Competitive Effects of Charter Schools

Charter schools have been growing in the United States and worldwide over the past two decades, and there is considerable interest in how they affect students remaining in traditional public schools (TPSs). Charter schools present important policy questions, as they often compete for the same students, educators, and resources as TPSs. On the one hand, increased competition from charter schools could lead to worse outcomes for students left behind if charter schools attract the best students and drain resources from TPSs. On the other hand, charter schools may provide positive alternatives for students who feel poorly matched to their default TPS and may stimulate competition that incentivizes all schools to improve their educational quality. Indeed, prior studies suggest that school principals respond to school competition by enacting curricular improvements and other changes. Our research studies how charter schools affect outcomes of TPS students using a detailed data set from 12 large and diverse districts in Florida that includes standardized math scores for each student between 2001 and 2014, standardized reading scores between 2001 and 2017, attendance data from the 2002-03 to 2009-10 school years, and demographic data on each student. We measured each TPS's level of competition with charter schools using the number of charter schools and number of students in charter schools within a five- mile radius.