More than 100,000 students in the nation's second-largest district were now enrolled in charters, draining more than $500 million from the budget in a single academic year.More generally, in urban districts across the country:
If current trends continue, the district could be significantly diminished in another 10 years - at least a third smaller than at the start of the century.
In most states, schools receive funding on a per-pupil basis, and the majority of those dollars follow students when they leave for a charter.The public schools have, for decades, been forced to pursue goals other than educating students. Their public image has suffered terribly thereby.
Some charter advocates believe the resulting fiscal strain will eventually have a positive effect by pushing districts to be more competitive and provide better services. Yet there's no clear evidence of that.
Others also question how much charters are ultimately responsible for woeful district finances, pointing instead to other factors such as rising pension and health care costs, inflexible staffing allocations and low state funding.
Charter schools help parents dodge the screwed-up priorities of the public schools. Expect charters to thrive unless the same creeping paralysis overtakes them, which it may.
