Charter schools in Tennessee

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Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

Charter schools in Tennessee are public schools operated independently of public school systems, either by nonprofit or for-profit organizations. Although they are largely publicly funded, charter schools are exempt from many of the requirements imposed by state and local boards of education regarding hiring and curriculum. As public schools, charter schools cannot charge tuition or impose special entrance requirements; students are usually admitted through a lottery process if demand exceeds the number of spaces available in a school. Charter schools generally receive a percentage of the per-pupil funds from the state and local school districts for operational costs based on enrollment. In most states, charter schools do not receive funds for facilities or start-up costs; therefore, they must rely to some extent on private donations. The federal government also provides revenues through special grants. As of March 2017, 44 states and the District of Columbia had approved legislation authorizing the creation of public charter schools. Six states had not.

HIGHLIGHTS

According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a charter school advocacy group, there were an estimated 100 total charter schools in Tennessee in the 2015-2016 school year. These schools enrolled approximately 33,300 students.

Overall, charter school students accounted for 3.32 percent of total public school enrollment in Tennessee in 2015.

The Tennessee State Legislature approved the state's charter school law in 2002.

Background

History

The Tennessee State Legislature approved Tennessee's charter school law in 2002.

The concept of creating public charter schools as alternatives to traditional public schools was first brought to public attention in the late 1980s by a small group of policymakers and educators. The notion gained traction in the early 1990s, and in 1991 Minnesota became the first state to pass a charter school law.

The National Conference of State Legislatures defines charter schools as follows:

“	Charter schools are publicly funded, privately managed and semi-autonomous schools of choice. They do not charge tuition. They must hold to the same academic accountability measures as traditional schools. They receive public funding similarly to traditional schools. However, they have more freedom over their budgets, staffing, curricula and other operations. In exchange for this freedom, they must deliver academic results and there must be enough community demand for them to remain open.	”
—National Conference of State Legislatures

Across the nation, charter schools have grown in number since the passage of the first public charter school law. As of March 2017, 44 states plus the District of Columbia had enacted charter school laws, and in 2013 it was estimated that 4.6 percent of all public school students attended charter schools. Performance results of charter schools nationally have been mixed, with some performing demonstrably better and others closing because they could not meet required standards.

Tennessee's public charter school law was passed and signed into law in 2002 and the state's first charter schools opened in 2003.

Participation

According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a charter school advocacy group, there were an estimated 100 total charter schools in Tennessee in the 2015-2016 school year. These schools enrolled approximately 33,300 students. Overall, charter school students accounted for 3.32 percent of total public school enrollment in Tennessee in 2015.

Charter schools, 2015-2016
State	Total number of charter schools	Estimated enrollment	Percentage of total public school enrollment
Tennessee	100	33,300	3.32%
North Carolina	161	82,000	5.30%
South Carolina	68	31,300	4.15%
Missouri	68	20,800	2.28%
United States total	6,824	2,930,600	5.85%
Note: The percentages in the column labeled "Percentage of total public school enrollment" were calculated by taking the estimated number of charter school students in a given state and dividing by the total estimated number of public school students in that state in 2015. Total public school enrollment estimates came from the National Center for Education Statistics. Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "A Closer Look at the Charter School Movement," February 3, 2016

Demographics

See also: Charter school demographics and Demographic information for all students in the United States

The table below presents information about the race/ethnicity of charter school students in Tennessee in the 2013-2014 school year, as reported by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. To facilitate comparison, the same figures are also provided for all public school students.

Enrollments by ethnicity, 2013-2014 (as percentages)
Data sample	White	Black	Hispanic	Asian	Other
Charter schools in Tennessee	4.0%	87.0%	8.0%	0.5%	0.5%
Public schools in Tennessee	65.6%	22.9%	7.8%	1.8%	1.9%
Charter schools in the U.S.	34.9%	27.1%	30.0%	4.1%	3.8%
Public schools in the U.S.	50.3%	15.6%	24.8%	4.8%	4.4%
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, "Table 203.70. Percentage distribution of enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools, by race/ethnicity and state or jurisdiction: Fall 2003 and fall 2013," accessed June 7, 2016 National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Charter Public School Movement: A State-by-State Analysis," March 2016

State law

Authorizers

Charter school authorizers are, according to the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), the organizations "designated to approve, monitor, renew, and, if necessary, close charter schools." NASCA has identified six primary types of charter school authorizers:

1. Higher education institutions (HEI)
2. Independent charter boards (ICB)
3. Local education agencies (LEA)
4. Non-education government entities (NEG)
5. Not-for-profit organizations (NFP)
6. State education agencies

The table below lists charter school authorizers in Tennessee as of June 2016. Click [show] to expand the table's contents.

Charter school authorizers in Tennessee, June 2016
Authorizer	Authorizer type
Hamilton County Department of Education	LEA
Nashville Metro Public Schools	LEA
Shelby County Schools	LEA
Tennessee Achievement School District	ICB
Source: National Association of Charter School Authorizers, "Tennessee Authorizers," accessed June 15, 2016

Enrollment regulations

Tennessee law prohibits schools from denying students enrollment for any reason. However, until 2011, the law did limit charter schools to serving only at-risk students. Although that law has been changed, the majority of students in Tennessee charter schools are experiencing some academic difficulty in one way or another.

