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If you look over April’s headlines, you’ll find everything from columns on our 3rd Annual Gala (check out our Facebook page for pictures!) to continued debate over the Mayor’s proposed budget to the four charter schools DCPCSB approved to open next year. Here are our suggestions for articles you should review.
Vacant D.C. school buildings could house public charters (The Washington Post, 4/3/12)
The DC Department of General Services recently announced that it will consider charter bids on four vacant DCPS buildings. While charters have been denied their lawful right of first offer to such spaces in the past, Deputy Mayor of Education De’Shawn Wright commented that this is the first step in a concerted effort to abide by the law. In his remarks, FOCUS Executive Director Robert Cane expressed his delight over the news as well as his reservations over jumping to conclusions, explaining, “I wouldn’t take it as predictive.”
In turn, the Washington Post’s Editorial Board argues that while there are signs of improvement toward ensuring that charters receive the right of first offer on surplus school buildings, “other cities — Atlanta and New York come to mind — are way ahead of the District in providing charters that have proven records of success with classroom-ready facilities.”
In D.C. schools, 59 percent of students get diploma on time (The Washington Post, 4/5/12)
This article points out that public charters boast an 80% graduation rate for students receiving diplomas on time. Relatedly, in a different piece, Examiner’s Mark Lerner compares this figure to Montgomery County’s graduation rate to show how charter graduation rates are closing in on those of wealthy suburban areas . Accordingly, many of the District’s top schools in terms of graduation rate are public charters:
Of the city’s open-enrollment high schools, the top seven were publicly funded, independently operated charter schools: Washington Math, Science & Technology; SEED; Booker T. Washington; Friendship (Woodson campus); Cesar Chavez (Capitol Hill and Parkside campuses); Perry Street; and Thurgood Marshall Academy. The rates ranged from 91.3 percent (Washington Math, Science) to 75.4 percent (Thurgood Marshall).
What’s more, as DCPCSB Executive Director Scott Pearson stresses, “D.C.’s public charter schools serve a high percentage of at-risk students, many of whom will be the first in their families to attend college.” Additionally, children enrolled in DC middle and high public charter schools with a majority of economically-disadvantaged students are nearly twice as likely to be proficient in reading and math as their peers in DC's traditional public schools.
Four schools honored by Fight for Children (The Washington Post, 4/10/12)
Three out of the four DC schools Fight for Children recently commended as part of the 2012 Quality Schools Initiative were public charters - Capital City Public Charter School (Upper School), Cesar Chavez PCS (Bruce Prep campus), and DC Prep PCS (Edgewood elementary campus). Powell Elementary was the fourth school selected. All three were highlighted for their innovative school environments and their focus on student character. The award prize of $175,000 will be split between the four winning schools.
DC Public Charter School Board Approves Four New Charter Schools (DCPCSB, 4/24/12)
At their monthly meeting, DCPCSB approved four out of 11 charter school applications for the coming school year. The four schools are as follows: Sela, a Hebrew language immersion school; Somerset Preparatory Academy, part of a charter network with a strong background in educating low-income and minority students; Ingenuity Prep, a school combining classroom and online learning; and Community College Preparatory Academy, an adult education institution. All four schools took part in our application-consulting program, which you can read up on here!