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Charter Schools and Public School Choice

School choice is increasingly the new normal in urban education. But in cities with multiple public school options, how can civic leaders create a choice system that works for all families, whether they choose a charter or district school? To answer this question, CRPE has been studying the opportunities and challenges in “high-choice” cities. We have interviewed civic and education leaders and surveyed parents to identify challenges like uneven school quality and lack of transportation. We’ve also studied ways cities can overcome barriers, such as unified enrollment and common accountability systems, to learn what works and what needs to be refined.

Charter schools offer the potential to create high-performing public schools in districts typically plagued by poor student outcomes. Too often, however, the charter school debate is marred by biased research and polemics. Like all important reform efforts, credible research and analysis must accompany innovation. To assess whether charter schools are fulfilling their mission, we rigorously evaluate their performance, costs, and ability to address unique student needs. New data and evidence help innovators across the country collaborate, communicate, and develop best practices.

This fiscal analysis finds that early difficulties forecasting enrollment and revenue can undermine implementation of personalized-learning models that blend computer-based and teacher-led instruction.

As the charter movement grew, so did concern that charter schools would become boutique schools for affluent families. By 2010, that concern had been dispelled—half of the 1.8 million students in charter schools came from...

When I started working at CRPE in 2007, I didn’t know much about charter schools, but I was quickly immersed. From the end of 2007 through 2009, for a study funded by the U.S. Department...

I recently read a fascinating Wall Street Journal article by Raymond Zhong, a Delhi-based reporter, about regulating global financial markets. I’m by no means a finance person; what caught my interest were the insights relevant...

The uproar over charging rent to New York City charter schools proves that control over facilities is a powerful but easily misused governance tool. Mayor Bill De Blasio and Chancellor Carmen Farina don’t like the...

This issue brief explains how three cities—Denver, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C.—are addressing the issues involved with governing cross-sector enrollment systems.

This brief provides an introductory look at how leaders can effectively engage stakeholders during the design and implementation of a common enrollment system.

In many cities, it makes sense for universal enrollment systems to replace existing enrollment processes that are messy, opaque, and at times unfair or even unlawful. But—as a recent contentious community meeting in Philadelphia made...

I was dismayed by news this week that the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) school board failed to renew two Aspire Public Schools charters because these schools are not participating in the district’s special...

This “Spotlight” brief outlines the elements of a successful common enrollment system, and the experiences and outcomes of cities currently using these systems.

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