A recent Fordham Institute analysis found that there are over 500 medium- and high-poverty Census tracts across the country without nearby charter elementary schools—but why is there such a dearth of options for students and their families? Securing affordable school facilities may be one of the issues. In an article in our Summer 2018 issue of Education Next, Robin J. Lake, Trey Cobb, Roohi Sharma and Alice Opalka evaluate the barriers to charter-school growth in the San Francisco Bay Area. In the same issue, Derrell Bradford addresses the future role of single-site schools in facilitating choice throughout the United States. And, in a blog for EdNext.org, Adam Peshek proposes a few solutions made possible by the Opportunity Zone program (part of the 2017 tax reform package)—which might help make “charter school deserts” fewer and farther between.
—Education Next
