FOCUS D.C. Public Charter School Bulletin

February 20, 2008

Council Policy Report Bodes Ill for Charter School Growth, Autonomy

The newly-established D.C. Council Office of Policy Analysis has issued a 70-page report entitled “Education Reform in the District of Columbia: The Modified Role of the Council of the District of Columbia.” According to the authors of the report, the passage last summer of the DCPS mayoral takeover bill has created a “dramatically expanded” role for the council in school system reform.

Only a half page of the report is devoted to charter schools, which under D.C. law are not part of the school system or the government and therefore not subject to council or mayoral control. Though short, this discussion has potentially far-reaching implications for the health of the highly popular public charter schools, which now enroll 30% of all public school students in D.C.

The charter school portion of the report is lumped together with an even briefer discussion of the congressionally funded Opportunity Scholarship Program under the heading “Public Charter And Private School Accountability Reform.” The authors begin by stating their view that “[s]chool choice is a controversial issue in the District of Columbia.” DCPS is losing enrollment, they continue, “there is no limit” on the number of schools that can be chartered, and the District has an obligation to ensure that all kids get a “top quality education.” Based on these conclusions, the authors insist that “the Council must work with the U.S. Congress to address the chartering of new schools.” They also state their view that “[o]ne possible reform consists of reconstitution of the PCSB as a District of Columbia entity under the Office of the State Superintendent of Education. Finally, the authors note broadly that “school choice may be worthy of review and may require revision....”

“Likewise,” the authors continue, the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program, a federally-funded program that sends around 1,800 District kids to “purportedly better-performing” private schools, is not properly supervised, and the council “may desire to oversee the use of vouchers and the greater question of school choice in the District of Columbia and how it affects at-risk students.”

The use of public money to send kids to private schools may remain controversial in D.C., but, in spite of the virulent anti-charter rhetoric of a handful of upper-middle class Ward 6 residents, it is not at all apparent that the general public is worried about the burgeoning charter school movement. Not only does charter school enrollment continue to grow at an average of 15% a year, but a recent public opinion poll by D.C.’s Glover Park Group shows that a much greater percentage of D.C. residents favor charter schools (49%) than oppose them (19%), with 32% unsure. When those polled were provided with a simple definition of “charter school,” the approval percentage jumped to 64% while the unsure percentage plummeted.

The support for charters stretches across the entire city: 55% of those polled in Wards 7/8; 52% in Wards 1/2/3; and 45% in Wards 4-6. After being provided with the definition of charter school, the approval numbers increase to 70%, 69%, and 57%, respectively.

It’s no wonder that District residents approve of charter schools. Studies done over the last few years, most recently the “Every Kid Counts 2007” report by the D.C. KIDS COUNT collaborative, uniformly show that students at D.C.’s public charter schools significantly outperform those at DCPS, dramatically so at the middle and senior high schools [see Bulletin 1/28/08 at http://www.focusdc.org/news/news.asp?View=Bulletins]. The success of these schools is attributable to a powerful combination of two factors: autonomy from the government and increased accountability for improved student performance. As to the latter, D.C.’s 55 charters are subject to intensive oversight by the D.C. Public Charter School Board, which is nationally known in the charter school world for the rigor of its charter application process and the comprehensiveness of its accountability program.

Given this clear evidence of charter school success and popularity, why did the authors of the policy report feel the need to recommend that the council seek congressional help to rein in the charter schools (the council lacks the authority to do so on its own)? FOCUS has been hearing for some time that, at least among a few members of the council, it has become an article of faith that charter schools are “not accountable” and are performing “no better than DCPS schools.” This brief section of the report likely reflects these beliefs, and may portend difficult times for the District’s charter schools.

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