The District of Columbia鈥檚 Office of the State Superintendent of Education commissioned the study and companion policy recommendations.鈥攍esli a. maxwell
To do that, District of Columbia leaders must 鈥渢arget increased educational and out-of-school time investment to neighborhoods of greatest need: where lots of families already live and do not have high-quality school options,鈥� and 鈥減reserve and expand affordable housing in neighborhoods that are currently undergoing gentrification as well as in historically high-priced neighborhoods that are already served by quality schools.鈥�
Those recommendations come from researchers at the Brookings Institution, the Urban Institute, and the 21st Century School Fund, all Washington-based organizations that collaborated on a 109-page and an accompanying 52-page .
The reports are intended to help city leaders craft strategies to strengthen the public school sector鈥攂oth traditional and charter campuses鈥攁nd help attract families to the city and retain those already there who have preschool-age children.
Although population in the city increased by about 3 percent from 2000 to 2006, the child population (birth to age 17) remained relatively flat, and the public school enrollment, including charter schools, overall declined 8 percent, the researchers found.
With new efforts under way to improve public schooling鈥攖he city鈥檚 mayor, Adrian M. Fenty, now controls the system and selected a hard-charging chancellor, Michelle A. Rhee, to run the schools鈥攖he researchers said conditions are ripe for crafting new policies that would help boost public school enrollment.
鈥淎s the city looks to sustain and accelerate its recent growth and prosperity, retaining and attracting families with children plays a critical role,鈥� the researchers wrote in the policy report. 鈥淎 community鈥檚 ability to retain and attract a diverse mix of residents is an indicator of public confidence in the future.鈥�
The District of Columbia鈥檚 Office of the State Superintendent of Education commissioned the study and companion policy recommendations.
