Attack on Charters

An attempt in the D.C. Council to undercut a relative success in the city's educational system

DISTRICT OFFICIALS may well have come up with a way to stem the exodus of children from the troubled public schools: Just make it harder for popular charter schools to set up shop. A mean-spirited proposal to impose new restrictions on charter schools threatens to undo one of the few good-news stories in Washington education.

A bill sponsored by D.C. Council Chairman Vincent C. Gray (D) and council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) seeks to curb the rate of growth of the independently operated public schools. Provisions include a mandated 15-month planning period before a school can open, limiting new schools to one campus and a change in funding. Developed without any input from the D.C. Public Charter School Board, the legislation is indicative of the hostility some council members feel toward the charters. Many observers see it as the opening salvo in a bid to undermine the schools and their autonomy. Consider that the measure would take money away from a charter if student enrollment declined but not add funds if enrollment went up. Moreover, funding for public schools would stay unchanged -- no matter how many of its students left.

Nearly one in three D.C. students are now in charters, a clear sign that parents like having a choice in where their children go to school. By no means is the charter sector trouble-free, but the picture painted by charter critics of mediocre, failing schools is unfair. The fact is that students in schools approved by the public charter school board scored better -- in all grades -- on math and reading tests than those in public schools or in the charter schools sanctioned by the old Board of Education (which, incidentally, had Mr. Wells as a member). Yes, too many students are still not proficient in the basic subjects, but the charters, with some exceptions, are starting to deliver. Indeed, the public charter school board, which sanctioned two-thirds of the District's 55 charter schools, enjoys a national reputation for its standards and its strict accountability program.

Clearly part of the motivation for the legislation is money. The possible conversion of seven Catholic schools into public charters, if approved next week, would cost the District $7 million. What's forgotten is that these children -- no matter if they go to charters or public schools -- are the educational responsibility of the District of Columbia. It is not a question of the charters siphoning money from District coffers but of parents deciding where they think their children will get the best schooling.