VOTING WITH THEIR FEET: A STATE-LEVEL ANALYSIS OF PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL AND DISTRICT PUBLIC SCHOOL ENROLLMENT TRENDS

Voting with Their Feet: A State-level Analysis of Public Charter School and District Public School Enrollment Trends shows hundreds of thousands of families switched to charter schools during the first full school year of the pandemic. During the 2020-21 school year, charter school enrollment grew 7%, the largest increase in half a decade. Nearly 240,000 new students enrolled in these innovative, student-centered public schools, despite a sharp decrease in overall public school enrollment during the same period. Of the 42 states evaluated, 39 experienced charter school enrollment increases, while only three saw modest decreases. By comparison, district school enrollment dropped precipitously in every state.-- More...