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THE NEW DEM DISPATCH, October 05, 2005
Political commentary & analysis from the DLC =============================================
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http://www.DLC.org ]
D.C.'s Charter Experiment: Mixed Grades, Great Promise
The Katrina recovery effort has sparked yet another Kabuki-theater- type debate in Congress about conservative efforts to divert public
money to subsidize private schools, as though that were the only
available alternative to keeping public schools exactly the way they
are.
Ironically, in the same city, there is an enormous experiment
underway to explore the potential of charter public schools --
schools that maintain the equal access and accountability for use of
taxpayer dollars characteristic of traditional public schools, while
appropriating much of the competitive quality and ability to
innovate characteristic of the best private schools.
About one-third of D.C. public school students now attend one of the
city's 52 charter schools -- far more than the percentage in any of
the 50 states. As an important new report from the Progressive
Policy Institute explains, we are beginning to learn a lot about
what to do and what not to do in making these and all other public
schools successful.
In Capital Campaign: Early Returns on D.C. Charter Schools, PPI
fellow Sara Mead outlines the tangled history of the D.C. charter
movement, but notes that Washington is exactly the kind of place
where charter schools can perform a critical function: a city with a
very troubled public school system, serving a heavily disadvantaged
student population.
Fortunately, charter schools in D.C. benefit from a strong legal
authorization, a relatively level "playing ground," and intense
interest from parents and students. As Mead notes, the District
gives charters a strong foundation because it "provides for multiple
authorizers; funds charter schools on an equitable basis with other
public schools; gives charter schools significant operational and
academic flexibility; and provides charter schools additional per- pupil facilities funding" -- all features often lacking in states
with a weaker commitment to public school choice, and all features
that have contributed to the remarkable growth of charter schools in
Washington.
In terms of initial performance in the decade since charter schools
first appeared in D.C., Mead reports that they have in fact on
average outperformed traditional public schools in all the standard
measurements of student achievement. But the variations in charter
school performance have been unusually wide, with a few "super- stars" such as Community Academy, the KIPP DC/KEY Academy, and SEED
Public Charter School (the nation's only public boarding school); a
variety of middle-of-the-pack performers; and nine schools that have
closed down, eight of them because their charters were revoked.
D.C.'s unusual dual-authorizer system has also produced variable
results and important lessons, with one authorizer taking a hands- off position and the other perhaps engaging in too much
micromanagement of schools. This illustrates the difficulty and the
importance of striking the right balance in charter school oversight
between the freedom to innovate and accountability for results.
Mead makes a number of recommendations for improving charter schools
in the District:
* Providing more help to charter schools in obtaining suitable
facilities, especially using excess space available in
traditional public schools;
* Closing more low-performance charter schools and providing a
smooth transition and new opportunities for their students;
* Focusing on raising the performance of "middle-of-the-pack"
schools;
* Clarifying the roles of charter school authorizers and more
closely monitoring the quality of their decisions;
* Improving data on charter school performance, and making it
more broadly useful and accessible;
* Integrating charter schools more systematically into overall
public school strategies for reform and better performance.
As Mead concludes: "The District of Columbia's charter school
movement is strong, despite growing pains." If it continues to make
strides in one of the toughest educational environments in the
country -- an environment that reflects America's most important
educational challenges -- then this little-known experiment in the
shadow of the Capitol can and should move into the front-lines of
national debate on how to build world-class schools.
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