Tipping Points: Are Charter Schools Oversaturating Their Markets?
Studies have found charter school glut and hyper-competition in many neighborhoods.
Evidence suggests that beyond challenging traditional schools, charters are also a growing threat
to other charter schools.
Charter school supporters maintain that the schools provide an important choice for parents in poorer neighborhoods with lower-performing schools. But the context of the recent Los Angeles teachers strike was their union’s claims that charter schools represent an existential threat to the school district by siphoning students from traditional public schools and the per-pupil funding that comes with them. Independent charter schools, unlike affiliated charters, which are essentially district-run schools, are run by non-profit organizations and do not report to the school district, even though they use district money to operate.
But evidence suggests that beyond presenting a serious challenge to traditional schools, charters are also a growing threat to each other.
“My concern is about charter school bubbles forming.”
Preston Green III, Professor of Educational Leadership and Law at the University of Connecticut, told Capital & Main that charter school growth, especially in California, is at a crossroads.
“There are people in the charter lobby that believe unfettered growth is a good thing,” Green said. “And there are people in many urban communities that don’t believe their needs are being met in a traditional system and they want better schooling. My concern is about charter school bubbles forming.”
This perception is gaining ground among some local educators. A 2018 op-ed written by a Los Angeles charter school teacher claimed that unregulated growth of charters is not only CONTINUE READING: Tipping Points: Are Charter Schools Oversaturating Their Markets? | Capital & Main
