Charter school advocates draw fire in Northern Virginia

Officials backing what would be Northern Virginia’s first public charter school defended their proposal Tuesday amid opposition from parents who fear the venture would take education funding from their children’s schools.

Eric Welch, executive director of the Fairfax Leadership Academy, told his critics that the driving force behind the school’s proposal was eliminating the achievement gap among students, not starting a competition. He denied claims by critics that the school would do nothing more than imitate the curriculum of nearby schools and increase traffic.