As Boston charter schools begin intensive advertising for new students,
analysis of enrollments in Boston charter schools shows that:
-- Only a little more than half the students in Boston charter schools
qualify for meal subsidies -- compared to nearly three-quarters of Boston
district students;
-- Only about one in ten students in Boston charter schools have
disabilities -- compared with nearly one in five students in district
schools;
-- Not one student in Boston charter schools is learning English as a second
language -- compared with nearly one out of four students enrolled in
district schools.
In theory, every family, including parents who are poor, parents whose
children have disabilities, and parents whose first language is not English,
have equal access to charter schools. Charter school enrollment is
determined by lottery from among families applying for places at each
school.
However, in a "market" system in which individual choice is part of the mix,
word of mouth (about how to apply to a charter school, availability of
seats, kind of education, etc.) and existing advantage (related, for
example, to having extra time to attend informational meetings at the
school) play a significant role in determining which children are even part
of the application pool. In reality, charter schools in Boston are leaving
the most challenging-to-teach students in the district schools.
Specifically:*
Boston enrollment: District and charter schools, 2002-03
-- Boston Public Schools enrolled
61,552 students in 2002-03.
-- Boston's charter schools enrolled
3,269 students in 12 charter schools.
Boston students eligible for free or reduced price meals, 2002-03
-- Boston Public Schools enrolled
45,302 students eligible for discounted meals in 2002-03 -- representing
73.6% of all students in district schools.
-- Boston's charter schools enrolled 1,751
students eligible for discounted meals -- 53.6%
of all students in the charter school "district within the district."
Boston students with disabilities, 2002-03
-- Boston Public Schools enrolled
11,756 students with disabilities in 2002-03 -- 19.1%
of all students in district schools.
-- Boston's charter schools enrolled 335
students with disabilities -- 10.2% of students
in the charter school "district within the district."
Boston students learning English, 2002-03
-- Boston Public Schools enrolled
14,957 students learning English in 2002-03 -- representing
24.3% of all students in district schools.
--- Boston's charter schools enrolled no
students learning English as a second language in 2002-03 --
0%.
Charter schools in Boston
leave the district not just with fewer students, but also with an even
greater concentration of the most challenging-to-teach students, with less
and less money available to support teaching and learning for these
students.
According to Boston City Hall, an estimated 4,288 Boston students were
projected to attend 20 different charter schools in the fall of 2003.
Charter school costs for Boston -- that is money lost from the district
schools and going to charter schools -- are projected to reach $42.1 million
in FY04. (See page six at
http://www.cityofboston.gov/budget/pdfs/05_Innovations_in_Education.pdf
Enrollment numbers for charter schools and Boston are as follows:
Boston 2002-03 district enrollments (grades pre-K-12)
Eligible for discounted meals - 73.6% (of 61,552)
Special ed - 19.1%
LEP - 24.3%
Academy of the Pacific Rim (grades 6-12)
Eligible for discounted meals - 46% (of 294 students)
Special ed - 14%
LEP - 0%
Boston Renaissance (grades k-8)
Eligible for discounted meals - 54.7% (of 1,367)
Special ed - 10.7%
LEP - 0%
City on a Hill (grades 9-12)
Eligible for discounted meals - 49% (of 258 students)
Special ed - 4.3%
LEP - 0%
Codman Academy (grades 9 and 10)
Eligible for discounted meals - 83% (of 60 students)
Special ed - 17%
LEP - 0%
Conservatory Lab Charter (grades k-5)
Eligible for discounted meals - 59% (of 117 students)
Special ed - 14%
LEP - 0%
Edward Brooke Charter (grade 5)
Eligible for discounted meals - 46% (of 85 students)
Special ed - 13%
LEP - 0%
Frederick Douglass (grades 6-8)
Eligible for discounted meals - 48% (of 194 students)
Special ed - 9%
LEP - 0%
MATCH (grades 9-11)
Eligible for discounted meals - 72% (of 161 students)
Special ed - 9%
LEP - 0%
Neighborhood House (preK-8)
Eligible for discounted meals - 52% (of 206 students)
Special ed - 12%
LEP - 0%
Roxbury Prep (grades 6-8)
Eligible for discounted meals - 64% (of 176 students)
Special ed - 3.4%
LEP - 0%
South Boston Harbor Academy (grades 5-11)
Eligible for discounted meals - 37% (of 277 students)
Special ed - 11%
LEP - 0%
[FYI -- White students represent 83% of the students enrolled, a percentage
higher than at Boston Latin. This percentage compares to Boston's 14% white
enrollment.]
Uphams Corner Charter (grade 5)
Eligible for discounted meals - 77% (of 74 students)
Special ed - 10%
LEP - 0%
Lower special ed and LEP enrollments and higher income correlate with higher
MCAS scores, especially in small schools.
Using MCAS scores as "evidence," the charter school lobby may:
-- claim charter schools are "better" than district schools;
-- claim that a moratorium on charter schools will deny "parents" the
"choice" to enroll their children in "quality" schools, leaving them "stuck"
in low-scoring schools.
This may become a self-fulfilling prophecy. As a disproportionate number of
charter seats go to the least challenging/expensive-to-teach students, MCAS
scores in the charter schools are inevitably higher, and Boston Public
Schools are left with a higher and higher concentration of the city's
neediest, most vulnerable - and lowest scoring - students.
In the absence of a moratorium on charter school expansion, education
decision-makers - the Governor, legislature, and state Board of Education -
should act to ensure that Boston charter schools enrollment reflects the
diversity of Boston Public Schools and that all students have equitable
access to Boston charter schools.
--- Decision-makers should ensure that inclusive models that exist in
popular Boston schools (e.g. the two-way bilingual program at the Hernandez
School, the full inclusion model at the O'Hearn School) are replicated in
charter schools.
--- The Department of Education should provide technical assistance to
existing charter schools to adopt practices and policies that recruit and
hold on to a wider range of Boston students.
*This analysis uses the October 2002 enrollments posted on the Massachusetts
Dept. of Education website at
http://profiles.doe.mass.edu/search.asp?mode=g&county=Suffolk&town=73
(October 2003 enrollments are not yet posted). This analysis does not
include three charter schools that opened in October 2003 or "regional
charter schools" (e.g. South Shore Charter School) that may enroll Boston
students.
Anne Wheelock
Senior Research Associate
Progress Through the Education Pipeline Project
Boston College
617-524-7324
