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Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) is now the DC Charter School Alliance!

Please visit www.dccharters.org to learn about our new organization and to see the latest news and information related to DC charter schools.

The FOCUS DC website is online to see historic information, but is not actively updated.

Mayor’s Proposed FY 2014 Budget: Charters Continue to be Denied Uniform Funding

By Lauren Outlaw

 

A couple of weeks ago, Mayor Vincent Gray released his proposed budget for FY 2014, and unsurprisingly, DCPS is slated to receive an additional $80.4 million outside the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula (UPSFF), which will not be matched or given to charter schools. Where is this extra $80.4 million coming from? Like in past years, the 2014 proposed budget cleverly allocates funds to other government agencies that in turn provide free services to DCPS (but not to public charter schools or their students).  More specifically:

 

  1. The Teacher Retirement Fund allocation is $31.6 million;
  2. The Department of General Services will receive a $46.3 million line item for DCPS; and
  3. The Office of the Attorney General will also receive a $2.4 million line item for DCPS.

 

What exactly is a “Groundswell”?

By Taekia Blackwell

 

Groundswell (n): 1. Usually ground swell: a broad deep undulation of the ocean caused by an often-distant gale or seismic disturbance. 2. A rapid spontaneous growth (as of political opinion). Those in the charter school movement know that behind any “rapid spontaneous growth” there’s a lot of hard work and a powerful and clear motivation, a mission that transcends. However, I’m getting ahead of myself.

 

Here’s a question: What do you know about collective bargaining for lowered energy prices and purchasing clean energy through Renewable Energy Credits?

Reflections on the KIPP School Proposal

By Ram Uppuluri

 

During the six years since I first started working as Counsel to the Committee on Human Services and have become the Senior Policy Advisor at FOCUS, I have learned more than I ever thought I would about the causes and devastating impacts of youth violence and juvenile crime; the desperate demand for positive youth programs in our neighborhoods; the overwhelming numbers of so-called “disconnected” and “at-risk” youth in the District; and the seemingly never-ending stream of homeless and incarcerated youth and many others headed for a life of dependency on the system.

The odds of these young people becoming productive citizens and contributing members of society are diminished further every day by the lack of education and educational opportunities they received in their youth.

FOCUS and PCS in the News: February 2013

By Lauren Outlaw

 

FOCUS and PCS in the News: February 2013

 

With the release of audited enrollment numbers, the release of the Chancellor’s plan to close 15 DCPS buildings (without providing the right of first offer to the charter schools) and the approval of Rocketship’s charter application, the District was a flurry of charter school activity in February.  The articles below highlight FOCUS and PCS in the news last month.  Also, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

 

More students attending D.C. public schools (The Washington Examiner, 2/6/13)

 

This article discussed the five percent increase in public school enrollment based on the recently released enrollment audit.  The audit confirmed that public charter schools saw a ten percent increase and are now enrolling 43 percent of all public school students in the District.  FOCUS Executive Director Robert Cane commented that charter growth is happening “in spite of the government” and that “the District should learn to embrace the charter schools.”

 

For more data on charter enrollment statistics, check out our Data Center.

Applying for a new charter school in DC

By Alison Collier

 

Over the past few weeks, FOCUS has received many phone calls from groups interested in applying for a new charter school in DC. With the application deadline from the DC Public Charter School Board fast approaching (applications are due March 1st, 2013), we thought it would be helpful to provide our insight about the process.

Read the application guidelines from the Public Charter School Board
The application requires a detailed blueprint of your proposed school, communicated via 150 pages plus appendices. It is not easy!

4th Annual Public Charter School Expo

By Alison Collier

 

Are you looking for a high quality public school for your child? Interested in career opportunities at one of the 57 charter schools in Washington, DC? Want to see the thriving charter movement for yourself? Come to the Charter Expo!

 

The 4th Annual DC Public Charter School Expo will be held at the Washington Convention Center on Saturday, January 5th, 2013, from 12-4pm. The Expo will bring together the local charter school community, parents, prospective teachers, community members, and vendors. Admission is free!

Violent Crime and Education

By Ram Uppuluri

 

A recent Associated Press article, “DC, once violent center of the crack epidemic, is now on pace for fewer than 100 homicides” highlights the significant drop in the number of 2012 killings in the District of Columbia. Down to less than 100 killings so far this year, this figure represents a significant decline since the early 1990s when the number of killings a year approached 500.

 

The author identifies gentrification and improvements in law enforcement techniques and medical care as causes for this trend.  Not mentioned, however, is the substantial impact education has on decreasing violence and homicide rates.  

 

Neighborhood Preference and High Quality Seats

By Ram Uppuluri

 

In recent weeks FOCUS has participated in the Neighborhood Preference Task Force, formed by the District Council to explore the feasibility and desirability of requiring public charter schools to provide an admissions preference for applicants who live nearby. The Task Force is in the final stages of developing its findings and recommendations for the Council.

 

One of the most striking data points the Task Force examined is the number of District students from every Ward who are on waiting lists for high-quality public charter schools in nearly every Ward.

 

School Closures Provide Little For Charters, School Quality

By Robert Cane

 

Earlier this week, Mayor Vincent Gray, through his DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson, announced a “Proposed Consolidations and Reorganization” plan to close 20 under-enrolled DCPS schools in 19 buildings across the city.  DCPS school closings should be good news for charters, and the thousands of students on their waiting lists, since the law gives them first crack at any buildings DCPS doesn’t need any longer for its own programs.  But, unlike when former chancellor Michelle Rhee closed schools, the mayor is permitting the Chancellor to keep control of all of the buildings, keeping them out of the hands of the charters. 

 

And what will she do with all of these buildings, from which she’s kicking out 3,000 DCPS students?  Five will be saved and reopened "should population/demand increase" (DCPS, which has lost half its student body since the first charters opened in 1996, predicts—fantastically—that its enrollment will increase to nearly 70,000 in that period).  Five will be saved until DCPS "works with the community to identify uses for the buildings that will benefit the children and families of those neighborhoods." Most of the rest will be saved for a variety of new and expanded programs that the shrinking school system promises to provide to its diminishing student body.  Only three are slated for a “strategic partnership with a high-performing charter school.”

FOCUS and Public Charter Schools in the News: October 2012

By Lauren Outlaw

 

With schools recently back in session, October was a busy month in the public charter school community.  Below is our list of articles to review from last month.  Be sure to check us out on Twitter and Facebook!

 

Charter schools still treated like second-class (The Washington Examiner, 10/31/12)

 

This article highlights the 2012-13 increase the charter school enrollment rate (up to 43%!).  It also calls into question the significant gap in capital funding between DCPS and the charter schools as well as the city’s failure to give charters first access to empty school buildings as required by DC law.

 

Click here to learn more about inequitable funding and here for more information on the facilities issues facing charter schools. 

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