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Boom times for charter schools

Released: 
September 14, 2012

Charter school attendance has quadrupled in the past ten years, but these students are scoring lower on tests.

US children attending charter schools – publicly funded alternative schools run under contract – have more than quadrupled in 10 years. Their numbers have gone from 340,000 in 1999-2000 to more than 1.6 million in 2009-2010. Contrary to some perceptions, a majority of charter schools are urban (54.8% are in cities) and multicultural (the Hispanic percentage of the charter school population is increasing, from 19.6% in 2000 to 26.1% in 2010, while white and African American proportions declined slightly).

Open up today’s infographic, though, for some data on test performance by charter school students that may surprise you. Then join our discussion below: what’s the best path to school excellence?