Florida’s charter schools grew by more than 15,000 students this school year.

And new research suggests their steady growth might help students in district schools.

In recent years, charter schools in our state have scored under-the-radar policy wins, clearing away barriers to their growth and inching closer to funding parity with district schools.

They’ve also grown steadily, by about 5% a year, more or less, for the past decade.

New data from the Florida Department of Education show they now serve just shy of 400,000 students, making them the state’s most widely used educational choice option.

And there’s evidence that the growth of charter schools, like the growth of private school scholarship programs, may be spurring improvements in school districts.

Last month, a team of researchers published a new working paper with the National Bureau of Economic Research. Their paper finds that even one new charter school opening can drive “modest but economically meaningful” increases in reading scores at district schools within a five-mile radius, as well as improvements in student attendance.

New charter schools appeared to have no measurable impact on math achievement. Perhaps of note: Other research has shown Florida’s charter schools outperform district schools in reading on average, while performing roughly the same in math.

Similar studies in other states have also found benefits from charter school competition. A study in North Carolina found benefits in math, but not in reading, while a study in Massachusetts more closely resembled the Florida results, finding benefits in reading.

The authors of the Florida study have also examined the competitive benefits of our state’s private school scholarship programs.

In the new working paper, they look at how competition from charter and private schools combine.

They note that a larger private school presence appears to boost charter school’s positive effects on district reading scores, but private school competition appears to dampen charters' positive effects on attendance.

The results also shifted when the researchers used different measurement techniques, so they warn against drawing strong conclusions about whether private school competition can amp up the competitive benefits of charter schools.

“One hypothesis that we can reject, however, across multiple approaches is that more private school competition in places with elevated public school competition meaningfully harms students’ outcomes. We view this as an important findings from education policy perspective,” the researchers write.

In other words, this study adds to a body of research showing that while increased competition doesn’t always spur public schools to improve, it rarely makes them worse.

A rising tide of expanding school options can sometimes lift all boats. And at the very least, it’s unlikely to sink any of them.

Florida reform duel. At Jay P. Greene’s Blog, researcher Matthew Ladner responds to a recent critique of Florida’s reforms from Matt Di Carlo at the Shanker Institute. If you want a serious discussion of what’s working or not in Florida, including the impact or not of school choice, these guys are among the ones to read. Ladner’s conclusion: “The problem for Florida reform skeptics, in short, is that there simply isn’t any other plausible explanation for Florida’s gains outside of the reforms. … With large aggregate gains and plenty of positive research, the reasonable course is not to avoid doing any of the Florida reforms, but rather to do all of them.”

School security. Superintendents discuss the issue with the Senate Education Committee, reports the Tampa Bay Times. More from SchoolZone. Committee chair John Legg says he’s not hot on the idea of arming teachers, reporters News Service of Florida. Pinellas Sheriff Bob Gaultier says he's not hot on the idea of armed officers in every elementary school, reports the Tampa Bay Times. Broward school board members worry about the cost of extra school resource officers, reports the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Cape Coral charter schools hire one, reports the Cape Coral Daily Breeze. The Hillsborough school board shoots down Superintendent MaryEllen Elia’s plan for armed guards in every elementary school, with some calling it overboard and too expensive, reports the Tampa Tribune. More from the Tampa Bay Times.

Charter school growth. Florida adds 67 charter schools this year, helping the national number top 6,000, according to new numbers from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, reports SchoolZone. More from StateImpact Florida.

Better Burger vs. Bigger Burger. School boards have too big a conflict in interest in approving charter schools. EdFly Blog.

Sushi. Culinary students at Coral Gables High learn how to make it. Miami Herald.

Teacher evaluations. The Pinellas school board tweaks its state-mandated system, but still doesn’t like it. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher pay. More on the merit pay court challenge. Tallahassee Democrat.

Teacher input. Get more of it. Tampa Bay Times.

Teacher turnover. Too much of it. Fort Myers News Press. (more…)