Charter schools are helping students succeed in college, career and life
AS student enrollment in public schools across the state continues to change, one notable trend is the large increase in Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) families choosing a charter public school for their child’s education over the past decade.
According to an enrollment analysis by the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) of California Department of Education (CDE) data, AAPI enrollment in charter public schools grew by 78 percent from 2012-2023, outpacing enrollment growth for all students (66 percent).
AAPI students now represent six percent of charter public school students in 2023, up from three percent in 2012. These numbers suggest a growing sentiment that charter public schools provide the education options that parents and students want in a public school.
Some of the most common AAPI background of students at charter public schools include Vietnamese, Filipino, Chinese, and Korean. Charter public schools like the O’Farrell Charter School in San Diego and Yav Pem Suab in Sacramento were founded to bring high-quality educational options to AAPI communities.
“For three decades, charter public schools across California have offered families the opportunity for their children to receive a high-quality education with the rigor and supports needed to help students enter college and succeed,” said Mr. Oliver Sicat, Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder of Ednovate Schools and a Board Member of the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association. “Charter schools offer families the opportunity to be creative with design, curriculum, and supports to ensure students don’t just finish high school but are positioned well for what comes next: to enter college and succeed.”
Ednovate schools are a network of public, tuition-free, high-performing college prep high schools in Los Angeles and Orange County that primarily serve first-generation college-bound students. They have a 99 percent college acceptance rate for their students.
California charter public schools are preparing students for college with focused learning content in the areas of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), global studies, language immersion, and various arts programs. As a result, charter public school students are being prepared to succeed in college, career, and life regardless of race, gender, religion, or zip code.
CCSA’s report Charter Public School Students in Focus: Asian American & Pacific Islanders found that AAPI charter school students from low-income communities outperform their traditional public school counterparts in both English Language Arts (ELA) and Math, on average. This difference is more strongly seen in ELA, where 44 percent of charter school students met or exceeded grade-level standards, compared to only 30 percent of district students.
“Students of all backgrounds deserve educational opportunities as creative and responsive to their varied interests as they are, and charter public schools provide successful school models that give every child the ability to achieve their own and their families’ aspirations,” said Myrna Castrejón, CCSA President and CEO. “California parents have said time and time again there need to be more high-quality choices for public education to be competitive in a global job market.”
The vision of the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) is to build great public schools of joy and rigor that prepare all California students for success in college, career, community, and life. The mission of CCSA is to meet parent, educator, and community need for great public school options by supporting and advocating for high quality non-profit charter schools and sharing their success throughout California’s public schools.
Parents interested in learning more about charter schools or to find a charter in their area may visit https://info.ccsa.org/tagalog.
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