Bigger Bang, Fewer Bucks? The Productivity of Public Charter Schools in Eight U.S. Cities

February 2018 – A new study from the University of Arkansas found that public charter schools outperformed district-run schools in eight major U.S. cities on student achievement despite receiving SIGNIFICANTLY LESS per student funding. And if that wasn’t enough good new for you, public charter schools across those same U.S. cities produced a 53% higher return-on-investment and are 35% more cost-effective than district-run schools.

From the report:  “Overall, we find that public charter schools outperform TPS [traditional public schools] on both productivity metrics overall and for all eight cities. In particular, our cost-effectiveness analysis finds:
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  • In all eight cities, public charter schools outperform TPS in both math and reading cost-effectiveness;
  • The public charter school sector delivers a cross-city average of an additional 4.34 NAEP points per $1,000 funded in reading,representing a productivity advantage of 32 percent for charters, while the student-weighted public charter school advantage of 3.99 points per $1,000 represents a cost effectiveness benefit of 35 percent;
  • The public charter school sector delivers a cross-city average of an additional 4.73 NAEP points per $1,000 funded in math, representing a productivity advantage of 33 percent for charters, while the student-weighted public charter school advantage of 4.37 points per $1,000 represents a cost effectiveness benefit of 36 percent;‹
  • The cost-effectiveness advantage for charters compared to TPS regarding NAEP reading scores ranges across the cities from 2 percent (Houston) to 67 percent (Washington, D.C.);
  • The cost-effectiveness for charters compared to TPS in terms of NAEP math scores ranges from 2 percent (Houston) to 68 percent (Washington, D.C.)

Click here to view the report.

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