Massive Waiting List for Charter Schools in California

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By CCSA, Special for  USDR

 

Today the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) released new estimates that show a record 158,000 students are on charter public school waiting lists across the state. When taking into account the number of students who are on more than one charter school waitlist in California that number jumps to approximately 278,000  students.

“Evidence over the past five years argues that the public has never been more supportive of charter public schools than they are right now based on increasingly high parent demand, growth in charter school enrollment, and statewide polling data,” said Jed Wallace, president and CEO, CCSA. “This growth in support has occurred during a period when charter public schools have strengthened their performance, especially with historically underserved  students.”

“As independent public schools, charter schools have the ability to try innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the classroom. And as more families learn that charter public school students are gaining extra weeks and months of learning in math and reading compared to their peers who attend traditional district schools, more families are choosing the charter school option,” commented Elizabeth Robitaille, SVP Academic and Performance Management,  CCSA.

“We want to ensure every student in the state of California gets the education he or she deserves,” continued Wallace. “We need the support of policymakers, charter school leaders, community members and other stakeholders to work together to address the needs of our growing community of charter school parents and students. Which is one reason that today, and each year during National Charter Schools Week, hundreds of charter school supporters rally at the State Capitol to make our voices heard on critical legislation that directly impacts the future of the charter school  movement.”

Below are unduplicated waitlist estimates for various geographic areas across California. Due to estimation methodology, CCSA only releases estimates for areas that contain 20 or more charter  schools.

 

California Charter School Estimated Waitlist by Geography, 2014-15

Charters w/ Data*

Avg. Waitlist per Charter

# Students on Waitlists

Regions

2013-14

2014-15

2013-14

2014-15

2013-14

2014-15

Greater LA

338

350

115

152

38,883

53,200

Northeast & Central Valley

301

313

57

137

17,237

42,800

North Coast & Bay

271

279

62

96

16,836

26,700

Southern CA

194

187

95

194

18,336

36,200

School Districts

Los Angeles USD

249

269

146

155

36,300

41,830

San Diego USD

56

55

91

99

5,080

5,440

San Jose**

48

52

91

108

4,360

5,620

Oakland USD

38

38

42

70

1,600

2,680

Counties

Los Angeles

311

325

121

153

37,000

49,840

San Diego

115

112

75

147

8,680

16,470

Santa Clara

53

58

91

110

4,830

6,390

Alameda

56

55

60

82

3,360

4,520

Sonoma

56

55

38

82

2,140

4,530

Sacramento

41

46

81

136

3,330

6,380

San Joaquin

36

39

50

127

1,780

4,940

Fresno

37

36

44

114

1,630

4,090

San Bernardino

35

32

92

235

3,210

7,530

Stanislaus

25

26

38

102

950

2,660

Riverside

26

25

132

312

3,450

7,810

Placer

22

22

74

193

1,630

4,240

Bay Area***

103

110

54

90

5,570

9,940

 

*We obtained self-reported or estimated data for 1104 schools in 2013-14 and 1130 schools in 2014-15.  For complex statistical reasons, a few schools without self-reported data do not obtain  estimates.

**Includes the following school districts: San Jose Unified, East Side Union High, and six elementary districts: Alum Rock Union, Cambrian, Campbell Union, Franklin-McKinley, Moreland, Mt.  Pleasant.

***Includes the following school 16 districts: San Francisco Unified, Oakland Unified, Hayward Unified, San Lorenzo Unified, West Contra Costa Unified, Mt. Diablo Unified, Pittsburg Unified, Antioch Unified, San MateoFoster City, Redwood City Elementary, Ravenswood City Elementary, Alum Rock Union Elementary, East Side Union High, Franklin-McKinley, San Jose Unified, and Novato  Unified.

More information:

SOURCE California Charter Schools  Association

 

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