Record 158,000 Students on Waiting Lists for Charter Public Schools in California

News provided by

California Charter Schools Association

May 04, 2015, 11:00 ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif., May 4, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) released new estimates that show a record 158,000 students are on charter public school waiting lists across the state. When taking into account the number of students who are on more than one charter school waitlist in California that number jumps to approximately 278,000 students.

"Evidence over the past five years argues that the public has never been more supportive of charter public schools than they are right now based on increasingly high parent demand, growth in charter school enrollment, and statewide polling data," said Jed Wallace, president and CEO, CCSA. "This growth in support has occurred during a period when charter public schools have strengthened their performance, especially with historically underserved students."

"As independent public schools, charter schools have the ability to try innovative approaches to teaching and learning in the classroom. And as more families learn that charter public school students are gaining extra weeks and months of learning in math and reading compared to their peers who attend traditional district schools, more families are choosing the charter school option," commented Elizabeth Robitaille, SVP Academic and Performance Management, CCSA.

"We want to ensure every student in the state of California gets the education he or she deserves," continued Wallace. "We need the support of policymakers, charter school leaders, community members and other stakeholders to work together to address the needs of our growing community of charter school parents and students. Which is one reason that today, and each year during National Charter Schools Week, hundreds of charter school supporters rally at the State Capitol to make our voices heard on critical legislation that directly impacts the future of the charter school movement."

Below are unduplicated waitlist estimates for various geographic areas across California. Due to estimation methodology, CCSA only releases estimates for areas that contain 20 or more charter schools.

California Charter School Estimated Waitlist by Geography, 2014-15
	Charters w/ Data*		Avg. Waitlist per Charter		# Students on Waitlists
Regions	2013-14	2014-15	2013-14	2014-15	2013-14	2014-15
Greater LA	338	350	115	152	38,883	53,200
Northeast & Central Valley	301	313	57	137	17,237	42,800
North Coast & Bay	271	279	62	96	16,836	26,700
Southern CA	194	187	95	194	18,336	36,200
School Districts
Los Angeles USD	249	269	146	155	36,300	41,830
San Diego USD	56	55	91	99	5,080	5,440
San Jose**	48	52	91	108	4,360	5,620
Oakland USD	38	38	42	70	1,600	2,680
Counties
Los Angeles	311	325	121	153	37,000	49,840
San Diego	115	112	75	147	8,680	16,470
Santa Clara	53	58	91	110	4,830	6,390
Alameda	56	55	60	82	3,360	4,520
Sonoma	56	55	38	82	2,140	4,530
Sacramento	41	46	81	136	3,330	6,380
San Joaquin	36	39	50	127	1,780	4,940
Fresno	37	36	44	114	1,630	4,090
San Bernardino	35	32	92	235	3,210	7,530
Stanislaus	25	26	38	102	950	2,660
Riverside	26	25	132	312	3,450	7,810
Placer	22	22	74	193	1,630	4,240
Bay Area***	103	110	54	90	5,570	9,940

*We obtained self-reported or estimated data for 1104 schools in 2013-14 and 1130 schools in 2014-15. For complex statistical reasons, a few schools without self-reported data do not obtain estimates.

**Includes the following school districts: San Jose Unified, East Side Union High, and six elementary districts: Alum Rock Union, Cambrian, Campbell Union, Franklin-McKinley, Moreland, Mt. Pleasant.

***Includes the following school 16 districts: San Francisco Unified, Oakland Unified, Hayward Unified, San Lorenzo Unified, West Contra Costa Unified, Mt. Diablo Unified, Pittsburg Unified, Antioch Unified, San Mateo-Foster City, Redwood City Elementary, Ravenswood City Elementary, Alum Rock Union Elementary, East Side Union High, Franklin-McKinley, San Jose Unified, and Novato Unified.

More information:

Contact: Emily Bertelli
(412) 559-8571
[email protected]

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SOURCE California Charter Schools Association