ARKANSAS SCHOOL CHOICE MARKET NEARS 80,000 STUDENTS  

“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,11998

(January 2018) Records show the Arkansas school choice market continues to grow at a high rate, expanding from an estimated 66,627 K-12 students (2013)2 to 79,325 (2017). This niche educational market includes students eligible to participate in public school choice programs, capped at three percent (3%) of enrollment; and homeschooled, private and charter students.

The Arkansas School Choice Market

School choice has advanced since Foundation analysts Allyson Tucker and Donna Watson wrote their landmark 1996 study recommending charters. The Murphy Commission studies advanced other options in three 1998 studies.

Subsequent Foundation research contributed to the policy debate about charters’ viability. Arkansas policymakers expanded student access to charters in 1999, 2005, 2007, 2011, and 2013.

The Arkansas school choice market includes the following student groups:

Charter school students                      25,4913

Private school students                       20,1914

Public school choice students             14,1235

Homeschooled students                      19,5206

Total                                                    79,325

–Greg Kaza

APPENDIX: Arkansas Charter School Enrollment (2017-18)

Conversion Charters7

Open Enrollment Charters8

1 “Arkansas’ Public Schools: A Thirty Year $20 Billion Taxpayer Investment Yields An Unprecedented Crisis in Academic Performance.”

2 “Arkansas School Choice Market Expands” (Policy Foundation research memo) February 2014

3 http://www.arkansased.gov/contact-us/charter-schools/charter_school_categories/district-conversion;

http://www.arkansased.gov/contact-us/charter-schools/charter_school_categories/open-enrollment; https://myschoolinfo.arkansas.gov/

4 ADE, https://adedata.arkansas.gov/statewide/Schools/PrivateSchools.aspx

5 ADE, https://adedata.arkansas.gov/statewide/State/SchoolChoice.aspx

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

6 Arkansas Department of Education Home School Report, 2016-17

7 http://www.arkansased.gov/contact-us/charter-schools/charter_school_categories/district-conversion

8 http://www.arkansased.gov/contact-us/charter-schools/charter_school_categories/open-enrollment