D.C. school closings push parents to charter schools
The announcement that Francis-Stevens Education Campus in D.C.'s West End neighborhood could close caused Sarah Reece to start looking at the city's public charter schools for her two sons.
If her sons remain in a traditional public school next year, they will go to Marie Reed Elementary School, which is not close enough to where the family lives to be feasible, Reece said at the D.C. Public Charter School Expo on Saturday.
Reece is one of many parents looking for alternatives to D.C. Public Schools after Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson proposed closing 20 schools at the end of the academic year. At no cost to District residents, charter schools are many parents' first choice.
Source: D.C. Public Charter School Board
| D.C. charter school enrollment | |
| Year | Enrollment |
| 2000-2001 | 9,626 |
| 2001-2002 | 10,651 |
| 2002-2003 | 11,600 |
| 2003-2004 | 13,575 |
| 2004-2005 | 15,163 |
| 2005-2006 | 17,343 |
| 2006-2007 | 19,662 |
| 2007-2008 | 21,743 |
| 2008-2009* | 25,363 |
| 2009-2010 | 27,508 |
| 2010-2011 | 29,366 |
| 2011-2012 | 31,562 |
| 2012-2013 | 35,018 |
| *In 2008, then-Chancellor Michelle Rhee announced the closing of 23 D.C. public schools, likely accounting for some of the higher-than-usual increase in charter school enrollment that year. Also that year, Center City, a group of Catholic schools, became public charter schools, adding 1,448 new students to the D.C. Public Charter School system. | |
D.C. at-large Councilmember David Catania had barely arrived at Saturday's expo when he saw parents of a student whose school is