PhiladelphiaDistrict vs chartermedium
Philly charters have a 10-point attendance advantage over district schools
Thesis
On the Future Ready PA Index 'persistent attendance rate' metric (% students attending ≥90% of enrolled days), Philly charter schools post a median 73.0% vs 61.7% for district — an 11.3-percentage-point gap. The gap reflects both real climate differences and substantial student-body selection at charters; sorting out how much is which is the analytical question.
Supporting findings
- Charter (n=78): avg 71.0%, median 73.0% persistent attendance.
- District (n=217): avg 61.4%, median 61.7%.
- 11.3pp median gap is large — among the biggest sector gaps in any metric we measure.
- Charters self-select students whose families opted in via lottery — that's a confound the raw comparison can't remove.
Reporting directions
- Match each charter with 2-3 demographically similar district schools, then re-compute the gap (it'll shrink).
- Compare Renaissance charters (converted district schools, no lottery in the converted year) with regular charters — does the gap persist within charter, or just between charter and district?
- Test against student-mobility data (not yet loaded) — charters' attendance advantage may overstate the climate effect if mobile students leave at higher rates.
Methodology & replication recipe — the queries + sources behind the findings above.