- Charter Schools are Rebuilding D.C. Neighborhoods [Friendship PCS is mentioned]
- Study: One-Third of D.C. Kids in Poverty, Despite Improvements
- Education Secretary Warns Congress Automatic Cuts Would Be Severely Harmed Education
Charter Schools are Rebuilding D.C. Neighborhoods [Friendship PCS is mentioned]
The Washington Examiner
By Donald Hense
July 25, 2012
This fall, the nation will mark the 20th anniversary of its first public charter school, which opened in St. Paul, Minn. These unique public schools are funded with local taxpayer dollars like traditional public schools, but they are free to set their own curriculum and school culture. They are not run by government, but government holds them accountable for their students' performance.
Today, there are more than 5,500 charter schools educating nearly 6 percent of all American children enrolled in public schools. Here in the nation's capital, public charter schools have made a more significant impact, educating some 41 percent of all District of Columbia public school students. Some 8 percent of all District children attend campuses run by the school I founded.
As the founder -- and chairman for 15 years -- of a charter school that educates nearly 8,000 students on 11 campuses in low-income communities in D.C. and Baltimore, I have some experience with this reform. Why do I support it? Because I have long believed that you cannot have good communities without good schools.
When we opened our first high school campus, we did not know that 35 percent of students who earned a high school diploma in D.C.'s most underserved wards -- wards 7 and 8 -- would do so from our Friendship Collegiate Academy, even though there are nine high schools located in those two wards.
We were determined to make a difference, but we also did not know that our first high school would graduate 85 percent of its students within four years -- higher than the national average. That compares with only 53 percent of high school students in the District's traditional public school system.
Our goal is that our students -- and 74 percent of them at Collegiate Academy are eligible for federal school lunch subsidies -- are accepted to, and graduate from, college. Already, 100 percent of Collegiate's graduating class is accepted to college. In the last four years, Collegiate's graduates have received approximately $38 million in college scholarships.
For us, preparing urban youth for college means providing them access to academic opportunities long neglected by the traditional school system. This extends to rigorous Advanced Placement courses, many through our partnership with the University of Maryland. Exposure to college through such activities as campus tours also is key.
At Friendship, we view a high-quality public education as the key to preventing poverty from being passed from one generation to the next, as well as necessary preparation for students to earn a college degree. By the same token, education is helping regenerate the District's most vulnerable communities, predominantly located in its Northeast and Southeast quadrants.
Before founding our charter school, I ran Friendship House, a nonprofit serving low-income families. I became convinced that the children of our adult clients were destined also to need our services, unless they received the high-quality education they required to be successful, but which was not available in their communities.
After establishing a D.C. task force for schools, and being advised to start a charter school, our quest for a school building began. The former city school building in which Collegiate Academy opened, and where it still operates, had been abandoned for 10 years. All of the wiring and plumbing had been removed, and the Metro stop opposite had not yet been built.
Many people told us that it was not possible to start a school in a building that had become a drug manufacturing plant. Few believed in the communities in which we opened campuses. Yet, many of those communities have slowly begun to turn around. Now, office buildings and a grocery store complement two of our campuses in long-neglected neighborhoods.
We want children in the District's disadvantaged areas to have the opportunity to become part of what America is. We want them to believe they can be successful adults; that the communities where they live can enjoy good housing, good jobs and good schools; and that they can make a contribution to this regeneration. Charter schools like ours are making an important difference in building stronger communities across the District.
Donald L. Hense is chairman and founder of Friendship Public Charter School.
The Washington Examiner
By Jacob Demmitt
July 25, 2012
The number of D.C. kids living in poverty is dropping, but still accounts for nearly one-third of the city's youth, according to a national study released Wednesday.
Kids Count, a report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation, shows the District has made strides in 12 of 15 major indicators of child well-being in education, economics, health and community. But researchers say the city has not come far enough.
"Despite some improvement, there are still 31,000 children in D.C. living in poverty," said Gwen Rubinstein, deputy director of D.C. Action for Kids, which helped conduct the research. "Even if the trend is down, that is still not good news."
The study also shows mixed results in education.
From 2005 to 2011, the number of fourth graders who were proficient in reading grew by 9 percent and eight graders proficient in math by 11 percent. But both percentages were lower than every state in the country in 2011, according to Kids Count.
Julia Isaacs, a child and family policy expert at the Urban Institute, said children in D.C. and across the country were hit hard when the economy fell into a recession.
"The recession has had a big impact on kids and is ongoing," she said. "So even with the recession officially ending, it's a lingering impact on children."
But the study did show good news for District kids' health.
The District cut the number of children without insurance in half between 2008 and 2010. The number of children and teen deaths fell by more than one-third between 2005 and 2009.
D.C. Action for Kids plans to release another study in October that will break the numbers down further to show which D.C. neighborhoods are struggling the most.
"We have to recognize that the old ways of doing things are not working," Rubinstein said. "And we have to try to find new, thoughtful approaches that take into account all the factors in a child's and families' lives."
The Washington Post
By Associated Press
July 25, 2012
Services would have to be slashed for more than 1.8 million disadvantaged students and thousands of teachers and aides would lose their jobs when automatic budget cuts kick in, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday.
He urged Congress to find an alternative deficit-reduction plan that won’t undermine the department’s ability to serve students in high-poverty schools and improve schools with high dropout rates.
Duncan said the automatic cuts, referred to by many in Washington as sequestration, also would adversely impact financial aid programs for college students.
Sequestration would “jeopardize our nation’s ability to develop and support an educated, skilled workforce that can compete in the global economy,” Duncan told a Senate appropriations panel.
The automatic cuts come after a bipartisan congressional panel failed to outline a plan to cut $1.2 trillion of deficit over 10 years. The panel was created in the budget law implemented last summer that reduced government spending and raised the country’s borrowing authority.
Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said Congress needs to prevent the automatic cuts, but said the Education Department also needs to reduce its spending budget.
Shelby said the Education Department requested a $1.7 billion increase in its discretionary budget for 2013. “Our nation cannot continue to spend money we don’t have,” Shelby said.
Neal McCluskey, associate director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the Libertarian-leaning Cato Institute, said that “cuts such as those that would be made to federal education programs through sequestration are both necessary and overdue.”
He said federal spending per student after adjusting for inflation has nearly tripled since 1970, but that the academic performance of students has not improved correspondingly.
Duncan countered that the Education Department has cut more than $1.2 billion from the department’s budget for programs that were not performing efficiently.
Duncan said education should be seen as an investment, not an expense, and that solid education funding is necessary to compete with countries that are proactively investing on education.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said that around $2.7 billion could be lost in federal funding for at least three educational programs: Title I, special education state grants and Head Start.
“We all agree sequestration would be tremendously destructive,” Harkin said. “We all must come together with good will to hammer out a balanced agreement that will not only prevent sequestration, but reduce our deficit and protect America’s families.”
Duncan said a $1.1 billion cut in Title 1 would hit students in more than 4,000 schools. He said that more than 15,000 teachers and aides could lose their jobs.
Programs, such as Race to the Top, School Improvement Grants and the Impact Aid Basic Support Payments, could also be cut, Duncan said.
Duncan said that students could experience delays in their financial aid decisions because the cuts would make the department lay off or furlough staff members who determine financial aid eligibility, expedite financial aid and process loan requests.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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