DECEMBER 8, 1999

Good afternoon. I am the executive director of Friends of Choice in Urban Schools, a not-for-profit organization that supports the District's public charter schools. I am testifying about the ”Public School Uniform Act of 1999.”

School uniforms may be a good idea for most students in most schools; in fact the majority of the District's public charter school students are wearing uniforms to class as we speak. Even so, we cannot support any measure, however well-intentioned, that seeks to impose identical requirements on all public charter schools.

As you know, one key premise of charter school reform is that different students need different environments. Another is that visionary educators must be free to create their own school designs and to implement them as they see fit, so long as they show results in improving student learning.

These premises are firmly embedded in the District's charter school law, which gives exclusive control over each school's program to its board of trustees [School Reform Act ¤31-2853.14(b)(3)(A)]. Even more telling, the law explicitly states that public charter schools are exempt from any statute, policy, rule, or regulation designed to apply to DCPS, whether promulgated by the Superintendent, the Board of Education, the Mayor, the Council, or the Control Board. [School Reform Act ¤31-2853.14(b)(3)(B)] ^[1]

It seems clear that the proposed bill, which is intended to apply both to DCPS and the charter schools, is in direct conflict with this provision of the law.

Even aside from philosophical and legal issues, however, a close look at the charter schools shows why a school uniform requirement just doesn't fit. As I said earlier, many of the public charter schools already require uniforms. But at others, especially those that strive to create a welcoming and individualized environment for nontraditional or at-risk students, uniforms would be a bad idea. The Maya Angelou Public Charter School, for instance, has earned praise for turning around the lives of teenagers caught up in the juvenile justice system. One factor in the success of Maya Angelou is the relaxed, casual atmosphere that keeps students engaged for all ten hours of their school day and creates a sense of family among students and staff. It would be hard to imagine this atmosphere holding up if uniforms were required. Uniforms also would be inappropriate at the Childrens' Studio School and the School for Arts in Learning (SAIL), two arts-based elementary schools that encourage expressiveness and individuality. Most obviously, uniforms would be inappropriate at schools like Carlos Rosario PCS, which serves large numbers of adult students along with teenagers and does not have any of the discipline problems that school uniform requirements are designed to address.

In closing, let me point out that parents in the District have responded enthusiastically to the opportunity to make a choice that the charter schools provide. We should avoid infringing on this hard-won empowerment.