by Maureen Sullivan
Forbes
November 30, 2015
More children attend charter schools in Los Angeles – 151,310 – than in any other district in the country. Post-Katrina New Orleans remains the district with the highest percentage – 93% – of students in charter schools. And the number of charter school students in New York City has quadrupled since 2008, but they make up just 8% of the total number of children enrolled in public schools.
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Despite pressure from parents and legislators to join the movement, seven states continue to ban charters. They are Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kentucky, West Virginia and Vermont. Alabama left that list when it passed a charter school law earlier this year. The Center for Education Reform compiles the numbers as part of its yearly Parent Power Index. An interactive map displays all the different types of school choice that are available around the country.
Indiana tops the index and gains the title “reformiest” in the union. Last year, 3.3% of the more than 1 million students there attended charter schools. The Parent Power Index gives Indiana an A, the only state to earn that grade. Some of the reasons they cite include pro-reform Governor Mitch Daniels and
- A road-tested charter school law that offers parents a variety of options;
- A statewide program that allows parents to choose private schools for their children;
- Digital learning opportunities; and
- Teacher-quality measures that allow for greater transparency.
Montana, with a score of zero and an F rating, comes out last in the Parent Power Index. There is hope. The state passed a tax-credit scholarship program this year but it’s so new that it hasn’t been fully evaluated.