DC Charter Schools

After having visited Cesar Chavez and Thurgood Marshall charter schools through YPFP-C, I wanted to learn more about DC charter schools. According to this Washington Post story from April 2007, if current trends continue DC charter schools will have more enrolled students than DC public schools by 2014! As of April 2007 a quarter of DC's school children attended charter schools. A more recent Post brief confirms this trend for 2008, stating that for the first time charter school enrollment has topped 20,000 students with 5 new charter schools set to open in the fall of 2008.

The District passed legislation approving charter schools in 1996. Only New Orleans has a higher concentration of charter schools. Charter schools are funded on a per pupil basis by the city. Parents sign up for the school of their choosing, but if there is a waiting list they must enter their children's names into a lottery for each charter school they would like to attend. They are notified in the spring if their children will be able to enroll.

DC charter schools have had mixed success with meeting national standards. Some within the local charter school community would like to create a standardized measure of performance.

Want to learn more? Here are some links:
DC Association of Charter Schools
DC Public Charter School Board