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.
I had a similar discussion about charter schools with Smith earlier this year during an interview for an article I wrote for the Washington City Paper. So when I learned the city, using a grant from the Walton Foundation, had hired the Illinois Facilities Fund to conduct a study of current and future educational needs of District neighborhoods, I wanted to know what Smith thought.
He’s worried, as is Cathy Reilly, director of the Senior High Alliance of Parents, Principals and Educators. She wondered why the city hired, without benefit of a competitive bidding process, IFF when in 2008 the Brookings Institution and the 21st Century Fund conducted a similar study. “Why weren’t they asked to update that report?”
Deputy Mayor De’Shawn Wright told me that when he arrived he learned facilities planning and analysis was part of his responsibility. There wasn’t any money or staff available. “I needed to get up to speed as quickly as possible,” he continued. He sought external support.
He liked IFF because in its past work, it didn’t just provide a supply and demand analysis. It also “looked at the full picture” of quality of services and educational gaps.
“This is not a study that pits charter against traditional schools,” Wright continued. “I can take that and go to [Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson] and ask what are you willing to do.” He said he also could persuade the charter school board to use the report as it approves new schools.
“We have been running these two parallel systems and people have complained about creaming and all that. We need to have a better understanding of what is happening,” he added.
Wright is a fan of charter schools. But he’s not out to destroy traditional schools. Still, there are dozens of variables that should be considered in the IFF study, including the lack of any independent comprehensive evaluation of charter schools; specific boundary lines for some traditional schools; the effect of out-of-boundary traffic on certain neighborhoods; and how the sudden closing of an individual charter school affects DCPS’ overall service delivery.
“There is a lot at stake. We place a high value on guaranteeing a network of public schools that children can get to,” said Reilly. “The data that is used in planning and the values attached to the analysis of that data is crucial.”
She’s absolutely right.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
