The District of Columbia is a city of contradictions and anomalies. It is home both to the most powerful democracy in the world and to citizens without full representation in the U.S. Congress. It has some of the nation's greatest cultural treasures and worst public schools. Twenty-one percent of its residents have graduate or advanced degrees, yet 30 percent lack even a high school diploma. It has a higher per-capita personal income than any state and a higher poverty rate than all but five states.

The District government provides virtually all of the services that states and cities provide individually. Unlike other major U.S. cities, however, it does not benefit from revenue transfers from its affluent suburbs. It is far smaller geographically than any state and, with only about 570,000 residents, has a smaller population than any state except Wyoming.

The District is also home to one of the nation's most robust public charter school sectors. A higher percentage of its students are enrolled in charter schools than those of any state. More than a one-fifth of students enrolled in District public schools attend one of the city's 51 public charter schools. More than 98 percent of the 15,500 charter school students enrolled in charter schools in 2004-2005 were African American or Hispanic and 74 percent came from low-income families. Test scores show these students outperform their peers in the city's traditional schools: 54.4 percent of District charter school students are proficient in math versus 44.19 percent of students in traditional schools. In reading, 45.37 percent of charter school students are proficient, compared to 39.14 percent for other public schools.

Nevertheless, the District's charter school system, like the city itself, abounds with con-tradictions. The District is home to some of the best and worst charter schools in the country. How did the city associated with government bloat and bureaucracy come to host one of the nation's most promising educational innovations? The District of Columbia's flourishing charter school movement was born of the very contradictions that make the city unique.

The Washington, D.C., charter movement was conceived out of conflict between congressional and local leaders and between the two national political parties about how to reform the District's troubled public education system. The system's appalling condition created an outcry for reform and high-quality educational options. Idealists drawn to Washington in the hope of "changing the world" helped get the charter movement off the ground. Longtime community leaders familiar with the city's byzantine politics played a vital role, too. Charters have given the city a way to harness its immense cultural and human resources to improve the lives of disadvantaged children.

The District's charters face many of the same challenges that confront similar independent public schools across America. Many have been badly managed with the results reflected in poor student performance. Monitoring the rapidly growing charter sector has been a challenge as well. While the District's Public Charter School Board (PCSB) has a strong record as an authorizer, the quality of the District of Columbia Board of Education's oversight has been mixed. Obtaining facilities remains a challenge, and District charter schools continue to face political opposition from some quarters.

In sum, the District of Columbia's charter school movement is strong, despite growing pains. As the District closes its first decade of charter schooling, national policymakers in Congress and District leaders in the City Council, mayor's office, Board of Education, and PCSB should continue to strengthen the movement.

Sara Mead, the author of PPI's Capital Campaign, is now a Senior Policy Analyst with Education Sector. You can download the full report from the Progressive Policy Institute.