From Las Vegas to Philadelphia, NAPCS Report on Growing Charter School Enrollment Noted

Districts with the Highest Growth of Public Charter School Students

Here’s the list of districts with the highest growth of students attending public charter schools between the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years, from our annual market share report. (We calculated growth for the 50 school districts with the largest number of students attending charter schools.)  

• Strong Charter School Growth in Districts with Large Numbers of Public Charter School Students: Among the 50 districts with the largest charter school student enrollments, 29 districts had growth in the number of students enrolled in public charters by 10 percent or more between the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years. The Clark County School district experienced the largest growth (64 percent) in the number of charter school students enrolled, primarily due to four new charter schools opening there in the 2011-2012 school year.

• Three School Districts Repeat Top Growth Two Years in a Row. Three school districts made the list for highest percentage growth in public charter school students for two consecutive years: Los Angeles, Memphis, and New York City. Enrollment in public charter schools in these three school districts grew by 52,502 students between 2009-2010 and 2011-2012, a two year growth rate of 52 percent.

Districts with the Highest Number of Public Charter School Students

Here’s the list of districts with the highest number of students attending public charter schools, from our annual market share report. The top 10 districts remained the same between the 2012 and 2011 reports, but there was a little bit of movement among the districts. New York City experienced the biggest change, moving from #4 to #2 between 2010-2011 and 2011-2012.

• Los Angeles Again Tops the List in Number of Public Charter School Students: Nearly 100,000 students attended public charter schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District during the 2011-2012 school year, the highest number for any school district in the country. The number of students enrolled in public charter schools in Los Angeles, alone, would place the Los Angeles charter schools in the top 30 of the 100 largest school districts in the United States. Public charter schools in Los Angeles enrolled 19,191 more students in 2011-2012 than in 2010-2011, a growth rate of 24 percent. Charter school growth is likely to continue in Los Angeles with the board voting against a moratorium on charter schools.

• Ten School Districts with Largest Number of Students Enroll Significant Percentage of Charter School Sector. The 10 districts with the largest number of students in public charter schools represent 22.9 percent of the total public charter school population nationwide—a total of 458,215 students out of roughly 2 million. Between the 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 school years, the top ten districts increased public charter school enrollment by over 62,000 students, a growth rate of 16 percent.

Districts with the Highest Percentage of Public Charter School Students

Yesterday we released our annual market share report. To compile the list of school districts with the highest market share, we collected public school enrollment data to find districts where the largest proportions of students are attending public charter schools.

• New Orleans Remains Number One in Market Share: An astounding 76 percent of public school students in New Orleans attended public charter schools in the 2011-2012 school year. Not only are charters in New Orleans serving a higher percentage of public school students than anywhere else in the nation, they are also the highest performing sector of public schools in the city. Even more impressive, New Orleans charter schools are approaching the average state achievement levels in Louisiana, an accomplishment rarely achieved by urban public schools.

• District of Columbia and Detroit Tied for Second in Market Share: For the past four years, charter schools in the District of Columbia held the second spot for largest charter school market share nationwide. In the 2011-2012 school year, D.C. shared that spot with Detroit Public Schools. However, D.C. may pull ahead again in 2012-2013, with early indicators of charter enrollment rising to 35,000 students.

• Eight New School Districts Join the Ranks of Top Market Share: Eight school districts that were not on the list for top market share percentage in the last report made it onto the list for 2011-2012. The districts included: San Antonio, Indianapolis, Roosevelt, Ariz., Adams County 50, Colo., Grand Rapids, Mich., Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Phoenix Union High, Ariz.

• Seven School Districts Reach at Least 30 Percent Market Share: For the 2011-2012 academic year, St. Louis (31 percent) joined New Orleans (76 percent), Detroit (41 percent), District of Columbia (41 percent), Kansas City, Mo. (37 percent), Flint, Mich., (33 percent) and Gary, Ind. (31 percent) with at least 30 percent of public school students enrolled in public charter schools. However, with the closure of the Imagine charter schools in St. Louis after the 2011-2012 school year, it is unlikely that St. Louis will stay on the list in the next report.