Carla Watson

Carla D. Watson is the Deputy Chief of Compliance and Policy in the Office of the Chief Operating Officer for the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). DCPS is a local education agency of nearly 47,000 students and 3,500 teachers and the fastest–improving urban school district in the country. Carla is a licensed attorney and is barred in both New York State and the District of Columbia. She received a B.S. in Government and Politics and a Certificate in African-American Studies from the University of Maryland at College Park and a Juris Doctorate from New York University School of Law. Prior to joining DCPS, Carla was a staff attorney with Legal Services for Children located in New York City representing children in special education matters and SSI disability hearings. She returned to the DC metropolitan area in 2004 to work on the guardian ad litem and educational advocacy work for students in foster care with DC's Children's Law Center. Carla joined DCPS in 2008 as a Senior Policy Associate on the Special Education Reform Team, specifically created by then Chancellor Michelle Rhee to address areas of noncompliance within DCPS’s special education system. In 2010, Carla was promoted to Director for the LRE Support and Policy Team in the Office of Special Education responsible for ensuring special education compliance with legal requirements under IDEA, District regulations, Blackman-Jones, and other class action lawsuits. In 2013, Carla was promoted to Deputy Chief of Compliance for the Office of Specialized Instruction and in 2015, to Deputy Chief of Compliance and Policy. In her role, Carla continues to provide training and technical support to assist schools in complying with federal statues and state regulations for all students. Carla and her team work closely with families to resolve grievance issues and provide alternative dispute resolution options to ensure a productive and successful collaboration in the education of our District of Columbia students.