Serving the Underserved? Student Characteristics and Staffing Patterns in California Charter Schools

Abstract

ABSTRACT Building from the existing knowledge of charter school spending and staffing, and with a lens toward better understanding the fiscal flexibility afforded charter schools, this study examines staffing patterns in California’s charter schools over the last decade. Using detailed professional assignment data for the universe of California schools in 2007–08, 2011–12, and 2017–18, we observe similar staffing patterns in charter schools and traditional public schools. We also affirm prior research that charter school teachers have far less experience. When comparing charter schools serving varying proportions of students in poverty, we see that high-poverty charter schools may be better resourced, in terms of personnel available to students, than low-poverty charter schools. Unfortunately, the apparent advantage of high-poverty charter schools comes at the expense of teacher quality and has changed little despite funding reforms targeting more resources to high-needs students.