The National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools has released a report that draws on data from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights to determine how well charter schools are doing at educating students with disabilities. A few key findings:
- Charter schools enroll a lower percentage of students with disabilities (10.8%) than traditional public schools (12.8%), but the gap has decreased since 2008.
- In both traditional and charter schools, male students are disproportionately likely to be identified as having a disability. For male students, this happens more in charter schools than in traditional schools, although charter schools vary more by state. For Black students, the proportion is the same for traditional and charter schools.
- Charter schools enroll a higher percentage of students with autism and emotional disturbance than traditional public schools.
- Students with disabilities experience higher suspension and expulsion rates than other students in both traditional and charter schools, with charters showing more a disproportionate suspension rate than traditional schools.
- Charter schools that are not part of their local district enroll more students with disabilities, have more students with disabilities spending more time in general education, and suspend more students (with and without disabilities) than charters that are part of their local district.
- The number of charters designed to educate students with disabilities is growing, with 28 new schools identified in the latest data.
The full report includes detailed national and state data related to specific disabilities, general and special education placements, disciplinary practices, and charter school types, as well as recommendations for federal, state, and local stakeholders. The website features interactive visualizations of the data.
Source: Rhim, L.M., Kothari, S., Lancet, S. (2019, November). Key trends in special education in charter schools in 2015-2016: Secondary analysis of the Civil Rights Data Collection. New York, NY: National Center for Special Education in Charter Schools.
