Assessing the Accessibility of Bergen County Charter Schools

Abstract

Charter schools are a relatively new and controversial form of public education. They are publicly funded but operated by independent groups; so, despite being held to the same standards as traditional public schools, they have more autonomy over curriculum and design as they do not operate within local school districts. One of the key requirements of public schools is that they are open and accessible to all students. Some worry that in the case of charter schools, selectivity in their enrollment processes means this requirement is not adequately met. In an effort to add to the existing research on charter school accessibility and publicness, this study seeks to understand if inequitable accessibility is an inherent issue to the charter school model. Using a convergent (QUAN+QUAL) mixed method study I examine Bergen County’s three charter schools by coding for a possible presence of enrollment shaping in their student demographics and approaches to access in school operations. This study adds to the existing understanding of charter school accessibility by providing a local and in-depth analysis of the charter schools located in one county. The findings of this study suggest that charter schools are inherently inequitably accessible, however that this issue can potentially be mitigated through intentional steps to broaden access to disadvantaged student groups. As these results are confined to Bergen County, I suggest that future studies be conducted between different states, assessing for correlation between state charter school policy and individual school approaches to equity and access.