KIPP Schools In DC face hurdles

Despite a long track record of success nationally, and impressive results locally, KIPP schools in Washington, DC are still struggling with the DC education bureaucracy. Last year, the Ed Wonks discussed the schools' efforts to find classroom space, this year, they are facing hurdles that would expand their offerings, to include elementary schools and high schools.

It is a crucial moment for one of the most closely watched educational models, the Knowledge Is Power Program, a way of teaching fifth- through eighth-graders that has produced some of the best math and reading scores in low-income neighborhoods across the country. Despite its impressive record, administrators and policymakers are responding slowly to KIPP's desire for more space and support.

That education bureaucracies are opposed to charter schools is not particularly news. But when results such as those in the KIPP schools lead a school administration to drag it's feet in allowing a successful program to expand smacks of incompetence.