The Boundaries of Competition: Examining Charter Schools’ Impact on Traditional Schools

For decades, charter schools have been promoted as a panacea for increasing competition in the educational marketplace. Supporters argue that increased choice forces neighboring schools to innovate, while opponents contend that charters “skim” students and funds away from traditional public schools...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inEducational policy (Los Altos, Calif.) Vol. 38; no. 1; pp. 3 - 30
Main Authors Uttermark, Matthew J., Mackie, Kenneth R., Weissert, Carol S., Artiles, Alexandra
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.01.2024
SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
Subjects
Academic Achievement
Change
Charter Schools
Competition
Control Groups
Diversity (Institutional)
Public Schools
School Segregation
Scores
Segregation
Traditional Schools
Florida
policy implementation
charter schools
educational policy
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:For decades, charter schools have been promoted as a panacea for increasing competition in the educational marketplace. Supporters argue that increased choice forces neighboring schools to innovate, while opponents contend that charters “skim” students and funds away from traditional public schools (TPS). We test the two differing views by comparing academic achievement and school segregation in TPS in South Florida facing competition from charter schools compared to TPS with no competition. We find that when a charter school moves into the community, it fails to substantively change test scores or diversity of the nearby TPS, even 10 years after a charter is established.
ISSN:0895-9048
1552-3896
DOI:10.1177/08959048221142049