This year’s new Annual Charter Schools Report from the Office of Charter Schools (OCS) reveals a diversifying charter sector in North Carolina. (Read an earlier post about the 6% annual uptick in charter enrollment.) Ashley Baquero, the executive director of OCS, shared highlights of the draft report with the Charter Schools Review Board (CSRB) at the CSRB’s monthly meeting on June 9.
Here are some enrollment findings from the report and CSRB presentation:
- Compared to district schools, charter schools serve a higher percentage of White, Black/African American, and Asian students as well as students of two or more races.
- Charters serve a lower percentage of Hispanic students. They are similar to district schools in the percentage of American Indian and Pacific Islander students that they serve.
- Charter students serve a smaller percentage of students with disabilities compared to district schools (11.74% compared to 14.58% in 2024).
Source: Office of Charter Schools, 2024 Annual Charter Schools Report presentation to the CSRB.
Trends in the state’s charter sector
Long term trends outlined in the report show changes in several demographic groups. As the report notes:
In 2010, charter schools primarily served White and Black students (88% combined). By 2024, this had shifted to a much more diverse student body, with significant Hispanic, Asian, and multiracial representation. This transformation suggests that charter schools have become more accessible to or preferred by diverse communities.
The data tells a story of a charter school sector that has fundamentally changed its demographic composition over 14 years, becoming significantly more diverse and reflective of broader demographic changes in the student population.
Source: 2024 Annual Charter Schools Report presentation.
While charter schools still serve lower percentages of economically disadvantaged students than district schools, the gap is narrowing.
Source: 2024 Annual Charter Schools Report presentation.
The annual report provides some explanations for why the gap is narrowing:
The data shows charter schools experienced a much more dramatic increase in economically disadvantaged enrollment (71% relative increase) compared to district schools (10% relative increase). Charter schools are serving a significantly more economically disadvantaged population than they did five years ago. The difference between charter and district schools’ economically disadvantaged populations has decreased from 22 percentage points in 2019 to about 10 percentage points in 2024. Charter schools may be becoming more accessible to lower-income families, or economic conditions may have shifted the demographics of families choosing charter options. It is also very likely that this shift is due to intentional targeting of economically disadvantaged and educationally disadvantaged students through the now-concluded Charters Schools Program grant and the use of weighted lotteries, as well as an emphasis on ensuring that charter school applicant boards intending to serve a diverse population are well-positioned to market to those students and provide access through services such as school nutrition and transportation.
The draft annual report goes next to the State Board of Education for discussion and approval, and then to the N.C. General Assembly.
Read EdNC’s deep dive coverage of the June CSRB meeting, including the annual report.
Above: Shutterstock photo.
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