Preference for Charters?

[Anonymous]

Tommy Wells brought up a good point in today's hearing about should there be a preference for students who live near, down the street from a Charter school. Although charters are open to all residents, I see it both ways. In my situation being a Ward 4 resident with no bilingual school other than LAMB (which is charter) and being a bi-racial family hispanic/black, I would love for my child to attend the school and not have to go through a lottery etc. for LAMB or any other bilingual DCPS. Having my child exposed to both sides of her culture in school is great. Anyone feel that there can be a type of "preferenced based" policy that wound't get attacked?

[Anonymous]

I believe it should be for Elementary.

[Anonymous]

So do you mean preferance by race/ethnicity or by location?

Both would (and should) be attacked.

[Anonymous]

OP, you must be my neighbor! I too am bummed that I live around the corner from LAMB, but have virtually no chance of getting in. I do think that maybe location should be looked at, but I don't see how that's possible within a lottery system. Many people want the same things.

[Anonymous]

Why do people have to put race in the situation obviously I said "live near by or around the corner" for a reason. There are many whites in my neighborhood who would love to attend the school as well, but my situation is unique. I was just asking my fellow DCUM readers what they thought of the situation. My situation could be a preference and there can be others. My post was not RACE! Duh!

[Anonymous]

The ILL Report identifies neighborhoods with few good school options (defined using DC-CAS scores, current & projected), and suggests that charters take over the schools in those neighborhoods. An unstated assumption is that the new charter would have a neighborhood preference.

I think the report is not worth much.

I think neighborhood preference for charters would be very difficult to implement. To the extent there is one, it is that families tend not to select a school that is all the way across town. So those who enter the lottery are more likely to live near the school. Self selecting. The IFF report also documented that. The best charters students traveled to, the lower tier charters (again, tiers only based on DC-CAS) were attended mainly by students in the immediate or adjacent neighborhood cluster.

Hence the other active thread, do JKLMM students attend language immersion charters. Some will travel to do this. For a generic education charter in Ward 7, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Parent at 1st year charter here. Our child's school is moving next year. How would preference work in that scenario? Same for LAMB's temporary location in Ward 5.

[Anonymous]

LAMB is based in Ward 4, and only has that temporary space in Ward 5 until Walter Reed is available so.....the Military Road campus is in Ward 4 and so is Walter Reed

[Anonymous]

But 19:07's point is, how does location preference work when charters change location? If my child got in to Cap City preK with a location preferene for Columbia Heights, and they move to Ward 4, does the child get kicked out back to the general lottery? Probably not, but.

A lot of charters in the early years, IT for example, move a lot.

Mature charters move some. Cap City, Elsie Stokes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tommy Wells brought up a good point in today's hearing about should there be a preference for students who live near, down the street from a Charter school. Although charters are open to all residents, I see it both ways. In my situation being a Ward 4 resident with no bilingual school other than LAMB (which is charter) and being a bi-racial family hispanic/black, I would love for my child to attend the school and not have to go through a lottery etc. for LAMB or any other bilingual DCPS. Having my child exposed to both sides of her culture in school is great. Anyone feel that there can be a type of "preferenced based" policy that wound't get attacked?

This is actually a lot harder than it sounds. On the one hand, it's easy to be sympathetic to the families whose local DCPS have closed (due to low enrollment) and would like a higher quality, local option, and preference to with it.

On the other, consider the fact that many of the high-performing and desirable charters are actually located pretty centrally. Plotting some of these schools on a map, there are many, many neighborhoods in Ward 3 which have greater proximity than those in Wards 7 & 8. While it's great that certain charters appeal to families from all over the District, it's anathema to the concept of charters for wealthy families to have first dibs on the schools which are - at least theoretically - escape valves for families without great means.

[Anonymous]

I'm glad this isnt the case because it would shut some of us totally out (like myself, a Ward 8 resident). Thurgood Marshall PCS is a good option, but HS is several years away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm glad this isnt the case because it would shut some of us totally out (like myself, a Ward 8 resident). Thurgood Marshall PCS is a good option, but HS is several years away.

Same here. Another ward 8 resident travleing 30 minutes for charter. I can't imagine this would ever be rolled out. If it did in a limited capacity, it wouldnt be for existing charters but new ones that were specifically designed to replace a failing DCPS. However, if that were to happen, it would be unlikely that the neighbors (already bitter from poor DCPS and have since been settled at another charter or OOB DCPS) would want to take a risk with unproven charter. So I can't imagine any case where this will ever work.

[Anonymous]

If proximity is something you're concerned about, call a meeting for your neighborhood. Apply en masse to your local public school when you hit K when they can't turn you away. Make it defacto charter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If proximity is something you're concerned about, call a meeting for your neighborhood. Apply en masse to your local public school when you hit K when they can't turn you away. Make it defacto charter.

How would that make it a de facto charter? It would still be a DCPS school. What autonomy would be gained in the process?

Sorry, but your suggestion doesn't make any sense.

[Anonymous]

DC charter law says proxiity preference CAN be given for a few years if an existing DCPS converts into a charter.

For example, if Oyster-Adams converted to a charter, IB families the year of conversion would get first dibs. Similar to grandfathering feeder patterns when boundaries change.

The charter law could be changed to account for hybrid neighborhood charters. It's probably more likely that one or two charters might get hybrid status.