Abstract: This study finds that competition from charter schools appears to have a modest positive impact on student achievement in traditional public schools. Using longitudinal achievement data of public school students in Florida, the author of this article examines the performance of public charter schools and their competitive impact on traditional public schools. Initially, performance is lower in charter schools. By the fifth year of operation, however, new charter schools are on similar levels with the average traditional public school in math and achieve higher reading scores than their traditional public school counterparts. Whether measured by the presence of nearby charter schools, the number of competing charters, or the enrollment share garnered by charter schools, charter school competition is associated with higher math and unchanged reading scores in traditional public schools.
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