A Survey of Charter Schools

Growth of charter schools is not keeping pace with demand, say Ted Rebarber and Alison Consoletti Zgainer of the Center for Education Reform.

– Charter school growth has remained steady over the last 17 years, with an average growth of 340 new schools per year.
– In 2012, the United States had 6,004 charter schools.
– Demand continues to rise above supply, however, with the average charter school waiting list rising from 233 in 2009 to 277 in 2012.
– But this number is only an average — New York City, for example, has 50,000 students on waiting lists.

If state policies were more supportive of charter schools, those wait list students would benefit.

Charters also serve large populations of disadvantaged students. In fact, 61 percent of charter schools have a student body of which the majority — more than 60 percent — qualifies for the federal Free or Reduced Lunch Program on the basis of low family income.

And despite functioning with limited funding (as charters tend to receive 36 percent less revenue per student than do traditional public schools), more and more charter schools offer students extended instructional time. In 2012, 48 percent of charters offered longer school days, up from 23 percent in 2009.

Charters could play a much more significant role in students’ education if states would implement reforms that encourage the establishment of more charter schools.

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