‘Doomed To Fail’: New Report Shows How Charter School Churn Harms Students They Purported to Help

Charter schools in Texas have become synonymous with instability, especially as the state has a 30-34% closure rate for charter schools according to a new report from the National Center for Charter School Accountability and the Network for Public Education. This trend has left countless students, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, scrambling for a quality education and straining the limited resources public schools already have.

Over the past decade, Texas has experienced a churn of charter schools opening and closing, exacerbating the already tenuous education system. In fact, between 2020 and 2022, a staggering 55 charter schools closed in the state, many of them abruptly. For instance, Jubilee Academies Highland Park in San Antonio closed just two weeks into the 2023 school year, displacing 210 students and leaving families in a lurch to find new schools.

Charter school closures disrupt not just students but the entire public education ecosystem. These closures are often due to low enrollment (46.8%), fraud/mismanagement (21.6%), academic failures (13.7%), financial reasons (10.1%, or other (7.9%). For every child affected by a closure, it means being uprooted from familiar environments, breaking bonds with teachers, and losing academic progress.

Perhaps more concerning is the failure rate of these schools over time. The data shows that nearly one in four charter schools fails within the first five years, and by the 10-year mark, the failure rate jumps to four in 10 charter schools. Fifty-five percent will fail by the 20-year mark.

In Texas, major urban districts like Houston ISD and Dallas ISD continue to experience significant fiscal impacts due to unlimited charter expansion, while smaller school districts have seen a comparatively small number of charter transfers translate into a large impact on their budgets. School districts in the Rio Grande Valley and the Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, San Antonio, El Paso, and Austin areas have seen the most charter expansion over the past several years. Charter schools are rapidly expanding into rural Texas as well.

It is clear that the charter school experiment in Texas is failing many of its students, both those who elect to attend charter schools and those in the public education system. As we continue to advocate for equitable public education, we must push for greater oversight of charter schools and prioritize investments in public schools that can guarantee long-term stability for our children.