In October, Congress enacted a D.C. appropriations bill that includes a "right of first offer" to charter-school operators to buy or lease surplus public school facilities at a 25 percent discount. According to the Washington Times, the advocacy group Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS) lobbied for the mandate that became "part of a proviso orchestrated by Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA)," a member of the Senate Appropriations subcommittee, behind the backs of the D.C. City Council and Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. At a City Council meeting earlier this month, members expressed "outrage" that FOCUS did not tell city officials about the proposal. FOCUS policy and program associate Alicia Daugherty defends the non-profit's decision, however, arguing that the group had gone to Congress out of frustration after trying for years to work with city officials, who have been notoriously reluctant to sell or lease vacant school buildings to their competitors, even if it would be good for the District's ill-educated children. While the new law is an important milestone for charter supporters in the District, one cannot be sure it will have the desired effect; Council members are already laying the groundwork for obstruction, arguing, says the Washington Post, that "the law is difficult to implement because its wording is vague."
"Putting children first," Washington Times, November 8, 2004
"Charter School Measure Slips Into District Law," by Valerie Strauss, Washington Post, November 4, 2004