Charter Schools Make Gains On Tests

The 11-year-olds bellowed: "2016."

Even the youngest students toe the line. From a room labeled "Class of 2021," a single file of kindergartners emerged in khaki pants and orange shirts and trailed silently down the hallway. A KIPP LEAP Academy teacher quietly reminded them of the rules -- to stay within the second row of tiles.

A Well-Funded System

When advocates teamed up with members of Congress to launch the city's charter schools, they designed a system with plenty of funding.

For each elementary student enrolled, a District charter school receives $11,879 in tax dollars, including $8,770 to match per-pupil academic spending in the regular public schools and a $3,109 facility allotment to help pay for buildings. Charter schools get more for older students.

Charter schools can use the facilities money for any purpose, and that funding stream can provide a crucial advantage over traditional public schools. For schools with 300 or more students, the funding often exceeds building costs, and the surplus has gone to hire additional staff and buy extra computers and books.

The Center City charters, converted this year from seven Catholic schools, have a surplus of $1.4 million from facility funding, according to their budget.

Friendship Public Charter Schools -- the city's largest charter network, with five schools and more than 4,000 students -- has a surplus of $3.4 million that has funded cutting-edge equipment, including computerized interactive whiteboards that are found even in preschool classrooms.

The extra funding, it turns out, coincides with improved academic performance: The schools with the largest surpluses have ranked at the top on test scores.

Charters also receive bank loans and other funding through the capital markets, although the national financial crisis is tightening access to credit. The schools benefit from a panel created by Congress known as the D.C. Public Charter School Credit Enhancement and Direct Loan Funds Committee, which has lent millions in public money to the city's charters. The committee also guarantees private loans to the schools and to developers who build their facilities.

The financing system has created something of a golden circle for charters: They can invest in facilities and programs that attract students and increase enrollment, which translates into additional public and private funding.

Schools that draw too few students and too little money often lag academically.

Mary McLeod Bethune Day Academy in Northeast has 217 students from pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, fewer than it budgeted for, and it is trying to attract more and keep those it has, according to Executive Director Linda McKay. It also lacks big donors or investors. When it opened four years ago, the school pledged to offer special programs and have one teacher for every 10 students.