Charter graduation rate tops District’s

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

Three-fourths of Philadelphia’s charter school students graduate in four years.

The School District’s Office of Accountability now tracks four-year and six-year cohort graduation rates for students in the city’s charter schools. For the “class of 2011” – students who entered 9th grade in a Philadelphia charter school in fall 2007 – the four-year graduation rate was 75 percent. That exceeds the overall rate for District schools by 14 points, according to District data provided to the Notebook.

However, there are some marked differences in the population of charter high schools compared to District high schools, according to District data. In charters, 26 percent of students were from families that qualify for TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), compared to 37 percent in District schools. The percentage of special education students was 3 points lower in charter schools (14 percent vs. 17 percent), and the percentage of African American students was 4 points lower in charters (61 percent vs. 65 percent). Latino percentages were the same.