Public charter schools are making a positive difference. That’s the main conclusion from Stanford’s Center for Research on Educational Outcomes (CREDO) analysis. The CREDO study has been produced three times – once in 2009, again in 2013 and the latest version in 2023. More than 3.7 million students across 43 states attend charter schools, including in Idaho and Washington. Montana has just recently legalized public charter schools. Charter schools are public schools that operate under governing board that is separate and distinct from local school districts. Doing so allows for flexibility, even as the charter schools must submit to accountability reviews to remain open. Some of Idaho’s charter schools are considered the best schools in the state. Still, opponents have used previous versions of the CREDO analysis as well as other studies to call into question the effectiveness of charter school education. That ends now. The latest CREDO study shows increases in outcomes for just about every student category in nearly all states. The typical charter school student had math and reading gains that outpaced peers in traditional public schools. In math, charter schools advanced learning by an additional six days. In reading, charter school students advanced 16 days of learning each year. While these numbers are national averages, certain state by state data shows even stronger gains. Idaho’s charter school students gained an additional 17 days of learning in reading. Washington’s advancement approached 30 days. In Math, Washington students advanced almost 40 days while Idaho students advanced eight. Researchers at Stanford say the work specifically focuses on a specific outcome – whether the students are making progress over the academic year. Do all students benefit? The CREDO research shows: Black and Hispanic students in charter schools advance more than their TPS peers by large margins in math and reading. Multiracial, Native American and White students in charter schools show equivalent progress to their TPS peers in reading but have weaker growth than their TPS peers in math. Asian students in charter schools showed similar growth to their TPS peers. Charter school students in poverty had stronger growth. English-language learner students attending charter schools had stronger growth. Students receiving special education services had significantly weaker growth in both math and reading. Because the CREDO research has been consistently reviewing the performance of charter schools for more than 15 years, it can certainly be labeled one of the most if not the most credible of major charter school studies. “Findings from the 2023 report take on even more weight when considered in the historical context of the 15 years we have studied the impact of charter schools. Between the 2009 and 2023 studies, against a backdrop of flat performance for the nation, the trend of learning gains for students enrolled in charter schools is both large and positive. Over the 15 years covered by the studies, the reading growth of students in charter schools rose by 23 days of learning each year. In the same period, student learning in math increased by 37 days of learning each year.”

Sometimes it can be hard to remain hopeful when doing my daily news review. Story after story shows the struggles families and small businesses face as they attempt to pursue their American dream. But occasionally there is a story about lemons, lemonade, balance sheets, and encouraging kids to become entrepreneurs. As reported by NBC Montana: “When life gives you lemons, you learn about business. Lemonade Day Flathead teaches kindergarten through eighth graders how to run their own business. Children will set up their own lemonade stands across Flathead County on Saturday [June 24].” The organizers of Lemonade Day Flathead further explain: “Help us empower today’s youth to be tomorrow’s entrepreneurs! Lemonade Day Flathead started in 2020 and is a free, fun, experiential learning program that teaches youth how to start, own and operate their own business – a lemonade stand. The foremost objective of Lemonade Day is to empower youth to take ownership of their lives and become productive members of society – the business leaders, social advocates, volunteers, and forward-thinking citizens of tomorrow. Each child that registers will learn valuable lessons throughout the Lemonade Day program like creating budgets, setting profit-making goals, serving customers, repaying investors, and giving back to the community. Along the way, they will acquire skills in goal-setting, problem-solving, and gain self-esteem critical for future success. Kids keep all the money they make and are encouraged to spend some, save some and share some.” This fun story reminds me of a recent business pitch my youngest daughter made to me to sell cookies in our driveway. If we provide the budding entrepreneurs of today with the tools they need to succeed --- a strong financial literacy education and a favorable tax and regulatory climate as they get older, we can watch their driveway table stands of today turn into the jobs and industries that will drive our economy tomorrow.

