RelayGate: DC Mayor's Corrupt & Racialized Education Experiment

In the shadow of the Capitol, where democracy is preached to the world, Washington, DC's District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) have become a laboratory for racialized experimentation on Black children.

Under Mayor Muriel Bowser's mayoral control--a nondemocratic process wielding near-dictatorial power over DCPS--in 2017 the mayor segregated a cluster of predominantly Black and low-income elementary schools in Wards 7 and 8, mandating the controversial Relay Graduate School of Education (Relay) program's "no-excuses" practices.

Affluent, whiter schools west of the Anacostia River were exempted, exposing a stark double standard that echoes America's long history of using Black communities as testing grounds for punitive reforms.

RelayGate, as whistleblowers have named it, is no accident. DCPS funneled taxpayer dollars to Relay, a program rooted in Teach Like a Champion techniques that demand students sit rigidly, respond chorally without emotion, walk in straight lines with hands behind backs, and obey scripted commands within seconds.

These militaristic rituals, criticized by scholars as a pedagogy of poverty unfit for affluent classrooms, were forced on schools like Boone Elementary (Ward 8) and Kimball Elementary (Ward 7).

Principals' who openly opposed Relay and or exposed the superintendent's pay-to-play corruption and ethical violations received poor evaluations ending in swift terminations, approved by DCPS chancellor beginning 2020. A formal whistleblower complaint was filed in 2020 by Marlon Ray, Director, Strategy and Logistics at Boone Elementary.

Five years later, in October, 2025, scandals erupted: A DCPS instructional superintendent admitted to the DC Board of Ethics and Governmental Accountability (BEGA) to pocketing $170,000 from Relay while overseeing budgets and evaluations, bullying Black principals into compliance under threat of retaliation.

This is history repeating

From Jim Crow's underfunded segregated schools to the zero-tolerance policies of the 1990s that fueled the school-to-prison pipeline, Black students have long been subjected to control-oriented reforms denied to white peers. In DC, where Wards 7 and 8 hold 60-70% at-risk students concentrated in hyper-segregated schools, Relay's rollout stripped vital resources, diverting funds to cronies while principals like Dr. Carolyn Jackson-King of Boone were fired for objecting. Jackson-King had lifted Boone from chaos and a 1-star rating to 3-stars, fostering community progress--until she called out Relay's prison-like dehumanization of Black children. Kimball's former principal and others faced the same purge.

The human cost is devastating

Children endure constant surveillance and public shaming, internalizing that they are disordered bodies needing control, not curious minds deserving joy and inquiry. Narrow test drills crowd out critical thinking, and culturally rich curricula available elsewhere, locking in unequal futures. Over-discipline normalizes the pre-K to prison pipeline: minor infractions lead to suspensions, disengagement, and criminalization, while affluent students access humane, expansive learning. Trust erodes as kids witness beloved Black leaders like Jackson-King railroaded, learning that their communities' voices are disposable in Bowser's top-down empire.

Demand these specific policy changes now

RelayGate betrayed DC's Black children, reproducing wealth gaps under equity rhetoric. But we can dismantle it.

• Independent Probe: Launch a fully empowered, transparent investigation by the DC Council and U.S. Attorney's Office into Relay contracts, kickbacks, and retaliations—hold Bowser, DCPS Chancellor, and implicated superintendents accountable with public hearings.

  
  

• End Mayoral Monopoly: Amend governance via ballot initiative for a hybrid model: Restore elected State Board of Education veto power over vendor mandates; require Ward 7/8 family-majority panels for cluster decisions; ban dual roles like DCPS staff contracting with vendors.

  
  

• Restore and Reparations: Redirect pilfered funds to Ward 7/8 schools for anti-pipeline supports.

  
  

• Whistleblower Shield: Enact ironclad protections with made-whole settlement for purged educators like Jackson-King and Ray; fast-track their reinstatement offers.

  
  

• Equity Audit: Mandate annual racial equity reviews of all DCPS programs, with automatic sunsets for any disproportionately harming Black students.

As 2026 elections loom, candidates must pledge these reforms—or face organized rejection. DC's Black families built this city; we won't let it experiment on our children anymore. Join the call: Expose RelayGate. Reclaim our schools. For Boone's kids, Ward 7/8's futures, and justice.