Kentucky Tonight – Lots of Charter School Myths #5

Note: This one is really an outgrowth of Monday’s KET show.

On a radio talk show today I was challenged by a caller claiming charter schools get a lot more money per pupil than regular public schools receive.

The caller specifically cited an astronomical $35,000 per pupil cost for charter schools in Washington, DC.

I was shocked and went checking. This is what the Center for Education Reform reports each state’s charter and regular public school funding actually is. As you can see, the caller was way off the mark for Washington DC, where charter schools on average get only 61 percent of the funding that regular public schools in that city receive.

(click on the table to enlarge, if necessary)