Expanding school choice, including charters, helps all Missouri children and families | Opinion

As Missouri enters our 26th year of having public charter schools, there is new and growing evidence of student progress, as more families embrace the powerful opportunities of local choice in education.

Two recent national studies show the positive impact of public charter schools in Kansas City and St. Louis, in closing student performance gaps and with increasing enrollments.

A national study out late last year from the 501(c)(3) nonprofit Progressive Policy Institute found that during the last decade, the expansion of high-quality public charter schools in 10 U.S. cities — with Kansas City and St. Louis two of the top three among them — has paralleled rising student performance in both public charters and traditional district schools. This is particularly notable among lower-income students, who made meaningful progress compared to statewide student achievement.

Additionally, a five-year analysis through 2024, conducted by the 501(c)(3) nonprofit National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, shows enrollment grew significantly in public charter schools, including in Kansas City and St. Louis, even as district schools saw big enrollment declines.

Public charter schools have been familiar for decades in Missouri’s two largest metropolitan areas. The 2024 legislative session expanded public charter schools to Boone County, though local school boards could sponsor charters across the state.

For readers in communities less familiar with charters: These are free, public, non-profit schools that are open to all — autonomous, innovative, and intensely student- and community-focused.

Charter schools are run based on the philosophy that students may be different, but different is not a deficiency — it is an opportunity. And the opportunity should not be limited by a family’s ZIP code or financial status. Parents should be — and deserve to be — empowered to find public schools that can unlock the individual potential of their child.

The five-year study showed that in St. Louis, with 39% of students enrolled in public charter schools, the gap between lower-income students and all students narrowed by 30%. An even larger percentage of Kansas City students, 46%, are enrolled in charters, and the performance gap closed by 31%. This is progress, but there is still much to be done.

The PPI study provides insights about the dynamic of students in both district and charter schools seeing progress because of choices. A measure of success for both types of public schools is demand, and we are seeing the effects of a rising tide lifting all boats. And, to be sure, a rising tide is what we desire.

The win has been, and always will be, excellent educational opportunities and choices for Missouri students and families — traditional district, charter, private and homeschool. To this end, I commend Gov. Mike Kehoe for declaring his support of school choice in his State of the State address and his vision for all Missouri’s children to get a quality education. The governor said he is “a proud supporter of education in all its forms — public schools, private schools, charter schools — as long Missouri’s children are getting a quality education.”

A cornerstone of public charter schools is a respect that parents want choices — not frustratingly being told what is not possible for their children. In every Missouri charter school, students are there by choice, with parents making affirmative decisions to enroll based on the school that best fits their child’s needs.

A key is that public charter schools are free to innovate. Decision-making happens hand in hand with students and families. Charters have more flexibility in curriculum, calendars and focusing on particular areas of learning as a school mission, from science to arts to language immersion to leadership, among many subjects.

In exchange for this flexibility and freedom, charter schools are held to strict accountability standards by sponsors and local oversight boards. The new studies indicate the presence of high-quality charter schools mean all schools — traditional district and charter — must do right by families to keep families. That is a good thing.

Indeed, we share a goal of helping students learn and flourish, for our society’s — and the Show-Me State’s — greater benefit.

The takeaway from these studies is that choices are good for students and families, and high-quality charter schools are driving this positive dynamic.

It is my hope that more Missouri families will, sooner than later, have these choices and that Missouri embraces a system of educational choice with one winner in mind: kids.