Data:
New Charter School Funding Studies
The Northwest Center for Educational Options commissioned a study to identify the funding differential between charter schools and district schools in Oregon. In other words, exactly how much do charter schools receive in public funds per student compared to their district counterparts? The key findings - based on analysis of data from the Oregon Department of Education's financial database for 2008-2009 - include:
- On average, Oregon charter school students receive only 55% of the public funds that that their peers in district public schools receive. In other words, school districts only "pass through" an average of 55 cents of the public dollar that they receive for students in public charter schools. Current law does not require districts to pass through the proportionate share to charters.
- Not only is charter funding inequitable, it is highly variable as well. Most districts pay charters somewhere between 40% and 60% of the revenue received for district students. However, there are many districts that pass on significantly less or significantly more to the charter schools in their districts.
- Oregon's system is inequitable to charter schools. Key factors in this inequity include: Oregon's current patchwork of funding, lack of legislative clarity around which funds must flow through to charters, and lack of recourse for charters mired in poor relationships with their district. The vast majority of students in charter schools receive less than their fair share of education dollars.
The full report - Unintended Consequences: An Analysis of Charter School Funding in Oregon - can be viewed here.
The report's key findings are also summarized in a Power Point presentation which Kaaren Heikes and Vanessa Wilkins presented to the Oregon School Board's committee that is reviewing Oregon’s charter school law.
Oregon charter school students are not unique in being short-changed. Oregon has one of the most severe charter school funding disparities in the nation. Ball State University recently released a report which analyzes charter school funding disparity in 24 states and Washington, D.C.. Oregon is not included in this study, however Oregon's charter school funding disparity is worse than all 24 states included in this study, and only marginally better than Washington, D.C. The Ball State University's report can be viewed here and a one-page table of funding disparity by state (which includes all public funds and excludes private funds) can be viewed here.
All Oregon public schools suffer from inadequate and unstable funding. Since Oregon public charter schools receive approximately half of the public funds as compared to other public schools in our state, their funding challenges are much greater. Repairing the current inequity is an important step in improving educational options for all Oregonians.
NWCEO is leading a coordinated effort to communicate and address this funding disparity. If you are an NWCEO member, please let us know if you would like to be involved in this effort at info@nwceo.org.