We’re back after a holiday break. Covering stories from 12/22/23 – 1/5/24.
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Continued response
NAPCS’s December report on charter school enrollment trends continues to garner high level responses. Case in point: The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal recently discussed the findings—more schools, more students, higher test scores—and concluded that it’s time to stop denying the facts: “But as choice options expand, and students in most charters outperform those in nearby public schools,” they write, “parents like having the ability to escape schools where failure reigns. Elected officials ignore the new political dynamics at their peril.”
Looking at the data in a new way
Fordham Institute president Mike Petrilli took to the electronic pages of The 74 last week to discuss the findings of their Education Competition Index report. While focusing on the cities and regions where there is heavy school choice pressure on traditional districts, the findings also clearly indicate the places where there is still more capacity for choice to expand. Numerous cities in Texas and North Carolina, as well as the two largest districts in Nevada, all have 75 to 90 percent of students attending traditional districts. Plenty of room for continued growth of charters and other high-quality alternatives.
The view from NYC
Data from the 2022-23 school year show that charter school students in New York City outscored their district peers on the state’s standardized reading and math exams for grades 3 through 8. The gap was particularly noteworthy among Black and Hispanic students, with those at charters scoring 27 and 25 percentage points higher (respectively) than their counterparts in district schools. “While further statistical analysis is warranted,” concluded the New York Charter School Center, “these are startlingly large gaps that demand further investigation.” The Editorial Board of the New York Post, however, was fully convinced by the data already, and called for an immediate lifting of the cap on charter expansion in the Big Apple.
Options
Schools of every stripe are struggling with attendance post-pandemic. This thoughtful piece from Fordham’s Checker Finn discusses what an extended period of high absenteeism means, suggesting that “school—at least the physical structure called a ‘school building’—has come to be viewed by many as optional, volitional, akin to a public library or recreation center, a place in which one might choose to spend time but is under no obligation to.” Sobering. He also poses some ideas to respond to whatever this new normal is—changes in the provision of education that charters might be uniquely capable of taking advantage of. An interesting read to start the new year.
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