The Need for Educational Freedom in the Nation's Capital. Policy Analysis.

This report asserts that the the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) are failing. The report claims that teacher incompetence, bureaucratic corruption, crumbling infrastructure, violence, lax academic standards, and wasteful spending are some of the many problems, and children attending the DCPS are not receiving a quality education. Failure of the government-run school system is not new. This failure preceded white flight from the District in the 1950s and has continued despite inflation-adjusted increases in spending, reduced class size, and attempts to reform the system from within. DCPS does not lack money. Despite having per-pupil spending that ranks among the highest in the nation, DCPS students rank near the bottom on standardized tests and achievement levels. Although spending has tripled since 1980, the system lacks qualified teachers, safe facilities, and basic supplies. To improve education in the District, this report recommends considering options beyond spending more money in this troubled system. It notes that change must not be limited to propping up the current system, but rather the city must find a way to create competition within the system in order to empower parents, foster an environment that will allow education entrepreneurs to flourish, and take education out of the hands of feuding politicians. (Contains 77 endnotes.) (SM)