Fwd: Public Charter School Board -- Monday's Vote Will Speak Volumes

[Theodora H. Brown]

Theodora H. Brown

Begin forwarded message:

From: Matthew Frumin <matthe...@gmail.com>
Date: April 18, 2021 at 8:28:35 AM EDT
To: rc...@dcpcsb.org, sbum...@dcpcsb.org, jsan...@dcpcsp.org, nshe...@dcpcsb.org, lcr...@dcpcsb.org, sbi...@dcpcsb.org, rga...@dcpcsb.org
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Subject: Public Charter School Board -- Monday's Vote Will Speak Volumes



Monday you will be called upon to vote on the opening of five new charter schools. 

I do not doubt that some of the applications will offer attractive ideas put forward by skilled and passionately well-intentioned people.  But unless an application calls for a program to serve children who otherwise could not be served in our existing infrastructure, you must deny the applications. 

When I served on my ANC I was struck that my oath required me to do what was best for the city, not simply my Single Member District (SMD).  I do not know if your oath is similar in scope, but it should be.  Your actions have wider implications than for the applicants before you or the charter sector. 

We clearly have excess school capacity and opening new capacity in this environment can only drive up the cost of the systems overall and make it more difficult for existing schools to succeed, resulting in a one-two punch of disservice to our communities and taxpayers.

The 2018 Proposed Master Facilities Plan included a GAP analysis showing 22,000 unused seats in our dual system, 8000 of which were in the charter sector, see here at 3-19 to 3-28. That analysis was pre-COVID-19, and the addition of more capacity than students since. In the previous two years, the DME has made clear to you that we have too much capacity, see here and here.  There can be no question that that continues, dramatically, to be the case today. 

Excess capacity is not an abstract issue.  It results in many unintentionally low-enrolled schools driving up costs for all.  The DME's 2014 Adequacy Study showed the increased cost from unintentionally low-enrolled schools at over $1000 per student, see here at 64.  Low enrollment also severely hampers the ability of a school to deliver a full complement of programming. 

The schools you authorized to open in SY20-21 uniformly fell short of enrollment projections, again, even before COVID, requiring over $2.5 million in additional support to operate, see summary provided by a friend here. The outside aid may have propped up those schools, but other schools that also had lowered enrollments as a result were left to their own devices.   

Often charter school advocates argue that so long as there are waitlists for some schools, it makes sense to open new schools that might meet that demand.  But that obviously is not the only option. There is the more natural option to cease driving up the cost of all our schools with excess capacity and invest in the schools we have. 

Indeed, repeatedly and unequivocally that is what the public has told us it wants,  In the broadest school outreach program in decades, the Student Assignment process, a key finding was that "{t}he overwhelming input from parents and District residents was that families want a citywide system of neighborhood public schools that is equitably invested in and that provides predictable and fair access to high quality schools in all of the city’s communities," see here at 5.

It is worth noting though that the problem of excess capacity is not just about impacts on DCPS.  At a recent meeting, I was struck when a senior charter network employee called for a moratorium on new charter openings given the impact of excess capacity on other charter schools.

At your meeting Monday, you can choose to ignore all of this.  But should you do so, the message will be unambiguous indicating:  You have no concern about the success of the matter-of-right school system in all corners of the city despite that fact that its success is a critical priority for our citizens and you have no concern about the way in which your actions drive up costs for all schools and punish our taxpayers. 

I do not want to kid you.  It is not just that I think you should not open any new schools for next year.  You need to take a break from adding new capacity for at least a couple of years until we get to a match of demand and capacity that resembles rationality.  You may think that if you did that DCPS should too.  And, it should with regard to citywide schools, but still will need to open capacity to address overcrowding in some feeders and to fill in gaps in others. 

But come Monday, you face a limited decision.  Do you add capacity in this environment despite the collateral damage such a step could have? 

Your decision will speak volumes. 

Here's hoping you do the right thing. 

All the best,

Matthew Frumin

 

202-247-0819