The District of Columbia School Reform Act passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton in 1996 gave local charter schools “the right of first offer” to facilities no longer needed by D.C. Public Schools. That law hasn’t been changed. So District officials should be talking to charter school officials before they approach anybody else about what to do with the billions of dollars’ worth of surplus DCPS property.
Charter schools give District parents a real alternative to DCPS, which has been plagued for decades by endemic corruption, cronyism and incompetence. A few charters have proved to be no better than the worst regular public schools, but overall they have significantly outperformed DCPS.
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In fact, by eighth grade, more than half the students in charter schools operated by the independent Public Charter School Board are proficient or advanced in reading and math — compared with just 27 percent in DCPS. Robert Cane, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of Choice in Urban Schools, correctly points out that untilChancellor Michelle Rhee arrived on the scene, stand-alone charter schools were the only real education reform game in town.
It’s no wonder, then, that there’s been a steady exodus of students from DCPS to charter schools, which now educate a third of all District public school students, the highest percentage in the nation outside of New Orleans. Thousands more are on waiting lists.
Although acquiring suitable facilities remains charter schools’ No. 1 challenge, top members of the Fenty administration are meeting privately with other city agencies to divvy up surplus school property without giving the Public Charter School Board the legally mandated right of first refusal. Only 14 of the city’s 55 charter schools are housed in surplus schools, so this is not the first time charters have been bypassed.
The relative success of charter schools has also prompted a disturbing backlash from D.C. Council members David Catania, independent-at large, and Tommy Wells, D-Ward 6, who must be happy with the status quo. They want to impose a moratorium on additional startups — even though studies have shown that competition from charter schools improves the performance of traditional public schools.
To date, more than 4,000 residents have signed the “Kids Aren’t Cookie Cutters” petition circulated by Friends of Choice in Urban Schools in opposition to stopping the growth of charter schools. To her credit, Chancellor Rhee opposes the moratorium as well. But, by denying charter schools their rightful access to surplus DCPS property, Rhee is effectively aiding the opposition to charters.
