Washington, D.C.

School Choice Policies

Charter School Choice

Does the state have charter schools?

Are for-profit charter schools or management companies allowed?

Unclear-

A public charter must be organized as a non-profit. It is unclear whether school management organizations must be non-profit:

"The term 'school management organization' means an entity that a public charter school identifies in its charter petition or petition for charter revision with which the public charter school contracts to provide management or oversight services regarding the school's expenditures, administration, personnel, or instructional methods."

38-821.01
38–1802.04.(c)(16)

Is there a cap on the number of charter schools?

Yes-

No more than 10 charter petitions can be approved by any chartering authority in any given year. If one authorizer has not reached 10 approvals by the end of the year, other authorizers may approve, as long as the total number of approvals does not exceed 20.

38–1802.03.(i)(2)(A-B): Process for approving or denying public charter school petitions.

Are charters required to provide transportation for any students?

Yes-

A student attending a public charter school shall be eligible for reduced fares on the Metrobus and Metrorail Transit System on the same terms and conditions as students attending TPS.

38–1802.08. Reduced fares for public transportation.

Can charter schools employ uncertified teachers?

Did not find-

We did not find information about charter school teacher certification requirements in Washington, D.C. statutes. However, Education Commission of the States states that Washington D.C. does not have teacher certification requirements.

Education Commission of the States 50-State Comparison

Page last updated: July 2024

Click here to download the State Policy Spreadsheet. Click here to download the State Policy Map Data Memo.

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The State Policy Map provides a snapshot of school choice policy found in laws passed by the legislative bodies, for all 50 states and Washington, D.C., based on information gathered from state statutes in fall 2019; data checks continued through December 2020. Information on this site may not include the most up-to-date policy information. The State Policy Map does not systematically reflect state Department of Education administrative policies, rules, or regulations. All content on this site is provided for informational purposes only. Links to third-party websites are for the user’s convenience; neither REACH nor any affiliated entities endorse the contents of third-party sites.

Note: On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Montana's exclusion of religious schools from the state's tax credit scholarship program was unconstitutional (Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue 591). The responses to the question "Can students use vouchers to attend religious schools?" were collected before this ruling and therefore do not reflect any changes resulting from the Espinoza decision.