ERIC Number: EJ807896
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004-Oct
Pages: 11
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1525-1810
EISSN: N/A
When Do Charter Schools Enroll Students with Disabilities?
Arsen, David; Ray, Lisa
Journal of Special Education Leadership, v17 n2 p71-81 Oct 2004
This paper seeks to shift debate from the question of whether charter schools are serving their "fair share" of students with disabilities to the more fruitful question of how finance and choice policies influence special education enrollment rates in charter schools. A school's incentive to enroll a student with disabilities depends on the difference between the additional revenues it receives versus the additional costs it incurs for serving that student. There are large interstate variations in special education enrollment rates in charter schools, and this correlates with state reimbursement rates for special education costs. Our analysis of intrastate patterns considers the effect of charter school size, age, for-profit management status, and autonomy from local school districts on their enrollment of students with disabilities. Evidence from Michigan indicates that special education enrollment rates are much more uniform across school districts than charter schools, and, among other things, the rate increases as charter schools become older. (Contains 6 tables, 2 figures and 6 footnotes.)
Descriptors: Charter Schools, School Size, Disabilities, School Districts, Costs, Special Education, Enrollment Trends, Special Needs Students, School Choice, Educational Finance, State Aid, Compensation (Remuneration), Institutional Autonomy, Governance
Council of Administrators of Special Education. Fort Valley State University, 1005 State University Drive, Fort Valley, GA 31030. Tel: 478-825-7667; Fax: 478-825-7811; Web site: http://www.casecec.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Michigan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A