(The Center Square) – Denver went from a failing grade to a ‘B’ in an evaluation of charter school funding compared to traditional public schools.
The “School Choice Demonstration Project,” based within the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas, published a 70-page report evaluating funding equity between charter schools and traditional public schools. The nonpartisan study is part of the organization’s mission of “raising and advancing the public’s understanding of the strengths and limitations of school choice policies and programs” through research.
The institution began studying charter school funding in 2002-03 and in 2017-18 found schools in 18 cities received 33% less funding than public schools.
Denver was one of the 18 cities. In this year’s study, it joined Houston, Memphis and Boston as the only cities to receive an ‘A’ or ‘B’ grade, reflecting significant improvement in funding. The disparity in charter school funding in Denver was reduced from 36% to 8% in 2019-20. Approximately 23% of Denver’s 92,772 students attend charter schools.
The average revenue per student in Denver Public Schools was $18,459, compared to $17,161 in its charter schools, a disparity of $1,298 or 7%.
“Part of the change was because of bond revenue received by Denver TPS in 2017-18 but not in 2019-20,” the report stated. “Other factors that decreased the Denver charter school funding gap included increased direct payments from the state to charters and more in-kind services provided by the TPS to the charter sector, all accounted for in our calculations.”
The report found 71.6% of charter school students live in poverty, compared to 61% of public school students in Denver. Approximately 37% of Denver’s charter schools have students who are English language learners, compared to 29% of public schools.
Researchers counted every dollar flowing into charter and public schools in each geographic area. State funding that passes through public schools to charter schools was attributed to charter schools. They also attempted to capture and include all in-kind services.
“Other factors that decreased the Denver charter school funding gap included increased direct payments from the state to charters and more in-kind services provided by the TPS to the charter sector, all accounted for in our calculations,” the report said.
The average for all 17 cities in the survey found $24,294 in per-student funding in public schools versus $17,089 in charter schools, a difference of $7,147 or 29.5%.
“While certain cities saw their funding gaps decrease, the fact remains that the vast majority of students face a financial penalty for choosing a charter school,” Josh McGee, associate director of the Office for Education Policy at the University of Arkansas, said in a statement. “Policymakers at the local and state levels can remedy these inequities by enacting student-centered funding, meaning students will not be valued less when attending a charter school.”
