Photo by Mr. T in DC

Enrollment in D.C. charter schools has long outpaced enrollment in traditional public schools, so much so that last year the city announced that charters saw 11 percent growth in students while their public school counterparts barely approached one percent. In yesterday’s State of the District Address, Mayor Vince Gray faced that reality, saying that the city is only years away from being evenly split between the two school systems.

“We must take special note that the District of Columbia is the first-ever city to have a public-education system approaching a 50-50 balance in enrollment between traditional public schools and public charters,” he said during the speech.

Over the last decade, enrollment in D.C. public schools has dropped dramatically, from over 65,000 students in 2002 to just over 45,000 in 2012. At the same time, charter school numbers have grown steadily, from just over 10,000 students in 2002 to 35,000 in 2012.

Currently, only New Orleans educates more kids in charter schools than public schools, with 70 percent of students opting for the former. (Hurricane Katrina destroyed hundreds of public school buildings.) A number of cities educate more than 30 percent of its students in charter schools, including D.C., Detroit and St. Louis. If local enrollment patterns continue, D.C. could hit parity in the coming years.

“Certainly there are strengths to such an approach. But there are also challenges – challenges with which no city has yet grappled. But grapple we must. We need an approach to public education in the District that clarifies the roles, responsibilities and expectations of both our traditional and public charter schools,” said Gray, touching upon longstanding complaints that no coordination exists between public and charter schools.

According to some public education advocates, part of D.C.’s problem is that charter schools have grown dramatically, and in many cases without coordinating with the public school system. Additionally, they say, there are competing lines of authority and accountability in the city’s education system. While a Deputy Mayor for Education and State Superintendent for Education both exist, neither D.C. Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson nor the D.C. Public Charter School Board are fully accountable to them. Additionally, the D.C. Council only reinstated its stand-alone Education Committee last month after a six-year hiatus.

Henderson said last year that she hoped to worked more closely with charter schools, and has said that she will be seeking the authority to charter schools herself. She also premised a plan to close 15 public schools on the idea that fewer schools with more students could better allocate resources to teaching and programming, keeping DCPS competitive with its charter school competitors. According to DCPS, enrollment is expected to kick up in 2015, and could hit 60,000 students by 2022.

In yesterday’s speech, Gray said that he had called on his education cabinet to develop a citywide vision for public education.