84% of DC charter students are AA?

[Anonymous]

I was surprised to read that in the Washington Post article from last Thursday. Every open house I go to is crawling with white parents. What's the discrepancy?

[Anonymous]

There r mant more charter schools than the ones u visited

[Anonymous]

Thats a surprise in Chocolate City? lol

[Anonymous]

Several factors. The obvious reason is DC public school student population is 80%+ AA. And roughly 40% of these kids have been going to charters, some of which have been around for 10 years. So many AA families are well-versed in charter world.

Money. Let's call upper NW, JKLMOE for the sake of argument. (Janney, Key, Lafayette, Murch, Oyster and Eaton). The Recession has pushed many in-boundary JKLMOE families out of upper NW private schools and into their assigned DCPS. Thus increasing waitlists for OOB of all races.

The language factor. Oyster has been flooded with "locals" (i.e. English-dominant) and is now desparate for Spanish-dominant kids to keep the language balance. This imbalance is componded by the increased number of bilingual charter options all east of Connecticut. (LAMB, DC Bilingual, Stokes, Yu Ying). This means non-AAs (aka whites) are increasling looking at language/multicultural focused charters. (And I think the World Bank cut some subsidies to WIS.)

The urban baby boomlet. Many non-AAs East of the Creek are just now figuring out that when their little one outgrows the Explory, the boundary madness and lack of universal preschool and prek kicks in. And recession means it's even tougher to move.

Charter track records. Admit it. Pretty cool to see the Obamas at Cap City. This raises awareness of schools which in turn prompts interest from people across the city.

Last factor: When is "white" not white? When the white-looking parents don't have white (or white only) kids. So it's hard to judge diversity by open houses, but whatever the reasons. I hope more families of all wards and races take advantage of the school choice environment to shop around.

If you haven't seen a KIPP or DC Prep in action, go on a tour. You'll see why the AA charter numbers are so high.

[Anonymous]

PP, thank you. Sums it up pretty well. What I'm wondering is how many of those "white" parents actually wind up enrolling? Looks like a small percentage based on the existing classroom makeup.

[Anonymous]

With the exception of KIPP, is the charter school "track record" significantly better than DCPS?

[Anonymous]

What is AA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is AA?

Alcoholics Anonymous, duh!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Several factors. The obvious reason is DC public school student population is 80%+ AA. And roughly 40% of these kids have been going to charters, some of which have been around for 10 years. So many AA families are well-versed in charter world.

Money. Let's call upper NW, JKLMOE for the sake of argument. (Janney, Key, Lafayette, Murch, Oyster and Eaton). The Recession has pushed many in-boundary JKLMOE families out of upper NW private schools and into their assigned DCPS. Thus increasing waitlists for OOB of all races.

The language factor. Oyster has been flooded with "locals" (i.e. English-dominant) and is now desparate for Spanish-dominant kids to keep the language balance. This imbalance is componded by the increased number of bilingual charter options all east of Connecticut. (LAMB, DC Bilingual, Stokes, Yu Ying). This means non-AAs (aka whites) are increasling looking at language/multicultural focused charters. (And I think the World Bank cut some subsidies to WIS.)

The urban baby boomlet. Many non-AAs East of the Creek are just now figuring out that when their little one outgrows the Explory, the boundary madness and lack of universal preschool and prek kicks in. And recession means it's even tougher to move.

Charter track records. Admit it. Pretty cool to see the Obamas at Cap City. This raises awareness of schools which in turn prompts interest from people across the city.

Last factor: When is "white" not white? When the white-looking parents don't have white (or white only) kids. So it's hard to judge diversity by open houses, but whatever the reasons. I hope more families of all wards and races take advantage of the school choice environment to shop around.

If you haven't seen a KIPP or DC Prep in action, go on a tour. You'll see why the AA charter numbers are so high.

WIS only? or the other private schools as well?

[Anonymous]

20% white seems high to me in a city where white parents have often opted out for private after elementary

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was surprised to read that in the Washington Post article from last Thursday. Every open house I go to is crawling with white parents. What's the discrepancy?

Which ones did you go to? There are a few that have a reputation for attracting all racial/ethnic backgrounds in a fairly balanced population, but you probably already know their names because they're the ones that get all the attention in this forum:

Appletree
Bridges
Capital City
EL Haynes
Elsie Whitlow Stokes
LAMB
Two Rivers
Washington Latin
Washington Yu Ying

[Anonymous]

Ummm...you don't have to be at the open house to apply. A lot of parents apply based on word of mouth / rep / previous exposure to the school. So, in a city that's 80% black, you would expect 80% enrollment in the charter schools if the lottery is working, which it is.

[Anonymous]

DC is 55% black.

[Anonymous]

PP, you are right and the % is declining.

[libsterdc]

There are a lot of charter schools east of the river, where the public schools are truly dismal and parents have lost all faith in the system.