Attrition rates are lower at New York City charter schools than at district-run public schools, according to a WNYC analysis of district data.
Citywide, 10.6 percent of charter school students transferred out in 2013-14, compared to 13 percent of traditional public school students, reports Beth Fertig and Jenny Ye.
Only one student left KIPP’s Washington Heights Middle School in 2013-14, an attrition rate of less than 1 percent.
Other studies show “charters lose a smaller share of special-needs students than district schools, she writes.
KIPP’s “no excuses” schools lost students at one-quarter the rate of district schools. The Icahn network, which is more “huggy,” had one-third the attrition rate.
Success Academy, which has very high test scores, has been accused of pushing out unwanted students. The New York Times reported on a “got to go” list of difficult students kept by the principal of a Success school in Brooklyn,
Yet, “most of Success’s 18 schools in the 2013-14 school year had attrition rates that were lower than those of their local districts,” report Fertig and Ye. Only two schools were slightly higher. Overall, the attrition rate for Success Academy schools was 57 percent of the rate at district schools.
Two stand-alone charters posted high attrition rates, WNYC found. Both have closed.
Alexander Russo wonders why the story has received little attention.
