Thank a charter school board member today!!!

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.

By Ram Uppuluri

 

One of the things that strikes me about the charter school movement here in the District of Columbia is the opportunity that it affords people from so many different walks of life to play a direct role in the education of children by serving on the Board of Trustees of a public charter school.

 

There are currently 57 public charter schools in the District, operating on more than 100 campuses across the city.  Assuming each school’s Board of Trustees is made up of 10 members, on average, that is a total of almost 600 people, young and old, rich and poor, famous and not so famous, who are now directly involved in providing quality educational opportunities for the District’s children and youth. 

 

Among the ranks of these private citizen Board members are educators, business leaders, journalists, developers, attorneys, consultants, lobbyists, parents of children enrolled in the schools, and so on, people with all sorts of backgrounds and perspectives on life.  And the one thing they all share is a common commitment and passion for education.

 

Would they all be directly involved in education if charter schools didn’t exist? The charter school movement allows us to not only celebrate more school choices for students and families – it also creates more options for adults to become involved in creating high-quality educational opportunities in our community.

 

To me, getting more people involved in the education of children is one of the unheralded contributions of the charter movement to education.  We should celebrate our Boards of Trustees - if you know someone who is serving on a Board of a charter school, thank them, and ask them about their school.

 

Maybe there is a way for you, too, to get involved in educating DC’s children and serving on the Board of Trustees of a public charter school is a good way to do just that.