‘It’s absolutely terrible’: When a charter school closes, what happens to the kids?
When Kamilah Wheeler moved back to Southeast Washington two years ago, she didn’t want to enroll her children in the neighborhood public school.
So she turned to a charter school, landing on Washington Mathematics Science Technology Public Charter High for her daughter, an aspiring film director and math teacher.
But in March 2018, the District’s charter regulator — a board charged with overseeing the city’s publicly funded but privately operated charter schools — voted to shutter the campus because of mismanaged finances.
Wheeler had to find another school for her daughter’s senior year.
She selected National Collegiate Preparatory Public Charter High. Her younger son and a niece also started at the Southeast Washington school in August.
Then, it happened again: The D.C. Public Charter School Board voted last week to shut down National Collegiate at the end of the 2019-2020 academic year because of low performance.
Kamilah Wheeler speaks to the D.C. Public Charter School Board during a hearing about closing National Collegiate Preparatory Public Charter School. Her children attends the school. (Bill O’Leary/The Washington Post)
That means Wheeler’s family is once again in education limbo.
“For my kids, it’s terrible,” Wheeler said. “It’s really frustrating because I do not believe in the system anymore.”
National Collegiate is one of three public charter schools the board in recent weeks voted to close because of poor performance. Democracy Prep Congress Heights and City Arts and Prep are expected to close at the end of this academic year, followed a year later by National Collegiate.
One of the District’s oldest and most prominent charter networks — Cesar Chavez Public Charter Schools for Public Policy — announced last week that it would close its middle school campus in Columbia Heights for financial reasons. Its two high schools will merge on a single campus.
The closures — which leave more than 1,500 students scrambling for seats in other schools — highlight the turmoil that befalls children when the lights are permanently turned off in their classrooms. Students are often forced to leave behind friends and teachers they have grown up with. Parents are often stuck navigating CONTINUE READING: ‘It’s absolutely terrible’: When a charter school closes, what happens to the kids? - The Washington Post
