“We have to right-size this [school] district.” That’s the answer DCPS Chancellor Kaya Henderson has often given when asked about the future of traditional public schools. A euphemism for closing schools, ‘right-size’ has become her mantra.
In 2008, the cure for DCPS was closing schools. Now, the same prescription is being offered. Complicating matters, District officials want to transform charters into neighborhood schools. Education advocates said that combination could mean the end of DCPS.
There are 53 charters on 98 campuses, serving 41 percent of all public school students. Next year, four new charters will open.
“Without a change in course, in just a few years DC will essentially have a publicly funded private school system with a limited number of publicly operated schools,” said Cathy Reilly, executive director of Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals and Educators.
Death of DCPS means diminution of education choice.
I advocated mayoral control of the schools in 2007, believing it would energize DCPS while providing better and more academic options. I also endorsed the first round of closings; Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and Chancellor Michelle Rhee said savings would be reinvested into resource-starved schools, many in Ward 5, 7 and 8.
Those same promises are being made in advance of the next round of closings. That’s not surprising. After all, in 2008, Henderson was Rhee’s deputy.
Melissa Salmanowitz, DCPS’ spokeswoman, said the 2008 promises were kept: Each affected school received “an art, music and a physical education teacher.” Schools also were provided instructional coaches, social workers and school psychologists.
Ironically, DCPS recently released a list of school-based personnel who could be terminated this year because their positions were eliminated or there isn’t sufficient funding; it included 14 music teachers, 22 math or science instructors, and 24 physical education teachers.
Jeff Smith, with the nonprofit education advocacy group DC Voice, said many communities and families affected by the 2008 closings are “still in transition.” He argued more closings won’t save money because funds will shift to charters.
In a March 17, 2009 memo, the 21st Century School Fund, Urban Institute and Brookings Institution concluded, among other things, the closings “accelerated the decline in enrollment in DCPS,” which conservatively cost the system as much as $4.7 million in revenues. Further, “the outward migration of students from DCPS to charters was more than twice as high for students from closed schools as for students from non-closed schools.”
But many students didn’t find charter nirvana in 2008. They aren’t likely to find it today: 15 charter schools have received evaluations of 34 percent or below — the lowest tier — according to the charter board. The majority — 11 — of poor performers are in Wards 5, 7 and 8 — the same communities expected to be hit in the next round of closings.
That means District children from those areas will go from one bad education experience to another bad education experience.
Jonetta Rose Barras’s column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
