DEBORAH SIMMONS: Military families to get greater school choice

ANALYSIS/OPINION:

Leckie Elementary School in Southwest is the home school for scores of military families, and it’s been that way for decades. Now, thanks to efforts pushed by the charter school movement and legislation signed into law Wednesday by Mayor Muriel Bowser, military families will have more options, and soon the doors to a new charter school for them could open.

The charter school is necessary for several reasons. Chief among is the fact that military families, like their nonmilitary counterparts, choose to live in school districts that have quality academic programs, magnet programs and extracurricular activities that are not necessarily tied to athletics. Traditional schools near military facilities, however, don’t always fit the bill. And it’s not just a problem in D.C. It’s a conundrum across the nation for military families, who on average move every two to three years.

“We want to do all we can to help military families and their children find a place in a public charter school,” Scott Pearson, executive director of the D.C. Public Charter School Board, said Wednesday. “We plan to move right away to find new charter schools that can offer this preference.”

It’s reassuring to know Mr. Pearson is on the record saying “right away,” because as military parents and D.C. pro-choice supporters know all too well, the education lottery the city is beholden to makes families feel as though they are waiting for Superman and Batman.

And for military families on the move, there simply are no guarantees with the lottery.

“This public charter school will provide additional educational opportunities not only to our military families here on Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, but also our Ward 8 families,” said JBAB Commander Frank Mays, a Navy captain. “Plans for creating a public charter school with a military preference on or near JBAB have been in the works for nearly 20 years, and we are excited to see them finally come to fruition. This is truly a win-win for JBAB and the local community.”

JBAB is a 905-acre facility that abuts the Anacostia and Potomac rivers.

The opportunity has been a long time comin’, as older generations used to say. May the doors open very soon and swing wide for military families, who serve as America’s shield.