NATionAl CHARTeR sCHool lAw RAnkinGs & sCoReCARd 2018

National Charter

School Law

Rankings &

Scorecard

2018

The Essential Guide

for Policymakers

& Advocates

MARCH 2018

National Charter School Law

Rankings & Scorecard¡ª2018

The Essential Guide for Policymakers & Advocates

The Center for Education Reform

March 2018

Editor: Cara Candal, Senior Research Fellow

Contributors: Jeanne Allen, Founder & CEO; Tim Sullivan, Chief Communications Officer;

Max Eden, Manhattan Institute

Design: Brandlift

Center for Education Reform

Willard Office Building

1455 Pennsylvania Avenue NW

Suite 250

Washington, D.C. 20004



? 2018 The Center for Education Reform. All rights reserved.

2

The Center for Education Reform

Table of Contents

Summary

4

Introduction

6

Purpose

7

Methodology

9

The State Laws

12

Scorecard, Analysis & Case Studies

Alabama

Illinois

Missouri

South Carolina

Alaska

Indiana

Nevada

Tennessee

Arizona

Iowa

New Hampshire

Texas

Arkansas

Kansas

New Jersey

Utah

California

Kentucky

New Mexico

Virginia

Colorado

Louisiana

New York

Washington

Connecticut

Maine

North Carolina

Washington, DC

Delaware

Maryland

Ohio

Wisconsin

Florida

Massachusetts

Oklahoma

Wyoming

Georgia

Michigan

Oregon

Hawaii

Minnesota

Pennsylvania

Idaho

Mississippi

Rhode Island

Recommendations for

State Policymakers

80

Model Legislation

86

National Charter School Law Rankings & Scorecard ¡ª2018

3

Summary

Charter schools are public schools of choice. The simple and original principle of charter

schooling is that charter schools should receive enhanced operational autonomy in exchange for

being held strictly accountable for the outcomes they promise to achieve. When charter school

laws honor this principle, innovative, academically excellent charter schools flourish. In turn,

schools that fail to produce strong outcomes close.

In 2018, there are almost 7,000 charter schools serving more than 3 million students in 44

states across the nation. More than 500,000 individual students are on charter school waiting

lists across the country.

Charter schools nationally serve more minority students and more economically

disadvantaged students than their district counterparts. Individual charter schools are more

likely than district schools to serve concentrations of students who live in poverty.

Since the first charter schools were established in the 1990s, the movement has spread to every

corner of the country, with concentrated growth in the nation¡¯s largest urban centers. Over

time, demand for charters has skyrocketed, despite setbacks deriving from weak charter school

policies, overregulation, and false perceptions of charter schools promulgated by opponents of

school choice.

One of the reasons parents and students seek charters is because, when they work, they offer

options that are distinct from those found in most traditional school districts. The innovations

that charters are best known for are extended school days and years and, in some places, oneto-one tutoring. But charters innovate in many other ways as well: from developing unique

approaches to teacher training to pioneering tools for personalized learning, many innovations

that are now accepted as common were born in the charter sector.

Charter schools are popular and innovative. They are also effective. Gold standard (randomized

control trial) research finds that many charter schools are closing achievement gaps that once

seemed intractable.

A 2005 study found that charter middle schools in Chicago closed ¡°just under half of the

gap between the average disadvantaged, minority student in Chicago Public Schools and

the average middle-income, non-minority student in a suburban district.¡± Studies out

of Boston show that ¡°Charter school attendance has large positive effects for math and

English state exam scores for special needs students¡± and that ¡°attendance at one of

Boston¡¯s charter high schools increases pass rates on the state graduation exam, facilitates

¡°sharp gains¡± in SAT math scores, and doubles the likelihood that students will sit for

Advanced Placement examinations.¡±

And charters aren¡¯t only successful in urban centers. They are making a difference nationwide:

A study of charter middle schools in fifteen states found a ¡°statistically significant and

positive impact for low-income and low-achieving students in math.¡±

Despite this evidence of success, misconceptions about charter schools persist. In 2017, The

Center for Education Reform (CER) compiled some of the most common myths about charter

schools in the U.S. and countered them with facts (see next page).

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The Center for Education Reform

Knowing these facts about charter schools is critical to understanding how to improve

educational options for more children in the U.S. More importantly, understanding how to create

strong charter public schools will ensure that more students have access to high-quality school

options.

Charter school success depends on the policy environments in which charter schools operate.

Some state laws and regulations encourage diversity and innovation in the charter sector by

providing multiple authorizers to support charter schools and allowing charters real operational

autonomy. As Michael Q. McShane has pointed out, where diversity exists, charter schools

have the opportunity to innovate.

Too many states, however, hamper charter schools with weak laws and needless regulations.

These make it difficult to distinguish charters from their district counterparts. Most states fund

charter schools at only a fraction of what district schools receive, and a large number don¡¯t allow

charter schools access to the same tax bases that support district schools. Where this is the case,

charter schools become a line item in state budgets, vulnerable to political whims.

Weak charter school laws have proven that when we apply the same old rules to district and

charter schools, we get more of the same. Overregulation and underfunding force charters to

behave as district schools by another name. Wouldn¡¯t it make more sense to allow charters

the room to innovate and succeed so that they could, in turn, help district schools subvert

the status quo?

Since 1996 CER has researched, analyzed and ranked state charter school laws in an attempt to

demonstrate how weak charter school laws create weak charter schools. These findings consider

not only the content of each law, but also how the law impacts charter schools on the ground:

How robust is the charter sector in each state? How diverse are the schools? To what extent do

burdensome regulations prevent charters from doing anything meaningfully different?

As in years past, the national rankings carefully consider the impacts of overregulation,

particularly on innovations in teaching and learning. And this year¡¯s National Charter School Law

Rankings & Scorecard goes a step further, providing case study examples of how regulations and

other aspects of poorly conceived charter school policies impact charter operators and students.

In addition to these case studies, CER also provides model legislation for policymakers to

consider when crafting or amending charter school laws and regulations.

With this important guide, there is evidence-rich feedback and guidance to policymakers. With

feedback and guidance, change is possible.

? Charter schools represent the

¡°privatization¡± of education.

? Charter schools are public schools of choice.

? Charter schools are unaccountable

to the public.

? Charter schools are held to a higher standard of

accountability than district schools, in exchange for certain

autonomies.

? Charter schools ¡°cream¡± the most

able students.

? Charter schools serve more poor, minority and economically

disadvantaged students than district schools.

? Charter schools produce ¡°mixed¡± or

¡°poor¡± academic outcomes.

? Gold standard research shows that charter schools produce

superior academic outcomes, especially in urban centers.

? Charters schools ¡°drain¡± resources

from districts.

? Charter schools operate on smaller budgets than

district schools, and they do more with less.

National Charter School Law Rankings & Scorecard ¡ª2018

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