The Choice No One Talks About: Charter Authorization Decisions

• In Event: Autonomy and Variation in Charter School Systems: Governance, Practices, and Outcomes Across Contexts

Abstract

In recent years, charter school advocates have advanced the movement based on a belief in the inherent value of parental choice (Marsh et al., 2025). Despite the growing attention around choice, the role of those who determine which schools are available to choose from remains largely overlooked. In the charter sector, those actors are charter authorizers– the bureaucratic gatekeepers of the sector who decide which schools open and close. While charter authorization decisions shape the schooling choices available to families, there is little empirical research on authorizers’ decisions and impact.  

This study draws on the theoretical construct of institutional logics to examine the proposed school values and practices authorizers elevate through approval decisions. Identifying which logics authorizers prioritize matters because logics encode beliefs about the purpose of charter schools which shape school practices and student outcomes (Bridwell-Mitchell & Sherer, 2017; Thornton & Ocasio, 2008). Through the study of North Carolina’s state-level charter authorizer, this study determines the values and practices prioritized through authorization decisions, how these priorities vary across counties, and the degree to which applicants respond to authorizer priorities.  

This study draws on the content of applications to open a new charter school, the authorizer’s approval decisions, and proprietary student-level demographic data. Using researcher-curated dictionaries, a computational content analysis identified the degree to which 503 applications submitted between 2012 and 2024 align with seven institutional logics– market, corporation, bureaucratic state, carceral state, teachers, community, and equity. Alignment was identified based on the percentage of text matched with each logic’s dictionary – these scores are standardized within application year and used in linear probability model regressions that predict application approval. These estimates offer insight into how an application's logic intensity relative to other applications in a given application cycle predicts their approval status. Secondary regression models predict how county demographic characteristics predict the strength of various logics in approved applications, demonstrating how the purpose authorizers assign to schooling varies across student groups. Descriptive analyses examine trends over time. 

Preliminary findings suggest that among applications submitted in the same year, those whose carceral logic intensity was one standard deviation greater than their counterparts were 6.3 percentage points less likely to be approved. Those that emphasize the role of teacher professionalism and autonomy by one standard deviation more than other applicants in a given year were approximately 4.6 percentage points more likely to be approved. Despite the authorizer's preference for the teachers logic, the average intensity of the logic in submitted applications has declined over time. There has also been a decline in the intensity of the bureaucratic state logic in submitted and approved applications, though it remains one of the most highly engaged logics across applications. Findings on variation by the demographic composition of counties will be available by the conference.  

At a time when the purpose of public education is highly contested, the findings of this study offer insight into the kinds of charter schools prioritized by authorizers who are responsible for implementing state charter laws.

Author

• Shelby Leigh Smith, University of Southern California
  Presenting Author