Students who are “difficult to educate” are not enrolling in public charter schools at rates as high as other students. One researcher says a system used in Colorado could be the answer.
Denver uses a simplified common enrollment system for its charter schools. The form requires parents to rank their school preferences, which leads to better matches between families and schools.
The form makes it easier for families to apply, and that leads to more enrollment from the most disadvantaged student groups, according to Marcus Winters. Winters is a senior fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute, where I used to be employed.
Students with disabilities, racial minorities, students learning English as a second language and those eligible for free or reduced-price lunch all fall under Winters’s classification of disadvantaged students.
“Denver’s adoption of common enrollment substantially increased the proportion of students enrolling in charter kindergartens who are minority, eligible for free/reduced-priced lunch or speak English as a second language,” Winters writes in a report published Thursday.
Students with disabilities were not more likely to enroll after the common enrollment system was introduced. But that was likely the result of special regulations in Denver that made it more difficult for them to use the common enrollment system.
Not only is common enrollment simpler, it also centralizes enrollment into one system. That way, families don’t have to apply to individual charter schools.
The enrollment gap in charter schools takes place when students enter the schools, not when they leave them prematurely, Winters says. That makes the common enrollment system all the more important when it comes to closing the gap. Winters writes, “An effective way to boost disadvantaged students’ enrollment in charters is to make applying to them easier.”
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
