Education Policy Commons^™

Charter School Funding: Did Initial Pandemic Relief Advance Equity In The City?, Alison H. Johnson, Josh B. Mcgee, Patrick Wolf, Jay F. May, Larry D. Maloney

School Choice Demonstration Project

In early 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic closed schools for the rest of the 2019-20 school year (fiscal year 2020 or FY20). The United States Congress deployed funds to help K-12 schools adjust and plan for reopening via the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, including the initial $13.2 billion installment through the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER I) and initial $2.95 billion installment through the Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER I) Fund. Private sector and non-profit organizations, including charter schools, were also eligible for loans through the Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), …

Still A Good Investment: Charter School Productivity In Nine Cities, Alison H. Johnson, Josh B. Mcgee, Patrick J. Wolf, Jay F. May, Larry D. Maloney

School Choice Demonstration Project

Charter schools are public schools that operate free from some government regulations in return for a commitment to achieve a set of student outcomes specified in their charter. Nearly 8,000 public charter schools enrolled 3.7 million students in the U.S. in 2020-21. Our team has studied charter school funding across the United States since 2005, consistently finding that, in major cities, charter schools receive less funding per pupil compared to traditional public schools (TPS). We have also found that charter schools use their funding more efficiently, achieving better short- and long-term outcomes per dollar invested, relative to TPS.

Charter School Funding: Little Progress Towards Equity In The City, Alison Heape Johnson, Josh B. Mcgee, Patrick J. Wolf, Jay F. May, Larry D. Maloney

School Choice Demonstration Project

Charter schooling has grown in popularity since the first charter school opened in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1992. Nearly 3.5 million students in the United States attended a public charter school in 2019-20. Our team has studied charter school funding equity since 2002-03 and most recently found that, in 2017-18, charter schools received, on average, 33 percent less funding than traditional public schools (TPS) in 18 cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Camden, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Indianapolis, Houston, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Memphis, New Orleans, New York City, Oakland, Phoenix, San Antonio, Tulsa, and Washington, DC. Each of these cities either has …

Charter School Funding Disparities: Los Angeles, California, Alison Heape Johnson, Josh B. Mcgee, Patrick J. Wolf, Larry D. Maloney, Jay F. May

School Choice Demonstration Project

In this report, we investigate the status of the TPS-charter school funding gap a year after the full implementation of the LCFF. We use official financial documents from the California Department of Education and LAUSD to account for every dollar TPS and charter schools received in the 2019-20 school year, including in-kind services.

Charter School Funding Inequities: Rochester, New York, Josh B. Mcgee, Patrick J. Wolf, Larry D. Maloney

School Choice Demonstration Project

Public charter schools are increasingly becoming part of both the broader national conversation about education policy as well as the local urban scene in the United States. The latter is certainly true in Rochester, New York, where charter schools serve more than 18 percent of the students who attend school in the city. Given the important role that charter schools play in educating Rochester’s students, we sought to learn if students who attend the city’s charter schools are funded equitably when compared to students in Rochester City School District (RCSD) schools.

Whose Turn Now? The Enactment & Expansion Of Private School Choice Programs Across The Us, Yujie Sude, Patrick Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Private school choice policies have been enacted and expanded across the United States since the 1990s. By January 2021, 30 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico hosted 67 distinct private school choice policies. Why have some states adopted and expanded this education reform while others have demurred? Which states are more likely to adopt specific types of private school choice initiatives in the coming years? We present the results of an exploratory empirical analysis examining which state-level political, economic, and educational factors predict past policy decisions regarding the enactment and expansion of private school choice in 49 …

One Or The Other: Parent Religiosity Or Private School Choice May Reduce Crime And Paternity Disputes In Milwaukee, Marilyn Anderson Rhames, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Religious faith is one of the strongest motivators known to man. For millennia, human beings have turned to a higher power to help them cope with the challenges of life and define their values and behaviors. Millions of people have died for their faith. Yet, when it comes to public education reform and research, the influence of religion is grossly underexplored. This study takes some initial steps to change that. We analyze parent survey responses from the 2008 Milwaukee Parent Choice Program (MPCP) Longitudinal Education Growth Study Baseline Report. Our analysis compares MPCP students who were matched to students from …

Charter School Funding: Dispelling Myths About Emos, Expenditure Patterns, & Nonpublic Dollars, Angela K. Dills, Patrick J. Wolf, Corey A. Deangelis, Jay F. May, Larry D. Maloney, Cassidy Syftestad

School Choice Demonstration Project

Three decades after the first charter school law passed in the United States, myths about these public schools not only persist but continue to fuel strong claims and divisive debates. Commentators point to education management organizations (EMOs), for-profit organizations which manage or operate a network of charter schools, as examples of private entities supposedly profiting off public education.

