Better Together: Ensuring Quality District Schools in Times of Charter Growth and Declining Enrollment

Across the country, many large school districts have seen flat or declining enrollments in recent years, including in places where there's been concurrent growth in charter schools. The result has been a growing perception that charter expansion is coming at the expense of the health of traditional school districts--a perception that, even if unfounded, has contributed to tensions between charter schools, districts, and in some cases, the public. These tensions challenge the original charter school narrative that presumed that the sector's growth and the competitive pressures it engenders would improve conditions for all students--those in charter schools and those who remain in traditional district schools. And while there are examples of districts that have improved their schools in the face of charter growth, there are many more cities where this has not happened. Though districts labor under rigidities in law, habit, and thinking, they remain responsible for providing a quality education and buffering children from the effects of changes in funding, enrollment, and student needs. The fact that some have adapted well to declines in enrollment that began as long as 45 years ago means that districts are not helpless. However, it is also necessary to ask whether the charter community--charter management organizations (CMOs) and other charter school operators, teachers and parents, pro-charter elected officials, philanthropies, funders, and other advocates--can and should act more proactively to protect students in district-run schools. This paper explores both sides' responsibility: what should districts be expected to do, and how should the charter community act to prevent harm to children in district-run schools? It breaks the big issues about responsibility into five more manageable questions: (1) Is the growth of charter schools really contributing to the destabilization of district finances, and thus their ability to effectively educate?; (2) What can districts do to maintain school quality despite loss of enrollment?; (3) Do charter schools bear at least some responsibility to prevent the reduction of school quality for children remaining in district-run schools?; (4) Could the charter community help to support the transition from district monopoly status, and if so, under what conditions?; and (5) Should the charter sector and its supporters embrace a broader measure of success for reform: the well-being of all students? As a starting point to addressing these challenging and controversial questions, more than two dozen policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and advocates took part in a January 2017 convening hosted by the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE). The group included charter leaders and supporters, and state and school district leaders who have grappled with the consequences of rapid charter growth. The day-long convening featured broad-ranging, often frank conversations about the challenges that traditional school districts face and the role that the charter sector could possibly play in helping address them. While the discussion was not intended to set consensus or a course of action for the sector, the acknowledgement of the issue, the potential solutions, and the tensions that were surfaced were an important first step. This paper surfaces the themes, tensions, and areas of consensus these experienced individuals and analysts believe are critical to untangling the knots of this complex and critical challenge. It is the hope that this is the beginning of a productive conversation that could ultimately benefit all of America's students, whether served by district or charter schools. [Foreword by Robin Lake.]