Yesterday’s blog post was about Perry’s Stein’s article raising skepticism about Friendship PCS and KIPP DC PCS incorporating multiple campuses of other charters that are failing to meet their academic targets. In that piece, Ms. Stein describes the assimilation of Septima Clark PCS by Achievement Prep PCS this way:

“There’s a measure of irony in Achievement Prep being taken over by another charter operator. In 2013, Achievement Prep was the suitor, assuming control of Septima Clark, an all-boys school that the charter board closed amid low academic performance. But it turned out that Achievement Prep — which has a more successful elementary school that will remain open — could not turn around the school.”

Nothing could be further from the truth. I was intimately involved in the events surrounding the closing of Septima Clark after being contacted by in 2013 by its head of school  Jenny DuFresne. I made the case on multiple occasions that the charter should not be dissolved. Here’s what really happened.

Septima Clark was a low performing school teaching an exceedingly high proportion of at-risk children that toward the end of its operation had reached a Tier 2 ranking on the DC Public Charter School Board’s Performance Management Framework. However, there was serious concern by those involved with the school that when it was time for it to go before the PCSB for review it would be closed due to a pattern of poor academic results. The charter also faced the end of a facility lease with no good options as to where it would locate next. The school’s board of directors therefore believed that the best path forward for its students was to close Septima Clark and merge with Achievement Prep PCS. Although Achievement Prep was early in its history, at that time it was highly regarded for its strong academic performance. There was considerable controversy around the school board’s decision. Many Septima parents strongly opposed the plan. As I said it was not one to which I agreed. However, Mr. Pearson, the PCSB executive director, and his board supported the move, and therefore it was executed as designed. Years later I was told by a prominent member of our local charter school movement that of the approximately 230 children who attended Septima Clark, less than 20 made the transition to Achievement Prep. I have not substantiated this claim.

My past columns on this subject are not available but today I link to a Washington Examiner article describing the course of events around the charter.

The goal here is not to disparage the Washington Post staff member. My point is that if as an education reporter a story is going to be written that expresses a particular public policy viewpoint then it is imperative to conduct research to ensure that the facts around the issue being discussed are accurate.

I would say that the irony of this tale is not that Friendship may takeover Achievement Prep’s middle school. Instead, it is the fact that despite constant and consistent claims that charters are public schools run by private entities, in the instance of the Septima Clark, as it throughout this sector, it was a governmental body of volunteers appointed by the D.C. Mayor that made the final decision about the school’s future.