Nov. 26 letter writer Susan Born-Ozmet was wrong to assert that few of the District's public charter schools outperform its traditional public schools.
D.C. students in public charter secondary schools with a majority of economically disadvantaged students are twice as likely to score advanced or proficient on reading and math tests as those in traditional public schools.
Disadvantaged D.C. students in charter public elementary schools also outperform those in non-charter public elementary schools.
Non-selective, publicly funded and independently run, these unique schools educate more than one in three of the District's students. Nearly nine in 10 of these students are from low-income homes; 97 percent are minorities. With comparable demographics to traditional D.C. public schools, the District's public charter schools perform better.
The District's public charter schools are creating life-changing opportunities for children from some of its most deprived communities, an achievement of which every D.C. teacher should be proud.
ROBERT CANE
Executive Director
Friends of Choice in Urban Schools
Washington