Time to evaluate D.C. charter schools

Some D.C. Public Schools officials and supporters have become increasingly concerned about the close proximity of charter schools to their institutions. They have argued the current situation promotes creaming, a process where some of the brightest students are stripped from a neighborhood. “Bruce-Monroe is an example of that phenomenon,” said Jeff Smith, executive director of D.C. Voice. The city closed the Ward 1 school because officials claimed the neighborhood could no longer sustain two schools.

“Then, a charter school opens pretty much in its backyard,” Smith said. “Each year five or so charters open up,” often near traditional schools that are struggling to improve.