Letter to the Editor
By Ramona Edelin
The Current is right to highlight the expansion of E.L. Haynes Public Charter School, one of the most successful in the city, and its popularity with parents — the reason for the school’s expansion plans [“Charter sees rising scores, expansion,” March 25].
In fact, the latest audited student enrollment figures released by the D.C. government reveal that the popularity of E.L. Haynes is the rule rather than the exception among the city’s public charter schools.
Compared with the previous school year, student enrollment at District public charter schools increased by 17 percent — the largest annual increase since 2000.
D.C.’s chartered public schools have created more intimate learning environments in which teachers are free to innovate, parents can get more involved and students are provided the structure they need to learn.
If the government wants to reverse the sizable D.C. Public Schools student enrollment decline shown by the current audit, it would do well to allow city-run schools more charterlike freedoms and responsibilities.