Via Shutterstock.

More than 12,000 students are enrolled in the city’s 22 high-performing charter schools, according to quality ratings released by the D.C. Public Charter School Board.

That’s a nine percent increase from 2013, with the 2014 Performance Management Framework showing 16 elementary and middle schools and six high schools in the top tier, with a score between 65 percent and 100 percent.

Nine of those schools are in Wards 7 and 8, while eight are in Wards 5 and 6. Eight of the ten schools with the highest scores serve low-income students, as measured by reduced lunch, while seven have student bodies that are more than 90 percent African American.

“We’ve made enormous progress in public education in the District of Columbia,” Mayor Vincent Gray said at a ceremony announcing the results. “[Competition] is what we have in the District of Columbia, and frankly, I think it’s a good thing for our children and our families because it gives them choices.”

The number of Tier 1 schools dropped from 23 to 22 this year, while Tier 2 schools remained at 37 and Tier 3 schools declined to five.

“The PMF measures how well charter schools prepare students for college, improve their math and reading skills, and other metrics of school performance,” according to a release. “Since every charter school offers a unique program, the PMF takes schools ranging from a boarding program to Chinese language immersion to Montessori, and others, measures them on common metrics and gives the school an overall score.”

While D.C. Public School enrollment is increasing, 44 percent of D.C. students attended a charter school in 2014.