Schools may be on summer break but the education funding debate in Idaho continues to heat up. After the governor and legislature increased school funding by $330 million this year, confusion surrounding how the funds would be distributed has re-started the debate about basing distributions on attendance versus enrollment and whether other changes are needed to the state’s K-12 funding model. As reported by the Idaho Statesman: “This year, the Legislature approved Little’s recommendation to infuse $145 million in the career ladder, the state’s uniform teacher salary system. But school districts often hire more teachers than the state provides funding for, and school finance officers have some discretion to distribute the funds. That means teacher raises will look different in each district. An added wrinkle is the upcoming reversion to attendance-based school funding. Idaho is among a handful of states that fund schools based on attendance. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the Idaho State Board of Education enacted a temporary rule allowing enrollment-based funding, which allowed schools to collect state money based on how many students were enrolled — not on how many attended. The temporary rule stabilized school budgets as attendance dropped during the pandemic, but it’s expiring at the end of this month.” Although some claim that by using attendance-based funding again state officials are breaking a “promise” for the increased education funding, all the dollars allocated this session will remain available for education spending, regardless of how distributed. I confirmed this fact with Jared Tatro, Deputy Division Manager of Budget & Policy Analysis for the Idaho Legislative Services Office: “Any money in excess of the appropriation that was not distributed to schools is deposited in to the public education stabilization fund (PESF). Now PESF is full (at its statutory cap of 8.334% of the state funding appropriated to schools), which means it will be deposited into the Bond Levy Equalization Fund. Bottom line, the money appropriated for schools will stay with schools in one form or another.” See Idaho Code 33-907 According to the Education Commission of the States, Idaho is one of just six states that currently uses attendance-based funding. Here is a comparison of how Western states determine school funding (attendance-based bolded): Alaska – Enrollment Arizona – Enrollment California – Attendance Colorado – Enrollment Idaho – Attendance Montana – Enrollment Nevada – Enrollment Oregon – Average Daily Membership (enrollment) Utah – Average Daily Membership (enrollment) Washington – Enrollment Wyoming – Average Daily Membership (enrollment) There are good arguments for both funding models. Enrollment-based funding advocates say it helps provide more predictability for traditional schools and charter schools to make budget decisions. Attendance-based funding supporters say it helps incentivize school officials to ensure chronic absenteeism doesn’t occur. This isn’t a new debate for Idaho. As reported by Idaho Statesman: “In 2022, the Legislature passed a bill that would have continued enrollment-based funding through the upcoming school year, but Little vetoed it. ‘Gov. Little believes education should be in-person and student-focused in order to improve student outcomes,’ Little’s spokesperson, Madison Hardy, told the Idaho Statesman by email. ‘We will continue to monitor efforts to improve school attendance to pre-pandemic levels and will make any necessary adjustments in collaboration with the Legislature, education leaders and stakeholders.’” I reached out to state officials for their thoughts on what should happen next. State Superintendent Debbie Critchfield told me: “There are valid reasons to prefer enrollment or attendance and both models have their supporters. I think we all agree that what we have isn’t meeting expectations. I’ve started work this summer to convene a group of policymakers and education stakeholders to work towards modernizing school funding. I believe we can provide districts the budgeting consistency they’re looking for while addressing our focus of having kids in school.” Rep. Wendy Horman confirmed that a collaborative effort to update Idaho’s K-12 funding model is occurring: “It is time to modernize Idaho’s school funding model. I am working on a bill with Sen. Lori Den Hartog and education stakeholders with these guiding principles: Modernize Idaho’s public school funding formula to one that incentivizes strategic and effective spending driven by local decision-making in order to accelerate student achievement. The model shall: 1. Be easy to understand, transparent, flexible, and sustainable; 2. Be student-centered; 3. Retain certain categorial funding; and 4. Shift away from seat time to course completion.” No matter which direction the future K-12 funding debate heads, the increased education spending allocated this year according to the Idaho Legislative Services Office will stay within the system: “Bottom line, the money appropriated for schools will stay with schools in one form or another.”