This fall, the nation will mark the 20th anniversary of its first public charter school, which opened in St. Paul, Minn. These unique public schools are funded with local taxpayer dollars like traditional public schools, but they are free to set their own curriculum and school culture. They are not run by government, but government holds them accountable for their students’ performance.
Today, there are more than 5,500 charter schools educating nearly 6 percent of all American children enrolled in public schools. Here in the nation’s capital, public charter schools have made a more significant impact, educating some 41 percent of all District of Columbia public school students. Some 8 percent of all District children attend campuses run by the school I founded.
As the founder — and chairman for 15 years — of a charter school that educates nearly 8,000 students on 11 campuses in low-income communities in D.C. and Baltimore, I have some experience with this reform. Why do I support it? Because I have long believed that you cannot have good communities without good schools.
When we opened our first high school campus, we did not know that 35 percent of students who earned a high school diploma in D.C.’s most underserved wards — wards 7 and 8 — would do so from our Friendship Collegiate Academy, even though there are nine high schools located in those two wards.
We were determined to make a difference, but we also did not know that our first high school would graduate 85 percent of its students within four years — higher than the national average. That compares with only 53 percent of high school students in the District’s traditional public school system.
Our goal is that our students — and 74 percent of them at Collegiate Academy are eligible for federal school lunch subsidies — are accepted to, and graduate from, college. Already, 100 percent of Collegiate’s graduating class is accepted to college. In the last four years, Collegiate’s graduates have received approximately $38 million in college scholarships.
For us, preparing urban youth for college means providing them access to academic opportunities long neglected by the traditional school system. This extends to rigorous Advanced Placement courses, many through our partnership with the University of Maryland. Exposure to college through such activities as campus tours also is key.
At Friendship, we view a high-quality public education as the key to preventing poverty from being passed from one generation to the next, as well as necessary preparation for students to earn a college degree. By the same token, education is helping regenerate the District’s most vulnerable communities, predominantly located in its Northeast and Southeast quadrants.
Before founding our charter school, I ran Friendship House, a nonprofit serving low-income families. I became convinced that the children of our adult clients were destined also to need our services, unless they received the high-quality education they required to be successful, but which was not available in their communities.
After establishing a D.C. task force for schools, and being advised to start a charter school, our quest for a school building began. The former city school building in which Collegiate Academy opened, and where it still operates, had been abandoned for 10 years. All of the wiring and plumbing had been removed, and the Metro stop opposite had not yet been built.
Many people told us that it was not possible to start a school in a building that had become a drug manufacturing plant. Few believed in the communities in which we opened campuses. Yet, many of those communities have slowly begun to turn around. Now, office buildings and a grocery store complement two of our campuses in long-neglected neighborhoods.
We want children in the District’s disadvantaged areas to have the opportunity to become part of what America is. We want them to believe they can be successful adults; that the communities where they live can enjoy good housing, good jobs and good schools; and that they can make a contribution to this regeneration. Charter schools like ours are making an important difference in building stronger communities across the District.
Donald L. Hense is chairman and founder of Friendship Public Charter School.
