By Jake Logan and Nina Rees
Arizona classes are back in session.
For parents of the more than 1.1 million Arizona students enrolled in a public school, it’s hard to imagine that less than a generation ago, the decision about where your child would attend school was made for you, not by you.
Indeed, many of us are old enough to remember a time when school assignment was dictated not by a student’s needs, but by the neighborhood in which his or her parents could afford to live.
In Arizona, that was the reality until 1994 when Arizona enacted charter school legislation. Together with the adoption of district open enrollment, the statutory changes affirmed a simple principle: Parents know best when it comes to picking the right school for their child.
Nearly 1 in 5 students attend charter schools
This fall marks 25 years since the first public charter schools opened in Arizona. Enrollment trends show public support for these schools remains as strong as ever. In fact, nearly 1 in 5 Arizona students – more than 200,000 – are returning to class at one of 550 public charter schools across the state. Statewide charter enrollment has more than doubled in the last decade alone, during which time district enrollment has been flat.
The expansion mirrors what is happening across the country. Charter schools have spread across 43 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Nationwide, there are now approximately 7,000 public charter schools educating 3.2 million students.
This kind of growth is only possible because charter schools are giving parents what they want. For some families, that means a rigorous college-preparatory academy. Or a specialty school with an emphasis on STEM, the performing arts or other unique focus areas.
The point is, parents get to choose. Consumer choice and a competitive charter marketplace naturally favor the expansion of quality schools at the expense of underperformers.
Charter schools beat the state average
Between 2015 and 2018, Arizona charter students who took the AzMERIT assessment topped the statewide average in nearly every grade level and subject area tested, and charter students of every racial and ethnic group did better than their statewide peers.
Keep in mind that Arizona charter schools, by law, are open to every student; no “cherry-picking” allowed. On average, research by the Center for Student Achievement has demonstrated students who transfer to a charter from a district school have lower initial AzMERIT scores than students who migrate the opposite direction. The center is a nonprofit partner of the Arizona Charter Schools Association.
Nationally, students who attend charter schools are more likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and have higher future earnings than their peers. Low-income students are particularly benefited by a charter education, where educational opportunities are not defined by their ZIP code.
We must do more for students on wait lists
Stanford University’s Center for Research on Education Outcomes studied academic performance among charter students in 41 urban areas across 22 states, including Arizona. The findings: On average, charter students experienced academic gains relative to their district peers equivalent to an extra 40 days of learning for math and 28 days for reading. Performance improvement was most pronounced among low-income black and Hispanic charter students.
Our work isn’t done. Far too many students are still unable to attend their school of choice due to space limitations – and thousands of families across the nation remain on charter wait lists. In Arizona, Gov. Doug Ducey and lawmakers deserve credit for innovative steps they’ve taken to reward achievement and encourage expansion of excellent charter and other public schools.
A quarter-century after this school choice era was ushered into public education, our mission remains to ensure a quality school option for every child.
Here’s to the next 25 years.
This op-Ed originally appeared in the Arizona Republic. You can read it here. Jake Logan is president & CEO of the Arizona Charter Schools Association and Nina Rees is president & CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. Reach them at jake@azcharters.org and nina@publiccharters.org.
