Advocates who fear that D.C. Council members may be moving toward a crackdown on the charter school system’s growth are getting residents to sign a petition in support of the schools.
The petition, titled “Kids Aren’t Cookie Cutters,” is circulating in communities and on school campuses.
Ariana Quinones Miranda, deputy director of FOCUS, a group that has worked in favor of charters, said that it seemed important to show that, in spite of criticism about charter schools, there are thousands of D.C. families thriving in that system. At this point, 150 people have signed the petition.
“Because it’s an election year we thought it would be a good year to show elected officials that there’s support,” Quinones Miranda told The Examiner. “The growth is worrying some of the council members and the impact they think it will have on DCPS [D.C. Public Schools]. [The petition] is a way to educate them.”
D.C. Council members haven’t submitted any legislation limiting the expansion of charter schools. But putting a moratorium on new charter school development is an idea that’s been hinted at during recent oversight hearings.
Charter schools are public institutions that receive public money to educate D.C. students. The biggest difference between charters and the traditional public school system is that each charter site is autonomous, operating under a board of leaders that sets the school’s focus and measures of success.
Nationally, only New Orleans has a larger percentage of students enrolled in public charters than the District. The last enrollment audit showed that more than 22,000 D.C. students were in the charter system, reflecting growth at a time when public school enrollment in D.C. is at 49,600 and plummeting by a few thousand kids each year. Charter enrollment has grown by 400 percent over the past decade.
Council members Tommy Wells and David Catania have been the most vocal critics of the charter movement. Wells’ Chief of Staff Charles Allen told The Examiner Wells has no plans right now to introduce any charter-focused legislation, but he might back a bill limiting charters. Catania’s spokesman said Catania would not propose any such bills.
Quinones Miranda said the plan is to get the petition to council members before a concrete proposal goes out limiting charter schools.
