A public policy group in Tennessee released a report this week showing a massive uptick in charter school growth in the Volunteer State.
According to the Beacon Center of Tennessee report, charter schools in Tennessee increased in number from fewer than 20 in 2010 to more than 110 in 2019. Such schools have only become more popular since 2019, and more than 44,000 students in the state are enrolled in a charter school.
According to the report, 4.3 percent of all Tennessee students attend a charter school.
“Public charter schools in Tennessee have had an outsized impact on minority populations. In the big four cities (Nashville, Memphis, Chattanooga, and Knoxville), the student population of charter schools is 85% minority as opposed to the traditional public schools in the area which have a minority population of just over 60%,” according to the report.
Nashville has experienced a particularly large increase in charter school attendance.
“In Nashville, more and more families are choosing public charter schools over traditional public schools. Every single public charter school with at least one year of data has seen enrollment growth, while less than 40% of traditional public schools have seen an increase in enrollment,” the report says.
The report also recommends that Tennessee lawmakers allow them to grow the number of charter schools and enrolled students.
“Tennessee policymakers can increase opportunities for students and the establishment of new public charter schools by allowing them to more easily access unused or underutilized public property and at lower costs,” says one recommendation.
The group also suggests that policymakers “welcome an additional type of authorizer or allow applications to go directly to the state board initially instead of only on appeal, while staying focused on quality over quantity.”
“Tennessee policymakers should seek to listen more to the students and teachers in these schools instead of special interest groups,” the report concludes.
“Favorable policies allowing for the growth of innovative, independent public schools have proven to benefit students. While charters are not a magic wand to solve all the ills of public education, they clearly provide benefits to those students, families, and communities that choose them over their traditional zoned public schools—not only through assessments, but overall through accountability.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Photo “Student Doing Classwork, Teacher in Background” by Max Fischer.
