remote learning and city leadership clashed with the Washington Teachers Union over school reopening plans. The pandemic also coincided with a protracted contract struggle with the union, further souring labor relations.
The most recent contract negotiations went relatively quicker; the two sides in 2024 ratified a five-year plan that included teacher raises, an agreement that Bowser praised Wednesday, saying it provided necessary stability for the school system.
Washington Teachers Union President Laura Fuchs, who has taught at H.D. Woodson High School for nearly two decades, said she isn’t surprised Ferebee is leaving, especially as the mayoral election looms. It has become clear, she said, that whoever wins the election will replace Ferebee.
Fuchs criticized Ferebee, saying that he didn’t work in partnership with educators or address complaints about leadership and that he pushed too much standardized testing onto students.
“We’re not sad to see him go,” she said.
Ferebee also has faced challenges with student truancy, as city leaders failed to follow through on initiatives to reduce the number of students with excessive, unexcused absences, especially among middle-schoolers, and thousands of truancy-related reports went uninvestigated, a Washington Post investigation found last year. Recently, a truancy-related pilot offering case management for students who struggle the most with absenteeism has shown promise — and Ferebee said Wednesday that the city had plans to double down on what was working and expand it to more schools.
“I’m very optimistic about the truancy pilot that we have,” he said. “What we’ve seen is that the majority of those students who have been a part of that program in the pilot have improved their attendance outcomes.”
Ferebee said he was glad to be leaving the school system on a strong note.
“We have tremendous momentum that will carry us into years to come,” he said.
In D.C., the mayor is in charge of appointing a chancellor to oversee the public school system, and the D.C. Council must approve the nomination.
A 2007 law compels the mayor to “give great weight” to recommendations from the Washington Teachers Union on the chancellor section — a provision that Fuchs believes has so far been ignored. She said that teachers are in charge of implementing policies handed down from the chancellor and that disregarding their voices during the process leads to unequipped leaders at the helm of the system. She urged the next mayor to closely consider recommendations from the union.
Fuchs said the teachers union is pulling for a candidate with a clear track record of leading a successful school district and someone “actually dedicated to public schools.”
Kendall Staton contributed to this report.
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