In this report, we dispel three common myths about charter schools and their funding, spending, and management (see box). We draw upon comprehensive school funding data collected from traditional public schools (TPS) and public charter schools in 18 cities during fiscal year …

Charter School Funding: Support For Students With Disabilities, Cassidy Syftestad, Patrick J. Wolf, Wendy Tucker, Lauren Morando Rhim

School Choice Demonstration Project

The subject of public charter schools and students with disabilities is both important and sensitive. These students have the potential to benefit greatly from the smaller size and specialized focus of many public charter schools, but questions persist regarding whether all or even most charters are as receptive to enrolling students with disabilities as they are to serving students who do not have disabilities. Furthermore, do differences in enrollment of students with disabilities explain differences in funding between the two sectors? To shine a brighter light on this vital question, we have conducted a careful study of the funding surrounding …

Education Freedom And Student Achievement: Is More School Choice Associated With Higher State-Level Performance On The Naep?, Patrick J. Wolf, Jay P. Greene, Matthew Ladner, James D. Paul

School Choice Demonstration Project

School choice is on the rise in many states. Since the start of the new millennium, many states have launched or expanded private school choice options, permitted and expanded independently operated public charter schools, eased restrictions on homeschooling, and enacted policies that allow and encourage various forms of public school choice. One thing that is not on the rise, unfortunately, is average student scores on the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP). Student performance on the assessments, typically called “The Nation’s Report Card,” were flat from 2001 until 2015 and have dropped slightly in both 2017 and 2019.

Making It Count: The Productivity Of Public Charter Schools In Seven U.S. Cities, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf, Cassidy Syftestad, Larry D. Maloney, Jay F. May

School Choice Demonstration Project

Historically, public education spending in the United States has risen at a steady rate. In 2017-2018 alone, policymakers spent over $780 billion on the public education system. The intent behind education spending is to create more and better opportunities for students to excel academically, thereby improving their life trajectories. However, looming future challenges such as underfunded teacher pension liabilities suggest that policymakers should “economize” their spending wherever possible. The number of public charter schools, concomitantly, has experienced near exponential growth. From 1991 to 2019, charter school legislation passed in 45 states and the District of Columbia. Student enrollments in public …

Moving On Up? A Virtual School, Student Mobility, And Achievement, James D. Paul, Patrick Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Virtual charter schools provide full-time, tuition-free K-12 education through internet-based instruction. Although virtual schools offer a personalized learning experience, most research suggests these schools are negatively associated with achievement. Few studies account for differential rates of student mobility, which may produce biased estimates if mobility is jointly associated with virtual school enrollment and subsequent test scores. We evaluate the effects of a single, large, anonymous virtual charter school on student achievement using a hybrid of exact and nearest-neighbor propensity score matching. Relative to their matched peers, we estimate that virtual students produce marginally worse ELA scores and significantly worse math …

Charter School Funding: Inequity Surges In The Cities, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick Wolf, Larry Maloney, Jay F. May

School Choice Demonstration Project

Public charter schools increasingly are part of both the national conversation about education policy and the local urban scene in America. Previous studies of public charter schools have examined their achievement effects focused on both the state and metropolitan levels, and funding disparities focused on the state levels. This report is the latest update to a series of studies of funding inequities concentrating on revenue disparities between charters and traditional public schools where charters are most common: metropolitan areas across the country. The 18 urban areas that primarily inform our study include Atlanta, Boston, Camden, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, …

Do Voucher Students Attain Higher Levels Of Education? Extended Evidence From The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, Patrick J. Wolf, John F. Witte, Brian Kisida

School Choice Demonstration Project

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP), the first modern private school choice program in the United States, has grown from 341 students attending 7 private schools in 1990 to 27,857 students attending 126 private schools in 2019. The MPCP has been subject to extensive study focused largely on student performance on standardized tests. This study presents new data on the college enrollment, persistence, and graduation of MPCP and MPS students who were tracked over 12 years beginning in 2006. MPCP participants are compared with a matched sample of MPS students who lived in the same neighborhood and had similar demographic …

