Shrinking Schools

How very timely - the superintendent of DC schools decided to close six schools. They're all east of Rock Creek Park (which probably only means something to you if you live in DC - basically the less affluent areas of the city. Not that affluent children attend public school anyway.)

What I found most interesting in the article was that the space in some already closed schools and schools with extra space will be leased to public charter schools. Which made me wonder who funds public charter schools? Are they a hybrid of public funds and donor money? I know that one charter school we work with has donor funds... I might need to investigate a little more. This is why I'm taking an economics course in the fall.

The issue of closing schools can open a can of worms regarding "community schools." I doubt this will happen in DC, because many of the children transferring to new schools in the fall already belong to the disenfranchised families in DC. However, when a similar project occurred in Montgomery County (again, for those non-DC dwellers, a relatively affluent and "progressive" suburb of DC in Maryland), tensions surrounding the "community schools" issue abounded.

Some see "community schools" as code for segregated schools. The symbol of a community school, where the surrounding businesses, families, PTA, parents, etc all participate in the life and health of the school, is a powerful one. Didn't most of us grow up in a school like that? Especially all my well off friends from private schools. But even in my lower middle class community in Orlando, our schools were supported by the surrounding community. And they weren't, at least in elementary school, completely segregated. By high school, however, there were the white schools and the black schools. Magnet programs, redistricting... my parents actually moved so I could go to the "better" school (read: white), and I ended up attending a magnet program anyway.

I'll have to see if there's any news coverage around about the MoCo school closings. I think the tension surrounding those would make for an interesting comparison for the current project in the district.