AISD Feeling the Impact of Charter School Enrollment Growth

[Elderberry]

KLBJ Newsroom Jan. 14, 2020

It's no secret how quickly charter schools have grown over the years, but specifically within just the past seven years, charter enrollment has more than doubled.  Within that same time, the Austin Independent School District has struggled to stop the bleeding as it has dealt with a lack of enrollment at various campuses.  Nicole Conley-Johnson, AISD's Chief of Finance and Business Operations, says charters are applying some intense pressure on them.

"They get state-guaranteed bonding authority without having to ask taxpayers, so, as we look at their perspective in their bond packages, it's looking like charter school growth could grow by about 8800 students," she says.

That's by 2026. 

Already within that seven year growth period for charters that AISD has referenced, Conley-Johnson says the district has lost more than $562-million in revenue, and by the time AISD loses the additional 8800 students projected to enroll in a charter school, the financial impact will top $159-million annually. 

More: https://www.newsradioklbj.com/news/austin-local-news/aisd-feeling-impact-charter-school-enrollment-growth

[PeteS in CA]

Maybe if public schools stopped spending $$ and energy trying to legislate and regulate charter schools out of existence and started to spend that $$ and energy on teaching their students weird (bleep) like Reading, Math, Composition, and Science ...

[thackney]

Charter Schools are giving parents the "school choice" without getting voucher system passed or paying tuition for expensive private schools.

Some background:

https://www.texastribune.org/2019/04/09/texas-charter-schools-got-more-funding-last-session-year-theyre-playin/

...And this year, they appear poised for a windfall. The House has nearly unanimously backed a proposal to put billions of dollars into public schools, and the Senate is pushing for $5,000 raises for the state’s full-time teachers. Since charter schools get the average school district funding per student, they're likely to get more money in any proposal to increase spending on public education. They also have more economically disadvantaged students than the statewide average and would benefit from legislative efforts to direct more money to predominantly low-income schools.

Texas is one of the largest charter authorizers in the country, with 171 charter districts in operation. This school year, just under 6% of Texas public school students are enrolled in charters. But that percentage creeps higher in some major cities, which can be home to dozens of charter schools.

And while the number of new charter districts has slowed to a trickle in the last few years, existing charter districts have been rapidly opening new campuses around the state....