FOCUS D.C. Public Charter School Bulletin

August 28, 2007

--Seven Expansion, Two New Charter Schools To Open this Fall; Enrollment Could Hit 24,000
--Overall, Students at PCSB Charters Greatly Outperform School System Students
--OSSE Working to Improve Federal Grants Procedures
--FOCUS Hires Communications Manager to Promote Charters, Increase Public Understanding
--Fifth Annual Startup Program To Begin October 13

Seven Expansion, Two New Charter Schools To Open This Fall; Enrollment Could Hit 24,000

The number of public charter schools in the District is growing to 57 on 78 campuses with the opening of two startup public charter schools and seven expansion campuses this month and next. The 57 schools are expecting to enroll as many as 24,000 students, up from approximately 19,600 last year — an increase of 22%. Although this number likely will drop when the official count is done in October, it is probable that public charter school enrollment will approach 30% of total 2007-2008 in-city D.C. public school enrollment, up from 27% last year.

The new schools are Hope Academy PCS (Grade 5, eventually 5-8; Ward 8) and MEI Futures Academy PCS (Boarding school for teen parents and their children, Ward 4). The expansion campuses: AppleTree Early Learning PCS (PreS and PreK; Wards 1 and 5); Chavez Prep PCS (Grade 6, eventually 6-12; Ward 1); D.C. Preparatory Academy PCS (PreS-3rd; Ward 5); Hope Community PCS (PreS-3rd; Ward 4); KIPP D.C.: LEAP Academy PCS (Prek; eventually PreK-4th; Ward 7); Maya Angelou PCS Middle School (Grade 6; eventually 6-8; Ward 8).

Overall, Students at PCSB Charters Greatly Outperform School System Students

On average, charter schools chartered by the independent D.C. Public Charter School Board (PCSB) outperformed DCPS schools in reading and math at both the elementary and secondary levels, according to NCLB test score data on the school system’s web site. According to DCPS, 43% of PCSB elementary school students scored at the proficient level in reading on last spring’s DC-CAS test, compared to 38% of DCPS students. In elementary math, 38% of the students at PCSB-chartered schools were proficient, compared to 29% at DCPS schools. At secondary schools, PCSB students outperformed DCPS students to an even greater degree, by 48% to 30% in reading and 48% to 27% in math. Twenty-nine percent of PCSB charter schools made “adequate yearly progress” under the No Child Left Behind Act, compared to 22% for DCPS.

About two thirds of the District’s charter schools have been chartered by the PCSB. The remainder were chartered by the D.C. Board of Education, which was abolished by the mayor’s recently-passed education reform legislation. Some of the 18 BOE schools performed as well as their PCSB counterparts; overall, however, performance at the BOE charters was at or below the state average. The PCSB now has authority over the former BOE charters and is expected to quickly integrate them into its oversight scheme, which has contributed to the high performance of the PCSB-chartered schools.

OSSE Working to Improve Federal Grant Procedures

The new Office of the State Superintendent of Education, known as OSSE (formerly the State Education Office/SEO), is working to improve the functioning of the notorious Office of Federal Grants Programs (OFGP), one of the many state functions administered by the school system in its state education agency capacity. OSSE staff are engaged in a comprehensive transition planning process designed to enable it to hit the ground running when all state functions shift from the school system to OSSE beginning in October, pursuant to Mayor Adrian Fenty’s school reform plan, which became law earlier in the summer.

OFGP’s policies and practices have frequently made D.C.’s charter school leaders apoplectic over the last 10 years [See Bulletin, February 28, 2006, at http://www.focusdc.org/news/news.asp?View=Bulletins]. For all of those years FOCUS led a campaign, fervently supported by the charter schools, to get OFGP away from the school system, which never was able to rise above its serious conflict of interest in managing a program that disburses funds both to itself and to its charter school competitors. Last year, OFGP’s failures drew the attention of the D.C. Council, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Senate D.C. Appropriations Subcommittee. [See Bulletin July 20, 2006, at http://www.focusdc.org/news/news.asp?View=Bulletins].

Even though technically not yet in charge of OFGP, OSSE staff are working to change OFGP payment practices that delay funding for charter schools, beginning with those practices that undermine the intent of the federal charter school startup grant program (Title V-B). D.C. charter school applicants are not given access to the program’s “pre-planning” grants, intended to cover costs associated with designing their new schools and completing the charter school applications, until two months after the applications are submitted. Nor have planning (post-application submission) grants been made available in a timely manner; worse, funds are made available only on a reimbursement basis, which means that school founders have been forced to use their savings and credit cards to pay consultants and cover other expenses and then to wait as long as two months for reimbursement.

FOCUS staff are working closely with OSSE to speed implementation of needed changes, and we will report further on the change process in future editions of the Bulletin.

FOCUS Hires Communications Manager to Promote Charters, Increase Public Understanding

FOCUS has hired a Communications Manager to bolster its services to D.C.’s charter schools and to increase public understanding of charter schools and the charter school movement. The new hire, Karen Byer, has a master’s degree in public communications and several years of communications experience with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in her native Barbados and with the Air Line Pilots Association here in D.C. Ms. Byer will create and implement a comprehensive plan for building public understanding of D.C.’s charter schools and also will help charter school leaders with media relations and marketing.

In support of Ms. Byer’s efforts, FOCUS will contract for a public opinion poll, to be conducted this fall. The poll will determine what D.C. residents know about the charter schools and the extent to which they are favorably disposed toward them. Polls elsewhere in the country have shown that the more people understand about charters, the more they think they’re a good idea.

With Ms. Byer’s hiring FOCUS now has five full-time staff working to support D.C.’s charter schools in advocacy, technical assistance, and communications; two more full-time staff will be added in the next few months.

Fifth Annual Startup Program To Begin October 13

On Saturday, October 13, FOCUS will kick off the 2007-08 version of its charter school startup program with a free introductory session for those who are thinking about starting a public charter school in the District. The program, which will include a “tour” of D.C.’s charter school landscape and answer the question “Are you ready to start a public charter school?” will take place from 9:00 a.m. to noon.

Those who are ready to undertake the grueling work required to start a new school will be invited to attend a series of school design workshops and to subject themselves to months of intensive one-on-one work with FOCUS staff and consultants. Participants in the program also will receive a copy of FOCUS’s comprehensive Guide To Starting A Public Charter School in the District of Columbia, 5th Edition.

Of the last 21 schools chartered by the D.C. Public Charter School Board, 20 participated in the FOCUS program. Since 2003-2004, when the program began, only one other applicant has received a DCPCSB charter.

Those interested in attending the introductory session should contact FOCUS at 202/387-0405.

Friends of Choice in Urban Schools
1530 16th Street, NW #104
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 387-0405 phone
(202) 667-3798 fax
www.focusdc.org