According to the new research According to the National Center for Charter School Accountability, one in four charter schools eventually closes after its fifth year of operation, and half do not make it to their fifteenth year. The data highlights the relative instability of public charter schools as an educational option – a fact that parents should keep in mind when deciding whether to send their child to a charter school.

But what if this so-called weakness is actually a good thing?

Although the unexpected closure of a school can be destabilizing for families, there is an unexpected benefit to charter school closures. Unlike public schools, which remain open indefinitely even when they no longer serve families and students, charter schools that perform poorly will close their doors.

Approximately 12,000 charter schools opened between 1998 and 2022. With so many schools, it’s not surprising that there is considerable variation in the quality and consistency of these options. This means that when bad ideas come to charter schools, the market is able to respond. The same cannot be said for public schools.

In the document, the most frequently cited reason for closure was declining enrollment, driving nearly half of the total closures. This indicates that in many condemned schools, families were already deciding that the school in question was not a good option for their children.

Part of this decline in enrollment could be because charter schools now have even more school choice options with which to compete. The newspaper even reluctantly emphasizes this. “Even as the K12 population declines, there is increased competition for students from new charter schools and, in many states, expanded private school and homeschool voucher programs,” reads the newspaper. “Declining enrollment is the main driver of charter school closures.”

The main advantage of public charter schools is that they provide families with another choice for their children’s education. But that doesn’t guarantee that all charter schools are better than traditional public schools. Research noted that charter schools as a whole perform about as well as public schools (although charter schools manage to achieve these equal results with much less funding). Additionally, the charter sign-up premium appears to be highest in locations where poor quality public schools.

We should be happy that low-performing charter schools are closing. This means that the choices made by families are having the desired effect – and one less insufficient option will cease to benefit from public support. It’s not a barrier to school choice to note that not all charter schools perform better than all traditional public schools. The difference is that many charter schools are an extremely effective alternative to local public schools. Giving families a choice – and letting bad schools close – is the most important part.