Charter schools cost East Bay district nearly $1,000 per student, report asserts

As the controversy around charter school expansion intensifies in California, a report commissioned by the West Contra Costa Unified School District estimates that the district is losing nearly $1,000 per student as a result of rising charter school enrollments. 

The report, released last month, was produced by In the Public Interest, an Oakland-based research and policy organization that produced a similar report last year looking at three other California districts. That report claimed that charter schools were draining away funds, which contributed to fiscal crises in those districts.