Washington Business Journal
D.C. ranks No. 2 on charter school list
By Jeff Clabaugh
Friday, October 30, 2009
More than a third of public school students in D.C. attend a charter school, ranking D.C. as No. 2 in the nation in terms of percentage of charter school students.
The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which released city-by-city data, says 36 percent of D.C.’s public school students were enrolled in a charter school in the ’08-’09 school year, up from 25 percent in the ’05-’06 school year. D.C. charter schools had 25,729 students, ranking the city sixth in the nation based on total number of students.
New Orleans ranks No. 1 based on percentage of students enrolled in charter schools, at 57 percent. Detroit was number three at 32 percent.
The rest of the 10 largest charter school cities are Kansas City, Mo.; Dayton; Youngstown, Ohio; St. Louis; Flint, Mich.; Gary, Ind.; Phoenix; and Minneapolis.
Los Angeles, Detroit and Philadelphia are the top three based on total number of students attending charter schools.