Who We Are

Our goal is to ensure that students and families in Washington, DC, have access to quality public charter school education. We do that by setting tough academic standards, using a comprehensive charter application review process and effective oversight, providing meaningful support, and actively involving parents, school leaders, the community, and policymakers.

DC PCSB is an independent government agency of the District of Columbia, created in 1996, led by a volunteer seven-member board. As the sole public charter school authorizer in our nation’s capital, we provide oversight to 123 public charter schools which are managed by 62 independently run nonprofit organizations called local education agencies. These schools educated 43,556 (unaudited) students in school year 2019-20, nearly half of DC’s public school students.

Our Mission

The mission of the DC Public Charter School Board (DC PCSB) is to provide quality public charter school options for DC students, families, and communities. We fulfill our mission by providing:

• A rigorous and comprehensive charter application process, guaranteeing that only the strongest applicants are approved to open new schools.

• Effective oversight and meaningful support of every public charter school. We closely monitor academic performance and non-academic outcomes, such as attendance, discipline rates, and finances.

• Clear and transparent reporting on public charter school performance.

• Our School Quality Report ranks every public charter school as Tier 1 (top-performing), Tier 2 (mid-performing), or Tier 3 (low-performing), helping families select the right school for their child.

• Active involvement of parents, school leaders, the community, and policymakers in our policies and processes.

Our Vision

Our vision is to lead the transformation of public education and serve as a national role model for public charter school authorizing and accountability.

Scroll down to meet members of our Board, Staff and DC Public Charter School Parents.