Tough Truths about Charters

Is it possible for charter schools to increase educational options and diversity in the public school system but decrease diversity overall; to spend less money than regular public schools but cost taxpayers more overall, and to outperform regular public schools but decrease achievement overall?

Unfortunately, it is not only possible but is happening in cities across the nation. This mix of intended and unintended outcomes is what's known as the "charter school paradox," which hints at the uneasy place these relatively new educational options have in our society.
But it is only a paradox if we take a narrow view of charter school effects. Rigorous new research concludes that public charter schools are seriously damaging the private education market, adding to taxpayer burden, undermining private options for families and reducing healthy competition in the education sector.
The Cato Institute Center for Educational Freedom commissioned Richard Buddin, a former senior economist with the Rand Corp., to look at the enrollment effects of charter schools.

In short, competition from private schools is good — even necessary — for the entire education sector.

Buddin found that charters serving primary school students in highly urban districts take almost a third of their students from private schools, on average. Urban charters draw nearly a quarter of their middle school students and more than 15% of their high school students from the private sector. Even in nonurban districts, charters pull between 7% and 11% of all their students from private schools.
All this translates into about 190,000 students a year who otherwise would have been in private schools now attending public charter schools.

Read more: http://www.cato.org/publications/commentary/tough-truths-about-charters