The future of D.C. public schools
D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson’s plan to close 20 traditional public schools in 
the nation’s capital is nothing if not an acknowledgement that the system over which she presides is inexorably dwindling and being transformed into a collection of independently run public charter schools.
the nation’s capital is nothing if not an acknowledgement that the system over which she presides is inexorably dwindling and being transformed into a collection of independently run public charter schools.The numbers tell a big part of this story: Henderson wants to close 20 under-enrolled schools in the system that now has about 45,000 students in 117 buildings. There are now about 35,000 students in 57 public charter schools, and three big charter-school operators have just applied for fast-track approval to run a total of 10 new campuses serving thousands of students. (You can read about that here.) Among them are the controversial Virginia-based K12 Inc., which is applying to open a 550-student school, and Rocketship Education, a California-based charter chain which wants to open eight campuses between 2015 and 2020 that would enroll more than 5,000 students.
The plan, naturally, has met with outrage from the community (as all school closing plans have in the District for decades). But the dissenters make some good points. Henderson argues that she must close under-enrolled schools to save money, and on it’s face, that logic makes sense. But here’s the problem: Henderson has said that the closings will free up