Dive Brief:
- Charter school growth has slowed as low enrollment, underperformance, and issues with finance and oversight have led to fewer new schools opening and increasing numbers of closures, according to a report from the National Center for Charter School Accountability.
- Some 50 charter schools announced immediate or incoming closures in the first half of 2025, the report said.
- Dwindling enrollment is a cause for concern beyond the charter sector as birth rates decline nationwide, and all schools — public, charter and private — are bound to feel the financial strain.
Dive Insight:
The average rate of charter school closures per year was 3.3% over the last decade,the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools said in an emailed statement. To remain open, charter schools need to meet high performance and operational standards, which “are often higher than those applied to traditional public schools,” the alliance said.
Charters have had a positive impact nationwide, with students gaining 16 more days of learning in reading and six more in math per year compared to their peers at district schools, the group said.
The alliance is advocating for equitable state and federal funding, as well as facilities support to maximize the impact these schools have nationwide, according to its email.
The National Center for Charter School Accountability report, however, argues that charter schools are already receiving significant federal funding without much oversight.
The report highlighted that the budget for the federal Charter Schools Program, first established in 1994, has consistently increased over the years, reaching $500 million for fiscal year 2025 with an immediate $60 million increase announced by the Trump administration on May 16. The administration also said the increase would be included in proposals for future funding.
Despite the continuous federal investment, the report said the sector has faced stagnating enrollment, underperformance, waste, fraud and mismanagement.
Nearly half of the 50 schools that shut down during the first half of this year had received a combined $102 million from the federal Charter Schools Program to start up or expand their school site, according to the report. Of those 50 schools, 27 cited low enrollment as the primary reason for their closure.
In its email, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools said charter school enrollment “continues to climb” — gaining nearly 400,000 students from 2019-20 to 2023-24.
The most recent data available from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that between 2019-20 and 2022-23 charter schools gained 286,627 students.
The National Center for Charter School Accountability report primarily gathered data from the NCES Common Core of Data and NCES Elementary/Secondary Information System Table Generator.
Dive Awards
