The administration of Mayor Vincent Gray recently commissioned a study of DC schools by the Illinois Facility Fund (IFF) which was paid for by the Walton Foundation (Wal-Mart) and several other interests heavily invested in charter schools. The study divided DC schools into 4 tiers (Tier 1 being the highest “performing” and Tier 4 being the “lowest performing”). The methodology used to rank the schools into Tiers was by looking at Standardized Test Score Results (DCCAS).

Eliminating poor performing seats poses no threat to children. Only to seats.

Overall the study offers 5 recommendations: Fill seats in Tier 1 Schools. Sustain the performing capacity of Tier 1 schools. Invest in facilities and programs to accelerate performance in Tier 2 schools. Monitor Tier 3 schools. Close or Turnaround Tier 4 DCPS Schools. Close Tier 4 charter schools and replace them with high-performing publicly-funded charter schools.

If you believe that test scores are the only thing that determines whether or not a school is worthy then using them as the sole criteria in the IFF’s study won’t bother you. If, on the other hand, you view a school as an integral part of the community and for that reason should be supported, then you might have hoped the study might look into why so many DC schools are failing academically. Despite the firing of hundreds of teachers from DCPS, academic performance has failed to improve by more than a few points. It would have been nice if the issue was that simple. Closing more than 20 public schools during the Fenty Administration may have increased class sizes and saved the city money but the achievement gap between white students and black students is wider than it’s ever been. Following the recommendations of the IFF study may increase the number of publicly-funded charter schools but as there’s no real evidence that charter schools are actually doing better academically than DC’s public schools, it hardly seems like a recommendation designed to improve the schools.

Please note. I’m aware that the mainstream media has suggested that the publicly-funded charter schools are in fact doing better academically than the traditional public schools but test scores just don’t bear that out. If you doubt this, please research it for yourself. Great Schools is one source for test scores and academic rankings. You might start there. I site them also because they’re rankings take more into account than academics. According to their site, the top-ranked DC schools are all traditional public schools. Although their rankings are hardly conclusive, I’m reasonably certain that they’ve been replicated by other reputable sources. So, if in fact, the best schools in DC are traditional public schools, why would the Illinois Facilities Fund recommend that DC’s “Tier 4” schools be replaced by publicly-funded charter schools? Wouldn’t it make more sense to suggest that these low-ranking schools, which are mostly in Wards 7 & 8, be encouraged to emulate the successful public schools west of the Anacostia River? The cynic in me believes with all sincerity that the real reason behind the IFF’s recommendation that DC’s public schools be replaced by charters has something to do with the fact that the Illinois Facilities Fund is a non-profit lender that lends mainly to charter schools not only in Illinois but soon across the whole of the United States. Increasing the number of charter schools in DC may not improve the academic performance of DC’s student population. It’s not likely to reduce the achievement gap between our white and black students but it may very well help to increase the bottom line of the Illinois Facilities Fund (which given it’s emerging status as a national entity would prefer to be referred to as the IFF).

I’m also confused by the Gray Administration’s confidence in the study, not because of what appears to be a clear conflict of interest, but because the recommendations don’t seem to align with the purpose of the study itself. According to the Washington Post, Deputy Mayor for Education De’Shawn Wright’s reason for commissioning the study was, “to identify communities in greatest need of more education options.” The report recommends that the communities in greatest need of more education options either close their schools or replace them with charters. I don’t see how closing schools will provide the communities in Wards 7 & 8 with more educational opportunities. Isn’t that a direct contradiction of the purpose of the study? Presumably more charter schools will increase education options but if you’re . . . → Read More: School Closings and the Displacement Equation