Charter Schools Tell Stories of Success

Guest post by Amanda Stafford, Center for Education Reform

​Charter schools across the nation have helped students increase academic performance. According to research performed by Caroline Hoxby, any charter student in the United States would be scoring 30 points higher in math by the end of 8th grade than if he remained in a traditional public school. This statistic reflects the fact that charter schools are yielding positive outcome in different cities, states, and regions across the country.
            Colorado charter schools tell a story of success. In the state, 85 percent of charter elementary schools made Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), compared to 73 percent of conventional elementary schools. Additionally, 81 percent of charter middle schools also made AYP, compared to only 49 percent of conventional middle schools. The large achievement increases have caused the waitlists for Colorado Charter Schools to grow tremendously, and demand is currently far exceeding supply, with over 108,000 students enrolling in Fall 2016.
            California is another state where the Charter School movement has been successful. Scores from the California's school Academic Performance Index (API), which is calculated from student test scores on a scale of 1 to 1,000, show charter schools outperforming traditional public schools in the state. Analyzing the growth of school's API scores from 2004 - 2007, it shows that 17 percent of charter schools have had significant growth, over 50 points, compared to only 6 percent of traditional public schools.
            California and Colorado are just two examples of how charter schools are increasing achievement and benefiting students all over the country. New York, Florida, Arizona, Indiana, and 41 others are utilizing charter schools and seeing results. As of 2015, 45 states and the District of Columbia have enacted charter school laws and several other states are pressuring governmental officials to pass these laws that will expand educational opportunities for their children.