It was clear that Robert Crane of FOCUS (Friends of Choice in Urban Schools) was a little uncomfortable in addressing a group of partisan Conservatives at a small restaurant outside the District of Columbia. The group meets monthly under the auspices of Townhall.com for the exchange of ideas and just to enjoy the company of Conservatives in a city that is not particularly hospital to Conservative. Crane did not hide the fact that he came from a different political perspective. However, it is a safe bet that he was the only person at the gathering who did not vote for George W. Bush in the last presidential election. Nonetheless, Crane bravely spoke to what could have been a hostile group. It turned out that Crane had more in common with those gathered than one might have expected.
FOCUS is a group that believes that the chronic problems of low achievement in urban schools can be addressed by proliferating the number of alternative schools, independent of the school system bureaucracy. A large number of different pedagogical approaches will more likely find those modalities that work better than the sclerotic systems many urban school systems have become. Moreover, children with different needs are likely to prosper at different types of schools.
The charter school movement in the District of Columbia seems to have fallen below the national radar. The movement was jump started during the Newt Gingrich Congress. Then Congress, over the venomous objections of the District of Columbia government, particular the school system, permitted the formation of charter schools. These charter schools would receive funding roughly equivalent in per-pupil-expenditure as the public school system. The latest figures available from the US Department of Education, lists the average per pupil expenditure in the US at $7,734 of which 61.5% is spent on instruction and the majority of the rest on support services. For the District of Columbia, the per-pupil-expenditure is $12,102 with only 49.6% spent on instruction.
At present about 20% of DC's children are educated in charter schools. Moreover these children come disproportionately from underprivileged backgrounds. Schools, especially elementary schools, in the affluent northwest sector of the District of Columbia are doing reasonably well. It is the less affluent parents in poorer areas who are rushing to send their children to charter schools. Charter schools must accept any child for admission. If the number of applicants exceeds the number of places, the children must be randomly selected. Charter schools are not permitted to skim the easiest to educate students. For example, 73% of the high school students in charter schools are eligible for free and reduce (price) lunch, a rough proxy for family poverty. The value for regular public schools is 51%. According to FOCUS, "a close examination of the performance data ... shows that, on average, students at the 11 charter high schools significantly outperform students at non-selective DCPS (District of Columbia Public School) high schools."
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