Submitted by Anonymous on
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.
The data clearly shows that the demand in the District for high quality public schools far outstrips the supply. The data also indicates that waiting lists are largest for pre-k and kindergarten slots, and drop off in later grades.
So the news that the District Government has given preliminary approval to KIPP Public Charter School to open a school serving children in grades pre-k through 8 at the old Webb Elementary School in the Trinidad neighborhood in Ward 5 is especially welcome. The new KIPP school will increase the number of high-quality seats that are available for DC public school students at the grade levels that will have the greatest impact on waiting lists all across the city.
But if the District is to meet all the demand for high-quality public education it has to turn many more low-performing, under-enrolled schools into high-performing, fully enrolled schools. And it has to do it now, not years from now.
Thousands more kids enrolled in high-quality schools of their choice—that’s a winning proposition for everyone.