A report released last month by the DC Public Charter School Board looked at how far students must travel to attend charter schools in the nation’s capital. It breaks down data by students’ age, race, and at-risk-status, examining how travel distances differ for those who live within the city’s various wards.
We learn that, on average, D.C. charter students commute a remarkable 2.1 miles to school as the crow flies. Depending on the method of transportation, this could mean a forty-two-minute walk, an eight-minute Metrorail ride (not counting the commute between home, metro station, and school), or a ten-minute drive (in no traffic—a fanciful scenario in our nation’s capital). Yet the report also found much variance between student subgroups.
Those travelling to special education schools had the farthest to travel: an average of 3.1 miles, almost a mile more than those in standard pre-K or elementary schools (both averaged two miles), middle schools (2.2 miles), high schools (2.4 miles), and adult and alternative schools (2.1 miles). When disaggregated by race and ethnicity, Hispanic students have the shortest commute to school (1.7 miles). All others faced an average travel distance of 2.2 miles. At-risk students (i.e., those who are homeless, in the foster care system, or qualify for welfare or food stamps) travel 0.2 miles less than students not at risk. And thirty-four out of 114 campuses enrolled at least one student from all eight wards.
As noted above, however, a major shortcoming of this report is that authors measured distance as the crow flies—that is, the shortest straight line between home and school. This does not take into account actual transportation time or distance that a child would have to travel in order to attend school, which could radically vary depending on which part of the city the student lived in and the methods of transportation used.
Overall, this report paints a clearer picture of the charter school students of Washington, D.C. and where they choose to attend school.
SOURCE: DC Public Charter School Board, “Choosing Quality” (June 2016).
