Recommendations from government-sponsored authorizers can help predict whether charter schools flourish or flounder, a study has found.
In the findings released Wednesday, the conservative Thomas B. Fordham Institute analyzed 179 charter school applications filed in North Carolina between 2013 and 2017. (In 2011, the state lifted a cap on the model of independently managed public schooling, which operates under laws that vary from state to state.)
The study found that members of the North Carolina Charter School Advisory Board, appointed by the state Board of Education and General Assembly, recommended 32 of the applications. The Board of Education went further, approving 58.
Fordham reported that 21 charter schools opened on time between 2015 and 2018, 11 opened late and 10 never opened.
Detailed data analyses in the study found that schools endorsed by more reviewers for their educational and financial plans proved likelier to open their doors on time and made better annual progress in four years of standardized math scores. On the other hand, the endorsements had no effect on enrollment numbers or reading scores.
The Ohio-based education think tank said it focused on North Carolina because its statewide application process has produced “one of the largest charter school portfolios in the land” since 2011, as officials opened more than 100 charters and closed more than 25 others that struggled.
Authorizers evaluate applications for recommendation to education officials in the 46 states that allow charter schools. They include a diverse web of state boards of education, local education boards, independent state-appointed boards, public university boards and education nonprofits.
“We (Fordham) are actually an authorizer in Ohio, for example,” Michael J. Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, told The Washington Times. The study comes as charter schools nationwide have struggled to meet surging demand amid pandemic-era staff shortages, inadequate facilities, the end of COVID-19 relief funds, tepid support from the Biden administration and cooling fervor from conservatives eager to cut federal education funds.
In the nation’s capital, the nonpartisan D.C. Policy Center reported that Washington’s public charter schools will experience a 15% funding gap after pandemic stimulus money dries up on Sept. 30, the end of fiscal year 2024.
“With [pandemic] funds going away, many schools and districts across the country will be facing a similar situation as the schools in D.C.,” Betty Chang of Education Resource Strategies, a school systems consulting firm, said in the report.
President Biden has asked Congress to cut federal funding for charter schools in his proposed budget for fiscal 2025, which begins Oct. 1.
Unveiled on March 11, the White House plan calls for a 9% or $40 million reduction to the Charter Schools Program — the only source of federal grants to help start new charters, fund facilities and expand successful charter models.
At the same time, the plan asks Congress to increase the federal education budget by $3.1 billion to $82.4 billion, a 4% surge from fiscal 2024.
In a statement emailed to The Times, a Department of Education spokesperson pointed to a drop in qualified grant applicants.
“Over the past five fiscal years, demand has softened in applications for CSP funds, and some grantees have voluntarily reduced or terminated their grants early after not being able to open as many new charter schools as anticipated,” the spokesperson said. “The Administration anticipates $400 million is sufficient to meet demand for new and continuation awards.”
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools has pushed back on that narrative. The Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group notes that funding for charter schools is less than 1% of the U.S. education budget.
“The president’s proposed budget cut for the Charter Schools Program is problematic for many reasons, notably because it is proposing to cut funding for the only kinds of public schools that are growing in enrollment,” Debbie Veney, a spokesperson for the alliance, told The Times. “This [Fordham] report is yet another proof point that charter schools with the proper support can serve students quite well.”
According to the alliance, enrollment at charters surged by 9% or more than 300,000 students from the 2019-20 to 2022-23 academic years as more parents sought alternatives to struggling public schools during pandemic lockdowns. Over the same period, public school districts lost 1.5 million or 3.5% of their students.
The alliance estimates there are roughly 7,800 charter schools with 3.7 million students nationwide, about 7.5% of all K-12 public school students. While authorizer evaluations do not determine public funding for charters, Fordham’s Mr. Petrilli said he hoped Congress would pay attention to them as a reason to ignore Mr. Biden’s proposed cuts.
“It’s a big mistake for the federal government to reduce charter school start-up grants, as those are essential to promoting high-quality charter growth,” he said. “That means providing fair funding and empowering authorizers to do their jobs and do them well.”
Co-authored by education scholars from the University of Southern California and the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, the Fordham study urges authorizers to pay “close attention” to charter school applicants’ education and financial plans, emphasize hard data in their recommendations, and hold approved schools accountable for their performance.
Karega Rausch, president and CEO of the National Association of Charter School Authorizers, said the report adds to a “growing body of evidence” that supports changing the application process.
“That’s why NACSA has been working for the last two years to recommend ways to evolve the application process, including shortening the length of the application, better assessing the capacities of founding teams, and creating innovation portfolios,” Mr. Rausch said.
But Nina Rees, a longtime charter school advocate and former Education Department official in the George W. Bush administration, warned against standardizing the process so much that it discourages applicants with fewer resources.
She said a nationwide shortage of teachers and staff has limited the ability of charters to meet the growing demand for alternative schooling.
“If authorizers are using methods to screen applicants to secure those that are likely to produce academic achievement, they may inadvertently skip qualified applicants who don’t fit the bill,” Ms. Rees said. “It’s important for authorizers to continuously ensure they are attracting diverse candidates who are pushing the envelope on innovation, without compromising on quality.”