Competition from charter schools has been shown to increase composite test scores in traditional district schools.
Source: BusinessWire |
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Download: 
http://www.coloradoleague.org/CharterSchoolReport_final33108.pdf
As in many states, Colorado's public charter school legislation largely places the burden of obtaining and paying for facilities on the public charter schools themselves. As a result, schools have struggled to find suitable and affordable facilities. This study finds that Colorado's public charter schools are suffering without a reliable revenue source for facilities. Schools are forced to spend operating funds on their facilities. On average, they spend $480 per student from designated per-pupil operating revenue on facilities costs. For a school of 400, that translates into $192,000, enough for at least four additional teachers. Because of the lack of space, an estimated 41,000 students are on waiting lists to get into public charter schools statewide. A majority (55 percent) would like to serve additional students but since most of these schools (79 percent) do not have sufficient space, thousands of children each year do not have this opportunity. State grant funding for facilities has provided little relief with only five out of 138 public charter schools (4 percent) receiving state funding for facilities. At the local level, bond elections have not proved to be a reliable source of funding for school facilities, with only 19 percent of public charter schools receiving bond proceeds through their authorizing school district.
Date: 2008
Source: Colorado League of Charter Schools
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