Submitted by Anonymous on
By Lauren Outlaw
As budget season continues, so too does the conversation about equitable funding and equal access to facilities for public charter schools in the District. There were some interesting developments this month including the release of 16 buildings for charter schools to lease, the push for a unified lottery system, and the possibility of legislation that would give chartering authority to the Chancellor. FOCUS Executive Director Robert Cane wrote two articles on the ongoing funding inequities imposed on charter schools. Below are a few of the articles we thought were most important from last month. And as always, be sure to follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook!
Thurgood Marshall Academy Gains National Prominence (The Washington Informer, 5/1/13)
In this article, Dorothy Rowley announces that Thurgood Marshall Academy was one the Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color’s (COSEBOC) five award schools for 2013. COSEBOC is a national network of schools, researchers, policy makers, and advocates focused on promoting the educational success of boys and men of color. Thurgood Marshall Academy was the only school in the District to receive this distinction.
Charter school waitlists hit 22,000 (The Washington Examiner, 5/2/13)
Rachel Baye reports that the public charter school waiting list saw a drastic increase this year, from roughly 15,000 students last year to about 22,000 this year. Gaining admission to pre-kindergarten through first grade is the most competitive; approximately 14,000 students on the waitlist are competing for a seat in these grades. Baye also exposes some of the obstacles that complicate the waiting list process, for example the inclusion of applicants who have applied to more than one school, which inflates the actual number of applicants on the list.
City closes door on KIPP DC charter high school (The Washington Post, 5/2/13)
The Washington Post Editorial Board discusses the Mayor’s rejection of KIPP’s proposal to build a new high school at the Randall Park site in southwest. Despite KIPP’s history of high performance and its five-year search for new facilities, instead of approving this proposal, the Mayor decided to undertake a study to map out a long-range plan for the neighborhood.
Partnership aims for hybrid traditional-charter school in southeast Washington (The Washington Post, 5/9/13)
Emma Brown reports on the budding partnership between DCPS’s Malcolm X Elementary and Achievement Prep Public Charter School. Under this agreement between DCPS and Achievement Prep, neighborhood students will have the right to attend the new Malcolm X and the school’s leaders will have “charter-like freedom in running it.” In his proposed budget, Mayor Gray set aside $21 million for the renovation of Malcolm X, but the Education Committee rejected this amount and redirected $15 million of those funds to other schools. Read this article for more on this emerging partnership.
Op-Ed: D.C. mayor still discriminating against charter school students (The Washington Examiner, 5/13/13)
In this op-ed, FOCUS Executive Director Robert Cane argues that the Mayor’s failure to provide equitable funding to charter schools is tantamount to discrimination. Cane also highlights the inequities in the Mayor’s budget, with $80.4 million going to DCPS outside the Uniform Per Student Funding Formula.
Public charter schools need funding equity (The Northwest Current, 5/15/13)
In this article, FOCUS ED Robert Cane highlights the ongoing funding inequities between DCPS and charter schools. He points out that “between 2008 and 2013, the gap in operating funding alone totaled $260 million – an average of $4.5 million for each charter school operating during those years.” To learn more about these pervasive fiscal inequities, click here.
Language immersion high school nears approval (The Washington Examiner, 5/16/13)
Rachel Baye reports on the language immersion program between Washington Yu-Ying, Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom, DC Bilingual, Latin American Montessori Bilingual, and Mundo Verde Public Charter Schools, called the District of Columbia International School (DCI). DCI will offer students in these five schools the opportunity to “sharpen their language skills at an International Baccalaureate middle and high school.” The languages offered will include Spanish, French, and Chinese. Read this article for more details on this exciting new program!
Gray releases 16 D.C. public school buildings for reuse by charters (The Washington Post, 5/20/13)
In this article, Emma Brown reveals the Mayor’s plan to give public charter schools the opportunity to enter into long-term leases for 12 old public school facilities. The Mayor will also make four other buildings available for short-term rentals to public charter schools and community organization. “We are very pleased,” said FOCUS ED Robert Cane. For more on the charter schools’ long-standing facilities battle, click here.
Charter board approves two new schools and renews two established ones (The Examiner, 5/21/13)
At the Public Charter School Board’s May meeting, the board approved two of nine applications to open a new charter school: Lee Montessori and Academy of Hope. Both organizations worked with FOCUS’s Startup Program. At this meeting, the board also voted to renew the charters of Community Academy and Friendship Public Charter Schools for an additional 15 years. Read this article for Mark Lerner’s take on the Board meeting.
Gray administration wants to establish unified lottery for D.C. public charter schools (The Washington Post, 5/30/13)
Emma Brown reports on the Gray administration’s desire to have a unified lottery for traditional and charter schools here in the District. Deputy Mayor of Education Abigail Smith is working with Scott Pearson of the PCSB and Chancellor Kaya Henderson to “streamline an enrollment process that can be chaotic and frustrating for families and school administrators.”
D.C. mayor to seek chartering authority for schools chancellor (The Washington Post, 5/31/2013)
Emma Brown reports that the Mayor intends to introduce legislation that would give Chancellor Kaya Henderson chartering authority as a means of improving DCPS schools. The Mayor’s proposal is “another sign of the city’s tilt toward charter schools.” Read this article for more information on how this would work.