FOCUS (Friends of Choice in Urban Schools)

Description

FOCUS has been the principal advocate for DC’s public charter schools since before the first two schools opened in 1996. We helped get DC’s strong charter school law passed, then worked with the government to get it fully implemented.

Over the years we’ve organized the public charter schools and their supporters to advocate for access to former DCPS school buildings and equitable funding and to resist government and charter authorizer intrusions into the significant areas of autonomy granted to these schools by the charter school law.

Much progress has been made on these issues since 1996 but much remains to be done, and FOCUS’s advocacy staff continue to work aggressively to ensure that the road is kept clear for the advance of the charter school movement here in DC.