Conventional School Interests Warned Lifting Cap On Charters Meant A 'Wild West' Expansion

Interests opposed to charter schools warned when the 2011 Michigan state legislature lifted an artificial cap on their numbers that uncontrolled growth in their numbers would stress conventional school districts.

Now, 10 years later, the "wild, wild west" rhetoric used to characterize that possibility was unfounded.

In the 2011-12 school year, there 256 charter schools in Michigan. By the 2014-15 school year the number had grown to 302 public school academies in the state .

In the seven school years since, there has been a net decrease in the number of charter schools.

At the start of the 2021-22 school year, there are 294 total charter schools, one more than last year.

Since the artificial cap was lifted 10 years ago, a total of 38 additional charter schools have been added.