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Of all the controversies swirling around the nation’s charter schools, none is more hotly contested than the debate over funding. Into the fray leaps Charter School Funding: Inequity’s Next Frontier, the most comprehensive and rigorous study ever undertaken of how public charter schools are funded, state by state, and how their revenues measure up to dollars received by district-run schools. The findings paint a picture of constant struggle for charter schools. Across 16 states and the District of Columbia—which collectively enroll 84 percent of the nation’s one million charter school students—charter schools receive about 22 percent less in per-pupil public funding, or $1,800, than the district schools that surround them. For a typical charter school of 250 students, that amounts to about $450,000 per year. The funding gap is wider in most of twenty-seven urban school districts studied, where it amounts to $2,200 per student. In cities like San Diego and Atlanta, charters receive 40% less than traditional public schools. The fiscal inequity is most severe in South Carolina, California, Ohio, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Missouri. The study includes detailed state-by-state and city-by-city information, as well as initial recommendations for closing the funding gap.
The links on the right provide the data and our analysis by state. For the complete report, including our overview analysis and appendices, please see below.
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