Good Authorizing, Great Charter Schools

Quality charter school authorizing is essential to creating an environment where top-notch charter schools can flourish.

In PennCAN’s issue brief, Good Authorizing, Great Charter Schools, we explore Pennsylvania’s opportunity to improve the way it authorizes charter schools so that families across the state can access the school options they crave.

By adding a high-quality statewide charter school authorizer, the Keystone state will increase authorizing capacity, improve the overall quality of Pennsylvania charter schools, and ensure that excellent charter schools can serve all of the students who want to attend them.

Some of our findings include:

• Nationwide, 13 states permit higher education institutions to authorize charter schools.
• In the last four years, 87 percent of SUNY authorized charter schools outperformed their school districts in mathematics, and 84 percent outperformed their districts in English-language arts.
• Of the schools authorized by CMU, 94 percent met or outperformed their school districts on state assessments, and six are among the top ten charter schools in the entire state.
• In Pennsylvania, there are 40,000 students on charter school waiting lists. Adding a high-quality statewide charter school authorizer, the Keystone state will increase authorizing capacity, improve the overall quality of Pennsylvania charter schools, and ensure that excellent charter schools can serve all of the students who want to attend them.