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Evaluation of the Public Charter Schools Program: Year One Evaluation Report

    CHAPTER 1 APPENDICES
  • Appendix A: OVERVIEW OF STATE CHARTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY
  • Exhibit A-1: Overview of State Charter School Activity
  • Appendix B: FUTURE DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS
  • Exhibit B-1: Remaining Data Collection Activities
  • Exhibit B-2: Mapping Research Questions to Report

Appendix A

OVERVIEW OF STATE CHARTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY

  • In Exhibit A-1, an overview of selected characteristics of each state with charter school legislation is presented. It includes the year when each state's first charter law was passed, the number of charters granted in each state as of September 30, 1999, and the number of schools opened as of that date. The total number of charter schools opened as of September 30, 1999, was 1,692 (see Exhibit 1-3 in the introduction). Exhibit A-1 also summarizes the types of entity permitted to award charters, the types of charter school permitted (e.g., newly created, public conversion), and the number of charters granted by type of school. The last column of the exhibit displays the years the state has received PCSP grants from the U.S. Department of Education.
  • In addition to growing rapidly, the charter school movement takes different forms in different states. There is also variation within states. Exhibit A-1 reflects some of this variation, especially in the footnotes. For example, the number of charters granted frequently reflects charters that have been revoked or altered in some other way. If a state has not received a PCSP grant (e.g., Mississippi), that fact is indicated in the PCSP column. Some of the information in this exhibit is discussed and analyzed in more detail in other sections of the report (the PCSP, for example, and the types of agencies that grant charters).

OVERVIEW OF STATE CHARTER SCHOOL ACTIVITY

 

 

 

State

 

Law Passed

Charters Granted in State

(as of 9/30/99)

Charter Schools Opened in
State
(as of 9/30/99)

Category of Entity Eligible to Award Charters1

Types of Charter School Permitted/ Number of Charters Granted, by Type

Years of PCSP Funding

Alaska

1995

202

18

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created (19)

Public conversions (1)3

1996-1998

1999-2001

Arizona

1994

273

2734

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created

Public conversions

Private conversions5

1995-1997

Arkansas

1995

0

0

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created

Public conversions

1999-2001

California

1992

255

238

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created (170)

Public conversions (85)

1995-1997

1998-2000

Colorado

1993

70

68

Locals

Newly created (70)6

1995-1997

1998-2000

Connecticut

1996

18

16

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created (18)

Public conversions

1996-1998

1999-2001

Delaware

1995

17

5

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created (17)

Public conversions

1997-1999

District of Columbia

1996

297

27

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created (22)

Public conversions

Private conversions (5)

1996-1998

1999-2001

Florida

1996

125

110

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created (123)

Public conversions (2)8

1996-1998

1999-2001

Georgia

1993

369

32

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created (9)

Public conversions (27)

 

1996-1998

1999-2001

Hawaii

1994

2

2

State

Public conversions (2)

1999-2001

Idaho

1998

8

8

Locals

Newly created (8)

Public conversions

1999-2001

Illinois

1996

18

17

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created (18)

Public conversions

1996-1998

1999-2001

Kansas

1994

15

15

Locals

Newly created (10)

Public conversions (5) 10

1996-1998

Louisiana

1995

24

17

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created (22)

Public conversions (2)

1995-1997

1998-2000

Massachusetts

1993

43

39

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created (37)

Public conversions (6)

1995-1997

1998-2000

Michigan

1993

177

175

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created (177)11

1995-1997

1998-2000

Minnesota

1991

61

54

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created (55)

Public conversions (2)

Private conversions

Other (4)

1995-1997

1998-2000

 

 

 

State

 

Law Passed

Charters Granted in State

(as of 9/30/99)

Charter Schools Opened in
State
(as of 9/30/99)

Category of Entity Eligible to Award Charters1

Types of Charter School Permitted/ Number of Charters Granted, by Type

Years of PCSP Funding

Mississippi

1997

1

1

Multiple entities with interdependence

Public conversions (1)

No state grant

Missouri

1998

16

15

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created (10)

Public conversions (1)12

Private conversions (5)

1998-2000

Nevada

1997

5

5

Locals

Newly created (5)

Public conversions

Private conversions

No state grant

New Hampshire

1995

5

0

State

Newly created (5)

