Highlights from the 2021-22 School Year

Public charter schools have grown significantly over the past two decades, serving 3.7 million public school students in the United States as of the 2021-22 school year. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools is uniquely positioned to be a source of comprehensive data as the importance of charter schools continues to rise. This Charter School Data Digest is a digital resource with clear, practical data on important issues surrounding charter schools.

How many charter schools and students are there?

In the 2021-22 school year, approximately 8,000 charter schools and campuses served 3.7 million charter students nationwide. This is more than double the number of schools and campuses, and triple the number of students, than the 2005-06 school year. Charter schools enrolled 7.4% of all public school students in 2021-22, up from 6.8% in 2019-20. While the charter sector expanded steadily, the rate of year-over-year percentage growth slowed starting in the 2015-16 school year. This reduced growth can be attributed, in part, to the increasing number of charter schools in operation, while the yearly openings of new schools have remained relatively constant. Two hundred ninety-one new charter schools opened in the 2021-22 school year, compared to 328 in the previous year.

Who attends charter schools?

Seven point four percent of all public school students attend a charter school. Charter schools serve proportionately more students of color and more students from low-income backgrounds than district schools. In the 2021-22 school year, students of color made up 70.7% of the charter school student body, while 53.8% of district school students were students of color. Charter school students are also more likely to be eligible for the federal free and reduced-price lunch program (59.0%) than their district school counterparts (50.3%).

Where are charter schools located?

As of December 2023, laws permitting charter schools are in place across 46 states, and charter schools currently operate in 44 states, as well as in Washington, D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico. In the 2021-22 school year, five states—California, Texas, Florida, Arizona, and New York—accounted for more than half of all charter school enrollment. A majority of charter schools are in urban areas (58.1%), but charter schools are also found in suburban areas (24.9%), rural areas (11.4%), and towns (5.6%). Since 2005, there has also been steady growth in the number of local school districts with at least one charter school in their geographic boundaries.

How are charter schools funded?

For public schools, there are three major funding sources: federal, state, and local. The relative amount of funding from each of these three sources differs between charter schools and district schools. On average, charter schools that are their own local educational agencies (LEAs) receive about 81 cents for every dollar a district school receives, amounting to approximately $2,900 less per student. While the total amount of funding for charter schools is less than for district schools, charter schools usually receive a higher proportion of their funding from states and a lower proportion from local sources, compared to district schools. Per-pupil funding in charter schools is less than per-pupil funding for district schools in 24 of the 28 states for which we have data.

Who manages charter schools?

Charter schools can be managed independently, by a charter management organization (CMO), or by an education management organization (EMO). Independently managed (freestanding) charter schools account for 57.4% of charter schools and 50.8% of charter enrollment. CMOs manage 31.7% of charter schools and 32.7% of charter enrollment, and EMOs account for just 10.9% of schools and 16.5% of charter enrollment. Freestanding and CMO-managed schools are most often found in urban areas, while EMO-managed schools serve suburban and urban communities more or less equally. CMO-managed schools enroll the highest share of Black and Hispanic students across management types, while freestanding charter schools enroll the highest shares of Asian and White students. Overall, the top 10 CMOs and the top 10 EMOs account for 24% of charter school enrollment.

Who authorizes charter schools?

Authorizers play a critical role in the charter sector. Authorizers are the entities empowered by a state legislature to decide whether a charter school will open and the standards it must meet to remain open. While there are several different types of authorizers, the most common authorizers are local educational agencies (LEAs). In 2020-21, LEA authorizers were accountable for 47% of charter schools and students. However, state educational agencies (SEAs) and independent charter boards (ICBs) notably hold a high concentration of authorizing power. Although there are only 20 SEA authorizers and 18 ICB authorizers, these groups together oversee approximately 38% of charter schools and campuses and 39% of charter student enrollment. The top 10 LEA, SEA, ICB, and higher education institution (HEI) authorizers with the largest enrollments account for nearly 60% of all charter enrollment in the 2020-21 school year.

For questions about this report, please send a data request to the National Alliance research team at datarequest@publiccharters.org. For media requests, please contact Alanna Klein at alanna@publiccharters.org.