This past fall, over 500 new public charter schools opened their doors and an additional 270,000 students enrolled in public charter schools compared with enrollment numbers from the 2011-2012 school year. With the addition of new charter schools and students, there are approximately 6,000 public charter schools enrolling over 2.3 million students across the country in the 2012-2013 school year. The 7 percent growth in the number of operating public charter schools and 13 percent growth in public charter school student enrollment are demonstrations of parents’ demand for high quality educational options.
All of these figures are available in the new Details from the Dashboard report released today. The data for the current school year are estimates until official fall enrollment counts are available through state departments of education. Data can also be found on the Public Charter Schools Dashboard. Check out the infographic below that shows the growth in public charter schools and students enrolled over time. The number of students attending public charter schools has increased by 1 million students over the past five years, or 80 percent growth. In that same amount of time, over 1,500 additional public charter schools became available to students, representing 40 percent growth in public charter school options. Ten year growth was 240 percent for students and 135 percent for schools. Highlights from the graphic:
Up until five years ago, the average number of additional students who enrolled in public charter schools annually was less than 150,000 students. For the past two years, the additional number of students enrolling in public charter schools has been over 220,000.
For each of the past three years, over 500 new public charter schools have opened their doors to students (531 in 2012-2013, 547 in 2011-2012, and 518 in 2010-2011). The number of new schools has been 400 or more for the past six years.
For each of the past six years, between 100 and 200 public charter schools have closed annually. The charter schools closed for a variety of reasons, including low enrollment, financial concerns, and low academic performance. The closures provide evidence that the charter school bargain works; schools that do not meet the needs of their students should be closed.
Click below for a larger version.
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