State rankings in charter laws and charter performance
According to the National Alliance’s report, Minnesota is the “top-ranked” state for charter laws, with Maryland as the “lowest ranked” state.
The three states that made the biggest moves in the rankings are:
- Indiana: The state moved up seven spots from the 2013 data, from No. 9 to No. 2 for enacting legislation to strengthen the charter renewal process, create new guidelines for governing relationships with educational service providers, and encourage the expansion of high-quality charter schools.
- Mississippi: The state moved up 29 spots from No. 43 in 2013 (the lowest ranked state) to No. 14. Their jump was due to a “significant overhaul of the law” that now allows start-up charter schools, stronger autonomy, accountability, and funding than the previous law, as well as creates a new state authorizer, notes the report.
- Idaho: The state moved up 12 spots, from No. 32 to No. 20, for passing two different laws. The first strengthened accountability for charter schools and the second provided funding for charter school families.
Outside of these states’ “improvements,” three states partially or entirely removed caps on the number of charter schools allowed, 12 states improved their support for charter school funding and facilities, and 13 states strengthened their authorizing processes.
The states that the CREDO report indicates have the best performing charter schools also place high on the National Alliance’s rankings.
For example, here are CREDO’s best-performing states with their Alliance rankings:
- Louisiana-No. 3
- Massachusetts-No. 11
- D.C.-No. 10
- New York-No. 7
However, CREDO’s worst-performing states aren’t that far behind in Alliance rankings:
- Nevada-No. 13
- Arkansas-No. 29
- Arizona-No. 16
- Oregon-No. 27
“While some states fell in the rankings simply because other states enacted stronger laws, it is important to note that these changes represent progress for the overall movement,” said Rees, “not black eyes for any set of states.”
She concluded: “We hope this report can be used by public charter school supporters to help them push for laws that support the creation of high-quality public charter schools, particularly for those students most in need of a better public school option.”
Because CREDO’s worst-performing charter school states still manage to score relatively high on the National Alliance’s rankings, the question still remains: Do progressive state charter school laws equate high-performing charter schools?
Once again, it looks like more data is needed.
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