Secretary Duncan, Save the 216

Dan Lips / August 20, 2009

In a cover story today, the Washington Examiner highlights the continuing exodus from traditional public schools in the D.C. school system:

By Monday’s first school bell, charters project at least 28,000 students, or about 2,400 more than last year, while D.C. Public Schools expect about 45,000, or 2,000 fewer than in spring.dc

This year’s decline follows a trend that has continued for decades. According to the Examiner, nearly 30,000 students have left the city’s public school system. Much of the exodus has been into the charter school system, which has grown rapidly over the past decade. But the Examiner reports that many students appear to have gone to suburban school systems or private schools.

D.C. families are fortunate to have some opportunities to choose different schools thanks to charter schools, public school choice, and the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship program. And these school choice options have created enough pressure on the public school system to pave the way for a serious reformer like School Chancellor Michelle Rhee to try to turnaround the school system. (more…)