SCHOOL
CHOICE MARKET CONTINUES TO EXPAND
"The most callused aspect of the
current education monopoly in Arkansas is that it willingly and deliberately
forces children--except those whose parents have wealth--to attend bad schools.”
Policy
Foundation report,1
September 1998
(June 2016) Records show the Arkansas
school choice market continues to expand, growing expanded from an estimated
66,627 K-12 students in 20132 to 70,533 in 2015. The niche market includes
students participating in public school choice programs, and homeschooled,
private and charter students.
The
School Choice Market in Arkansas
School choice has advanced since
Foundation analysts Allyson Tucker and Donna Watson wrote their 1996 study
recommending charters and Murphy Commission studies advanced other options in
three 1998 education studies.
Segments of the Arkansas school choice
market include the following groups:
·
Charter
school students 19,1793
·
Public
school choice students 13,9094
·
Homeschooled
students 17,9045
·
Private
school students 19,5416
Total
(2015) 70,533
--Greg Kaza
1 “Arkansas' Public
Schools: A Thirty Year $20 Billion Taxpayer Investment Yields An
Unprecedented Crisis in Academic Performance.” The study is dedicated to the
late Karen L. Henry (1951-1998), who was a Policy Foundation board member.
2
"Arkansas School Choice Market Expands" (Policy Foundation research
memo) February 2014
3 National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
4 The three percent (3%) cap established by the
Public School Choice Act of 2015 limits expansion of this market component. http://www.apscn.org/sis/hdr/PublicSchoolChoiceActOf2015.pdf
http://www.arkansased.gov/public/userfiles/Public_School_Accountability/Equity_Assistance/Three_Percent_School_Choice_K_12_by_LEA_Oct_1_2015.pdf
5 Arkansas Department of Education Home School Report, 2014-15
6 ANSAA Directory 2013-14, http://www.ansaa.com/memberschools.htm