California
Charter School Facts
Interesting facts and statistics regarding California
charter schools.
Did you know?
Fact: 621 charter schools were
operating in the 2006-2007 school year.
Fact: Approximately 220,000
students are currently enrolled in charter schools.
Fact: 84 percent of operating
charter schools are start-up schools, and 16 percent are conversion schools.
Fact: 76 percent are site-based,
24 percent are nonclassroom-based or combination site-based and non site-based.
Fact: The largest Public Charter
Schools Grant Program was awarded to California for the 2004-07 grant cycle,
resulting in approximately 250 new charter schools.
Fact: Student achievement
among educationally and economically disadvantaged students in California
public charter schools is improving faster than in non-charter public schools,
according to the studies from the Hoover Institute at Stanford University
(2003), and the School of Education at California State University, Los
Angeles.
Fact: Charter schools are
public education choices in 49 of the 58 counties in California.
Fact: One in 20 schools in
California is a charter school; one in 50 students in California attends
a charter school.
Source:
California Department of Education
Education Demographics Unit
Click:
Here
for the Growth and Qualfity in the Charter School Movement: 2007 Dashboard
Report
Here for a state-by-state
number of charter schools and students in the 2005-06 school year
Here
for more CDE stats
Here
for the Campaign for College Opportunity North Central Valley Regional
Fact Sheet
Here for
stats revealing the benefits of obtaining a college degree
Here
for a Congressional report comparing the San Joaquin Valley with Appalachia
Here
for a statistical tour of California's Great Central Valley
Here
for stats on the growth and quality in the charter school movement
Here for the National
Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
Here
for the North Central San Joaquin Valley Regional Fact Sheet on College
Preparedness
Here
for the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS)
Click
Here
for the latest stats comparing
Merced
County VS State in total number of 12th grade graduates completing courses
required for U.C. and/or C.S.U. entrance
Click
Here
for 2005 Merced County Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) results.
Click
Here
for Merced Union High School District California High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE)
Results
Click
Here for stats on teen pregnancies
and sexually transmitted diseases in Merced County and the whole of California.
Click
Here for Merced County Labor Market
Information
These
statistics
demonstrate the need for more and better means to assure that "underserved"
students do not remain "underserved." As stated above, Merced County
has a greater proportion of Hispanic students than the state average. And,
almost half of these students are English Learners (EL), meaning Spanish is
the preferred language at home. These students start off with a disadvantage.
It is no wonder that many of them do poorly in school or do not take advanced
courses in similar numbers as students with fewer "handicaps."
Additionally,
all Merced County students, except for those of Pacific Islander decent, complete
far fewer courses required for U.C. or C.S.U. entrance than the overall state
average of students. But Hispanic and African-American students are much less
likely to complete these courses than any other ethnic group of students.
Our
mission is to help reverse these statistics by offering educational programs
that are designed to assuring that all capable students are ready for college;
that they receive the proper guidance in high school that allows them to apply
for and receive entrance into a four-year college or university, or an advanced
vocational training program.
Keith
Bandy
March 28, 2008