How Has The Louisiana Scholarship Program Affected Students? A Comprehensive Summary Of Effects After Four Years, Patrick J. Wolf, Jonathan N. Mills, Yujie Sude, Heidi H. Erickson, Matthew L. Lee

School Choice Demonstration Project

School choice has long been a subject of robust debate. Private school vouchers—programs providing public funds for students to attend K-12 private schools—tend to be the most contentious form of school choice. Over the past three years, our research team has released a series of reports examining how the LSP has affected key student and community conditions.

A Good Investment: The Updated Productivity Of Public Charter Schools In Eight U.S. Cities, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf, Larry D. Maloney, Jay F. May

School Choice Demonstration Project

In 2015-16, the United States spent over $660 billion on its public education system in hopes of providing children with greater opportunities to excel academically and to improve their life trajectories. While public education dollars have risen at a relatively fast pace historically, future challenges, including underfunded pension liabilities, suggest policymakers should economize wherever possible. Meanwhile, the number of public charter schools has increased exponentially. From 1991 to 2018, charter school legislation passed in 44 states and the nation’s capital, and student enrollment in charters increased to around 3.2 million.

Charter School Funding: (More) Inequity In The City, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf, Larry D. Maloney, Jay F. May

School Choice Demonstration Project

Public charter schools are a growing part of K-12 education. Charter schools are public schools that are granted operational autonomy by their authorizing agency in return for a commitment to achieve performance levels specified in a contract. Like traditional public schools, charter schools are prohibited from charging tuition, must not discriminate in admissions or be religious in their operation or affiliation, and are overseen by a public entity. Unlike traditional public schools, however, most charters are open to all students who wish to apply, regardless of where they live. If a charter school is over-subscribed, random lotteries usually determine which …

Bigger Bang, Fewer Bucks? The Productivity Of Public Charter Schools In Eight U.S. Cities, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf, Larry D. Maloney, Jay F. May

School Choice Demonstration Project

School choice skeptics frequently claim that public charter schools perform no better than traditional public schools (TPS) on standardized test scores. Although a few individual studies of public charter schools have supported that claim, the most comprehensive research reports conclude that, though results vary across states and charter school networks, on average public charter schools have a positive effect on student achievement. Charter school performance appears to be especially strong in cities. Moreover, none of the studies of the relative effectiveness of public charter schools have explicitly considered the funding differences that exist across the two public school sectors. All …

Charter School Funding: Inequity In New York City, Larry D. Maloney, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Charter schools have been a part of the educational landscape in New York City since the first New York charter school opened in Harlem in 1999. We define a charter school as any school that (1) operates based on a formal charter in place of direct school district management and (2) reports its finances independently from the school district. We define all other public schools as district schools. According to the New York State Department of Education (NYSDoE), New York City was home to 1,575 district and 183 charter schools in Fiscal Year 2014 (FY2014). Seven percent of all public …

The Academic Effects Of Private School Choice: Summary Of Final Year Results From Experimental Studies, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Study overview

How Has The Louisiana Scholarship Program Affected Students? A Comprehensive Summary Of Effects After Three Years, Jonathan N. Mills, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

School choice reforms comprise a broad category of policies aimed at improving public education through the introduction of market forces that expand customer choice and competition between schools. Here we summarize our research to date on the effects of a large statewide school voucher initiative, the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP), and draw the following conclusions: • Overall, participating in the LSP had no statistically significant impact on student English Language Arts (ELA) or math scores after using an LSP scholarship for three years. • The subgroup of students who were lower achieving before applying to the program did show significant …

The Effects Of The Louisiana Scholarship Program On Student Achievement After Three Years, Jonathan N. Mills, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

The Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) offers publicly-funded vouchers to students in low-performing schools with family income no greater than 250 percent of the poverty line, allowing them to enroll in participating private schools. Established in 2008 as a pilot program in New Orleans, the LSP was expanded statewide in 2012. This report examines the experimental effects of using an LSP scholarship to enroll in one’s first choice private school on student achievement in the three years following the program’s expansion. Large negative achievement effects in the first year of the program appear to have been followed by improvement in the …

