Black, Hispanic students drive enrollment growth in public charter schools

Raleigh, N.C. – The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a nationwide study yesterday analyzing enrollment growth in public charter and district schools.

Between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 school years, North Carolina saw the third-highest public charter school enrollment growth in the country, behind only Texas and Florida.

Nationwide, the study reports that "charter schools enrolled nearly ten times the number of new students as district schools in the last school year."

Lindalyn Kakadelis, executive director of the North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools, said, "North Carolina has embraced the idea that parents deserve a choice in their children's schooling, and parents are responding. Importantly, the state's charter movement also continues to diversify as it grows, as this report makes clear. Public charter schools offer something different, from innovative curricula to concentrations in STEM, the arts, and more – representing an appealing option for families across demographic groups."

Over the past four school years, North Carolina public charter school enrollment increased by 18.81%, while district school enrollment decreased by 2.89%, according to the study.

Black and Hispanic students represented a larger share of the charter school increase, with 20.45% and 36.89% growth, respectively.

Read the full study here.