1. Background Research has shown that enrollment shifts due to charter policies can have negative impacts on school districts that are experiencing persistent enrollment declines. 1 This can lead to declining revenue and in the case of two New York districts, closures. 2 The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) has embraced the expansion of school choice amid a decline in traditional public school enrollment over the past decade. As with the experiences of other districts, the School District of Philadelphia faces significant financial pressures in due part to underutilized buildings and growing charter payments increasing cost during a time of austerity. 3 Project Overview There has been a growing debate around school choice in the SDP as underutilization led to the closure of 24 schools at the end of the 2012- 2013 school year. We tried to isolate the effects of school choice (charters and intra-district options) versus outward migration, a historically documented problem for urban centers, in the utilization problem facing many of SDP schools. Methods_______________________ We compared utilization rates based on two scenarios using 2012-13 school catchment data for 197 of 204 neighborhood schools (96.6%). The district’s utilization goal of 85%, a best- practice standard, was used as an indicator of adequate school capacity. 4 Scenario 1 followed the district’s formula; dividing each school’s 2012-2013 enrollment by total school capacity. Scenario 2 assumes that all school-aged children within the catchment area attended their neighborhood school while capacity remained the same.. Results/Conclusions Scenario 1 Despite potential enrollment loss to school choice options, 80 schools (40.4%) exceeded the 85% utilization rate benchmark. Scenario 2 For 42 schools (21.2%), the loss of students to alternative schooling options led to underutilization. The remaining 76 neighborhood schools (38.4%) were underutilized due to outward migration. Research to Practice Strategies District leadership must understand the district- and school-level effects of expanding choice. Consequently, a balance must be struck between expanding choice offerings to try and retain families and the negative financial and enrollment effects of increasing schooling options, which may exacerbate enrollment shifts and increase financial strain; consequences that may lead to more people seeking residence outside the city limits. The Effects of Philadelphia's School Choice Policies on School Utilization Rates Contact Information James Jack School District of Philadelphia 215-400-6403 jjack@philasd.org 1 Ni, Y., & Arsen, D. (2011). School choice participation rates: Which districts are pressured? Education Policy Analysis Archives, 19 (29) Retrieved from: http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/777http://epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/view/777 2 Bifulco, R., & Reback, R. (2011). Fiscal impacts of charter schools: Lessons from New York. Effect of Charter Schools on School District Finance, Final Report. Retrieved from: http://www.columbia.edu/~rr2165/pdfs/nycharterfiscal.pdf http://www.columbia.edu/~rr2165/pdfs/nycharterfiscal.pdf 3 Jack, J. & Sludden, J. (2013) School closings in Philadelphia. Perspective on Public Education. Retrieved from: http://www.urbanedjournal.org/archive/volume-10-issue-1-summer-2013/schools-closings-philadelphia http://www.urbanedjournal.org/archive/volume-10-issue-1-summer-2013/schools-closings-philadelphia 4 Jablow, P. (2011). Where are the 70,000 seats? The Philadelphia Public School Notebook. Retrieved from: http://thenotebook.org/february-2011/113295/where-are-70000-seats http://thenotebook.org/february-2011/113295/where-are-70000-seats