Special Education Identification In The Louisiana Scholarship Program, Sivan Tuchman, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

The debate over school vouchers continues as more states offer government dollars to fund private schooling for students as a method of improving choice and quality in K-12 education. Previous research in the charter school sector has found that special education enrollment discrepancies between charters and traditional public schools is likely due to a mixture in parental choice making, differential identification practices, and the removal of special education labels. This study is the first experimental analysis of the impact of a enrollment in a private school choice program on special education identification and de-identification. Using data for almost 2,000 students …

Supplying Choice: An Analysis Of School Participation Decisions In Voucher Programs In Dc, Indiana, And Louisiana, Yujie Sude, Corey A. Deangelis, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Since school voucher funds are public, policymakers fiercely debate how those funds should be spent. A goal of many decision-makers is to ensure that every private school option is “highquality” through program accountability regulations. Private schools, however, have a say in the matter. They can decide whether or not to participate in a private school choice program and likely factor the type and level of program regulations into that decision. We examine the impacts of private school regulations on the supply-side of voucher programs in D.C., Indiana, and Louisiana. Private schools value their autonomy. Therefore, we expect that regulatory burden …

Charter School Funding: Inequity In The City, Patrick J. Wolf, Larry D. Maloney, Jay F. May, Corey A. Deangelis

School Choice Demonstration Project

Public charter schools are a growing part of K-12 education. Charter schools are public schools that are granted operational autonomy by their authorizing agency in return for a commitment to achieve specific performance goals. Like traditional public schools, charter schools are free to students and overseen by the state. Unlike traditional public schools, however, most charters are open to all students who wish to apply, regardless of where they live. If a charter school is over-subscribed, usually random lotteries determine which students will be admitted. Most charter schools are independent of the traditional public school district in which they operate.

State Fiscal Impact Of The Succeed Scholarship Program 2016-2017, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis

School Choice Demonstration Project

This report will address the fiscal impact of the SSP for the 2016-17 school year, the first year the program is available for students. As of February 2017 there were 22 students from 13 districts using the program to attend one of the 17 accredited private schools currently participating in the program. For 20 of the students we know which public school district he/she attended in 2015-16. All students must be attending a public school, relocating from out of state, or be members of an active duty military family in order to participate in the program. To estimate the fiscal …

How & Why The Arkansas Parental Empowerment For Education Choice Act Of 2017 (Hb 1222) Saves The State Money, Patrick J. Wolf, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis

School Choice Demonstration Project

The Education Savings Account (ESA) Program created by HB 1222 would save the state money because officials at the Department of Finance & Administration have to follow state law.

How Hb 1222 Would Save Arkansas Money, Patrick J. Wolf, Julie R. Trivitt, Corey A. Deangelis

School Choice Demonstration Project

Private school choice programs have a positive fiscal impact on states because the amount of state money spent on a child in the program, or the amount of state revenue foregone in the case of tax-credit funding, is less than the state would pay if the student attended a public school.

Squeezing The Public School Districts: The Fiscal Effect Of Eliminating The Louisiana Scholarship Program On State Education Expenditures, Corey A. Deangelis, Julie R. Trivitt

School Choice Demonstration Project

Eliminating the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) was proposed as a way to improve the financial situation of the Louisiana Department of Education budget in the current fiscal environment. A study released by the School Choice Demonstration Project (SCDP) found that the net fiscal impact on the Louisiana Department of Education budget would likely be an overall cost increase. In this study, we consider the effects that the removal or reduction of the program would have on individual districts. Districts would receive additional revenue from the state for affected students, but districts would also incur additional costs to educate these students. …

How Has The Louisiana Scholarship Program Affected Students? A Comprehensive Summary Of Effects After Two Years, Jonathan N. Mills, Anna J. Egalite, Patrick J. Wolf

School Choice Demonstration Project

Louisiana, a state whose educational performance has lagged behind national averages for decades, began its experiment with publicly financed scholarships for students to attend private schools in 2008. The pilot version of the Louisiana Scholarship Program (LSP) was expanded statewide with the passage of Act 2 of the 2012 Louisiana state legislative session. Nearly 10,000 students applied to the expanded program in 2012-13, with roughly 5,000 applicants receiving scholarships. The program has continued its rapid expansion every year since then, with nearly 7,500 scholarships awarded in the 2014-15 school year.