New York Charter School Funding Inequality

Short Changed:

New York’s public charter school students face tremendous funding inequality.

Charter students in private space receive 75 cents on the dollar compared to their friends in district schools.

Charter Student

District Student

That amounts to a gap of $5,232 per student, for charter students in private space.

DISPARITY $5,232

CHARTER STUDENTS $15,920

VS DISTRICT STUDENTS $21,152 $0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

Statewide funding amount adjusted to ensure direct comparison between charters and districts that serve similar populations.

Note: the above compares charters, virtually all of which serve high-needs, high-poverty populations, to all schools statewide regardless of their populations. When adjusted to compare charters to districts that serve similar populations, the funding gap grows to $7,290 per student, or 31.4%.

Source: University of Arkansas, Larry Maloney, Meagan Batdorff, Jay May. Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands, April 30, 2014.

For children who live in cities, the inequality is even greater.

Buffalo charter students receive only about 60 cents for every dollar their friends in city-run public schools receive, resulting in $9,811 less per pupil. $9,811 Less

$23,524

NYC’s charter students receive only 68 cents for every dollar their friends in city-run public schools receive, resulting in $7,623 less per pupil. $7,623 Less

$24,044

Albany’s charter students receive only 76 cents on the dollar, resulting in $5,379 less per pupil. $5,379 Less

$22,259

Making matters worse, nearly half of all NY charter students are in private space, so funding meant for their education must go toward paying the rent.

Average facility-related spending for SY 2011-12 BUFFALO

$1,650 per pupil

NYC

Albany

$2,250 per pupil

*Western New York Regional Average.

$2,020 per pupil

*Capital Region Average (includes charter schools in Troy).

Recent changes to charter school funding do not begin to address this fundamental inequality.

ADDITIONAL $500

CHARTER STUDENTS $16,420

DISPARITY

$4,732

DISTRICT STUDENTS $21,152 $0

$10,000

$20,000

*Recent changes increase charter school funding by $500 by SY 2016-2017.

$30,000

How can we fix this broken system?

The state will now help pay for buildings for all public schools except charter schools in private space. That means half the charters in New York State get zero facilities help. A bipartisan proposal to grant charters access to the state building aid program died during the 2014 state budget negotiations.

Access to building aid would be a game-changer for nearly half of all New York charter school students and would be a strong step toward addressing the inequality in charter funding.

Source: University of Arkansas, Larry Maloney, Meagan Batdorff, Jay May. Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands, April 30, 2014.

New York City Charter School Center, Northeast Charter Schools Network, Charter School Facilities Initiative, Colorado League of Charter Schools. Building Inequality: How the Lack of Facility Funding Hurts New York’s Public Charter School Students. June 2013.

Want to learn more?

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