Funding

The way charter schools are financed differs from state to state, and even between districts within states. Tennessee charter schools are financed through local school districts by receiving a percentage of the district's per-pupil funding. The state also allows schools to apply for bonds to be used for construction, and grants schools the ability to use certain funds for facility-related needs.

Accountability

See also: Accountability measures for charter schools

Tennessee law provides three reasons for which a charter may be terminated. A charter can be terminated or refused renewal if it violates one of the main provisions of its charter, fails to meet accepted standards for financial responsibility, or in some way commits an act that is grounds for non-approval in the original charter application process. The charter could also be revoked if the school does not demonstrate any measurable improvement and becomes classified as a "priority" school under the state's general accountability system.

Charter school law rankings

In January 2016, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released a report ranking all of the nation's charter school laws. Tennessee's law ranked 34 out of 43. The organization ranked each state's law by considering what it called "20 essential components of a strong charter school law." The table below compares Tennessee's score with that of neighboring states. To access the full report, including methodology, click here.

Charter school law rankings, January 2016
State	2016 ranking	2015 ranking	Ranking difference	2016 score	2015 score	Score difference
Tennessee	34	32	-2	124	120	4
North Carolina	14	16	2	152	148	4
South Carolina	13	10	-3	152	152	0
Missouri	30	27	-3	132	132	0
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "Measuring Up To The Model: A Ranking of State Charter School Laws," January 2016

Issues

Debate

Proponents of charter schools such as the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools argue that, due to their freedom from some state oversight and regulation, they can adopt more innovative educational approaches. This allows them to cater to their particular higher-risk school age populations, which are generally composed of more minority and poor students. In addition, advocates argue that charter schools empower parents and improve traditional public schools through competition.

Meanwhile, critics such as Diane Ravitch argue that charter schools have not been proven to produce significantly higher levels of academic achievement as promised. It is difficult to find data comparable to traditional public schools. Critics also contend that charter schools divert funds from traditional public schools, which continue to enroll significant majorities of public school students, thereby compounding problems at failing schools and generating unequal outcomes for students.

Funding inequity

In 2014, the University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform released a report identifying disparities between charter school funding and traditional public school funding. Examining 31 states, the researchers considered all sources of charter school funding, including public funds, grants, and philanthropic donations. Researchers found that charter schools received on average 28.4 percent less than traditional public schools. Tennessee's funding disparity was lowest at 0.1 percent, while Louisiana's was highest at 58.4 percent. The disparity in Tennessee was 0.1 percent, earning the state an A grade. Charter schools in the state received on average $15 more per pupil than traditional public schools.

Below is a chart that compares Tennessee's grade and funding disparity with those of surrounding states. To access the full report, click here.

Charter school funding disparity by state
State	Grade	District per-pupil revenue	Charter per-pupil revenue	Disparity in dollars	Disparity in percents
Tennessee	A	$10,621	$10,635	$15	0.1%
North Carolina	D	$9,988	$8,277	-$1,710	-17.1%
South Carolina	D	$11,019	$9,082	-$1,938	-17.6%
Missouri	F	$18,073	$13,390	-$4,682	-25.9%
Source: University of Arkansas Department of Education Reform, "Charter School Funding: Inequity Expands," accessed October 22, 2014

Charter school management organizations and other groups

See also: Charter school management organization

In the 2010-2011 school year, 25 schools in Tennessee were freestanding and four operated under charter management organizations. None operated under education management organizations.

Tennessee has one charter school advocacy organization, named the Tennessee Charter School Center, and no state authorizers.

Tennessee primarily uses local education agencies as authorizers; there is no state agency that authorizes across the state on behalf of the department of education. However, the state department has given the state's Achievement School District, or ASD, the power to authorize charter schools within its own district. The ASD currently functions only in Memphis and Nashville, but may create or convert new charter schools to provide more options for students within the district.

Innovation

See also: Charter school innovation indicators and High-performing charter schools

Charter school proponents argue that charter schools have the freedom to adopt more innovative practices, which in turn lead to improved academic performance. To get a sense of the level of innovation occurring in charter schools, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools surveyed charter schools across the country on the various innovative education practices they employed. In Tennessee, an average of 22 percent of charter schools reported using innovative practices in the 2011-2012 school year. The table below displays the prevalence of a variety of innovative practices in Tennessee as a percentage of all charter schools in the state. The figures are compared with those in surrounding states.

Charter schools with innovative practices, in percents (2011-2012)
State	Extended day	Extended year	Year-round calendar	Independent study	School-to-work	Higher education courses	Average
Tennessee	86%	33%	14%	0%	0%	0%	22%
North Carolina	25%	15%	18%	23%	13%	25%	20%
South Carolina	63%	33%	15%	26%	19%	19%	29%
Missouri	75%	53%	18%	12%	0%	25%	30%
Source: National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, "The Health of the Public Charter School Movement: A State-By-State Analysis," accessed October 3, 2014

Ballot measures and legislation

Ballot measures

See also: School choice on the ballot and List of Tennessee ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked no statewide ballot measures relating to school choice in Tennessee.

Legislation

The following is a list of recent charter school bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Tennessee state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Tennessee charter school. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Charter schools in Tennessee - Google News

See also

• Charter schools
• Charter school statistics for all 50 states
• School choice
• Public education in Tennessee
• School choice in Tennessee
• Tennessee Department of Education
• Charter school management organization

External links

• National Alliance for Public Charter Schools
• National Association of Charter School Authorizers