Running head: Effects of Charter School Enrollment on Public School Districts

Effects of Charter School Enrollment on Public School Districts

Christian Alberto Ledesma
University of Minnesota

In November of 2014, Minneapolis Public Schools announced that they would be making

$5.6 million in cuts from its budget and reevaluating its five-year plan (Matos, 2014). The cause

of the necessary cuts was an overestimation in student enrollment: the district had predicted an

increase in 900 students enrolling for the 2014-2015 academic year and there was only an actual

net gain of two students. As the interview in the Star Tribune exposed, district officials were

studying the cause of the low student retention and recruitment. Wehavetodrilldowntothe

districtlevelandaskourselveswhatiscausingstudentstonotgototheircommunityschool,

saidRobertDoty,MinneapolisPublicSchoolsChiefOperationsOfficer.

Thispaperwillexploretheeffectthatcharterschoolsmayhaveonlocalpublicschool

districtstudentenrollmentandthefinancialimpactthatmayfollow.ACatoInstitutestudytitled

TheImpactofCharterSchoolsonPublicandPrivateEnrollmentsin2012foundthatK12

enrollmentsgrewbyalmost1.1%peryearbetweentheyears2000and2008(Buddin,2012).

However,traditionalpublicschoolenrollmenthasnotkeptpacewithpopulationgrowthtrends;

instead,charterschoolenrollmenthasgrownbyabout17%peryear.WhiletheCatoInstitute

studyspecifiesthatcharterschoolshaveagreaterimpactonprivateschoolenrollment,drawing

largenumbersofstudentsinurbanareas,thefinancialimpactcanbefeltbypublicschool

districtsaswell.

The Philadelphia school district, by state law, pays for student funding and transportation
Effects of Charter School Enrollment on Public School Districts 2

at charter schools. While the Philadelphia district spent 7.9% of its general fund on charters in

2003, the district was paying 23.7% of its funds to charter schools (Chokshi, 2013). Pennsylvania

state law stipulates that charter schools should receive an amount paid by the district of resident

of each student based upon a statutory funding formula (PDE, 2016). The payment structure

relies on district funds to pay for students not educated by district schools.

In other districts, like the Los Angeles Unified District, union officials estimate that

charters schools cost the district close to $500 million a year (Stokes, 2016). A Southern

California Public Radio report analyzed the accuracy of those claims and found that, while the

claim may be exaggerated, there are certain set costs that are impacted by a student enrolling in a

charter school over a district school. The district receives $8,800 in state funding per student;

when a student moves to a charter school, that funding goes with them. However, a consulting

group estimates that the student leaves behind a fixed cost of $4,957. This cost, according to the

report, is due to costs that cant be cut: from administrative positions to building operating costs.

Whether a financial impact occurs from state law dictating district payment to charter

schools or fixed costs that students leave behind when they enroll in charter schools or in missed

projections for student enrollment, a possible factor multiplying the effect is the seemingly slow

response that urban districts have to charter school enrollment. As seen here in Minneapolis,

about 20,000 students attended charter schools while 34,000 attended district schools in 2013.

Minnesota was the first state to authorize charter schools in 1992 but it seems that Minneapolis

Public Schools did not adapt its practice to meet the changing demands of its families. Former

Minneapolis School Board member Tracine Asberry is quoted as saying, We want people back,

but we havent changed anything (Matos).

Effects of Charter School Enrollment on Public School Districts 3

References

Buddin, Richard (2012, August 28). The Impact of Charter Schools on Public and Private School

Enrollments. Policy Analysis, No. 707. Cato Institute. Retrieved from

https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pubs/pdf/PA707.pdf

Chokshi, Niraj (2013, October 15). Charter Schools are hurting urban public schools, Moodys

says. The Washington Post. Retrieved from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/10/15/charter-schools-are-

hurting-urban-public-schools-moodys-says/?utm_term=.167c13af6f6e

Matos, Alejandra (2014, November 11). Cuts imminent as Minneapolis schools fail to meet

enrollment goals. Star Tribune. Retrieved from

http://www.startribune.com/oct-18-cuts-imminent-as-mpls-schools-fail-to-meet-

enrollment-goals/279640292/

Charter School Funding (2016). Pennsylvania Department of Education. Retrieved from

http://www.education.pa.gov/K-12/Charter%20Schools/Pages/Charter-School-

Funding.aspx#tab-1

Stokes, Kyle (2016, May 23). How much do charter schools cost LA Unified? KPCC, Southern

California Public Radio. Retrieved from

http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/05/23/60893/how-much-do-charter-schools-cost-la-

unified-fact-c/