The Colorado League of Charter Schools is excited to have published a report entitled “Shortchanged Charters: How Funding Disparities Hurt Colorado’s Charter Schools” about the state of charter school facilities in Colorado.
This excellent report can be viewed at
http://www.coloradoleague.org/docs/resource/CharterSchoolReport_final33108.pdf
Report Overview:
This past summer the League launched its Facilities 2010 Initiative to develop a long-term blueprint for charter school facilities in our state. In order to ensure that the policy recommendations of this effort were research-based and supported by reliable data, the League contracted with Hutton Architecture Studio to undertake the nation’s most comprehensive assessment of a state’s charter school facilities. The report is based on survey data collected during the 2007-08 school year.
Key findings include:•
•Charter schools are forced to spend operating funds on their facilities.
■ On average, charter schools in Colorado 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.
• Every year tens of thousands of Colorado students are denied a seat in a charter
school because of a lack of available space.
■ An estimated 41,000 students are on waiting lists to get into Colorado charter
schools. A majority (55 percent) of charters 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.
2008
• Most charter schools have limited capacity to serve federally-subsidized meals for
students from lower-income families.
■ Only 28 percent of charter schools have kitchen facilities that qualify them to provide federally-subsidized free and reduced-price meals for students from lower-income families, putting many charter schools at a disadvantage when trying to meet the needs of these students.
• Charter school facilities are too small.
■ More than 71 percent of charter school students in Colorado spend their days in classrooms smaller than local standards for new public school classroom space. About
80 percent of charter school students are in facilities where the total square footage per pupil is smaller than national and local new school standards when adjusted for school size.
• Physical education and recreational options are limited for charter school students.
■ More than a third (39 percent) of charter schools do not have a gym to hold regular
physical education classes and a full third (33 percent) of charter schools do not have a functional athletic field.
• State grant funding for public school facilities has provided little benefit
for charters.
■ Only 5 out of 138 charter schools (4 percent) have received state funding for facilities through grant programs.
• Local bond elections are not a reliable source of funding for charter school facilities.
■ Only 19 percent of charter schools have received bond proceeds through their
authorizing school district.
I really enjoyed this report from the League and I hope you all have a chance to view the results. It is an exciting time for charter schools throughout the state and the nation. Together, we are accomplishing amazing things!
