A new report reveals that school choice has significantly narrowed the academic performance gap between low-income students and their more affluent peers.
The findings of the Progressive Policy Institute’s (PPI’s) October report underscore the positive impact of public charter schools in driving academic improvements across entire school districts, not just for students attending charter schools.
According to the report, the achievement gap between low-income students and their counterparts in Camden, New Jersey, which had 68 percent of students enrolled in charter schools by 2023, was reduced by 42 percent between the 2010–2011 and 2022–2023 school years.
From 2011 to 2023, the proportion of students attending charter schools in Camden increased, resulting in an increase of more than 20 percent in low-income pupil performance….