Public conversions

No state grant

New Jersey

1996

47

47

State

Newly created (47)

Public conversions

1996-1998

1999-2001

New Mexico

1993

6

3

Locals

Newly created (1)

Public conversions (4)

Private conversions (1)

No state grant

New York

1998

5

5

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created (3)

Public conversions (2)

1999-2001

North Carolina

1996

96

82

Multiple entities with interdependence

Newly created (80)

Public conversions (1)

Private conversions (15)

1996-1998

1999-2001

Ohio

1997

69

57

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created (68)

Public conversions (1)

1998-2000

Oklahoma

1999

0

0

Locals

Newly created

Public conversions

1999-2001

Oregon

1999

013

0

Locals

Newly created

Public conversions

Alternative education program conversions

1995-1997

1999-2001

Pennsylvania

1997

52

4614

Locals

Newly created (46)

Public conversions (0)

Private conversions (3)

Other preexisting educational organizations (3)15

1997-1999

Puerto Rico

1993

79

7916

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Public conversions (79)

1996-1998

1999-2001

Rhode Island

1995

4

2

 

State

Newly created (3)

Public conversions (1)

1998-2000

South Carolina

1996

1217

9

Locals

Newly created (10)

Public conversions

Other (2)

1997-1999

Texas

1996

19318

173

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created (144)

Public conversions (7)

Private conversions (42)

1995-1997

1998-2000

Utah

1998

8

6

State

Newly created (6)

Public conversions (1)19

Other (1)20

1999-2001

 

 

 

State

 

Law Passed

Charters Granted in State

(as of 9/30/99)

Charter Schools Opened in
State
(as of 9/30/99)

Category of Entity Eligible to Award Charters1

Types of Charter School Permitted/ Number of Charters Granted, by Type

Years of PCSP Funding

Virginia

1998

0

0

Locals

Newly created

Public conversions

1999-2001

Wisconsin

1993

48

48

Multiple entities, independent of each other

Newly created (45)

Public conversions (3)

1996-1998

1999-2001

Wyoming

1995

0

0

Local

Newly created

Public conversions

No state grant

Total

 

1,837

1,692

     

Sources: Information in table compiled from SRI data collection and legislative analyses; consultation with Eric Hirsch of the National Conference of State Legislatures; the US Charter Schools Web site (http://www.uscharterschools.org/); and the Committee for Education Reform's Charter School Legislation: State-by-State Analyses.

Footnotes:

1See Appendix N for further detail on charter school authorizers.
2Includes one charter that never opened and one that has been closed for lack of enrollment
3Types of school permitted not specified in law.
4Arizona reported that 334 schools were open as of 9/30/99, although many of these are multiple school sites operating under single charters.
5Numbers of each type of charter school not provided by survey respondent, as figures haven't incorporated into database.
6Colorado law technically has no provision for conversions, so schools had to close and reopen as "newly created" charter schools. Two of these were formerly public schools, and one was formerly a private school.
7Two of these charters were later revoked, so respondent did not provide data on them
8Although no private conversions are allowed in Florida, some former private schools have dissolved and "enrobed" as public schools.
9One stayed as a school but is no longer a charter. This charter school was a public conversion.
10Types of school permitted not specified in law.
11Under Michigan law, all charter schools become "new." Twenty-three of these charter schools in the state are former private schools that became chartered.
12Law stipulates that a maximum of 5% of school buildings currently in use may be converted (does not apply to vacant buildings or buildings not used for instructional purposes).
13Twenty-two schools opened under a prior school reform law; many of these schools received PCSP funds. Under the 1999 charter law, no charter schools have yet been opened.
14One charter school in Pennsylvania closed pending a court order at time of interview. The school in question was not counted in the number of charter schools open, but was counted in the number of charters granted in the state.
15Although the state respondent provided information on the number of conversions from private schools and other pre-existing educational organizations, Pennsylvania's charter law provides only for the creation of new schools and public conversions.
16Respondent answered 81, reflecting that 2 additional schools would be opened a week after the survey was conducted.
17This includes "full" charters granted, not those granted "conditional" charters that didn't later become full charters.
18Estimated; SEA was not directly involved in collecting this information.
19Conversion is part of an existing public school.
20Tribally operated alternative school.

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