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One Cut, Many Consequences — How Virtual Charter School Funding Reductions Widen Gaps Across South Carolina’s Charter Sector

In South Carolina, public charter schools have long stood in the gap, serving families who needed something different, something better, something more responsive than the traditional education model could offer. We’ve become sanctuaries of innovation, safe havens for students who have been left behind, and a beacon of hope for communities often overlooked.

But hope doesn’t keep the lights on… and the recent decision by state lawmakers to reduce per-pupil funding for virtual charter schools doesn’t just hurt those schools. It reverberates across the entire charter sector, including brick-and-mortar public charter schools like mine.  The recent actions by the South Carolina General Assembly to reduce per-pupil funding for public virtual charter schools have sparked widespread concern, and rightly so. However, the impact of this decision is not isolated to the virtual learning environment. It represents yet another policy that exacerbates long-standing inequities in South Carolina’s public education funding structure, particularly for the charter school sector.

Let’s be clear: a cut to any part of the public charter system is a cut to us all.

Public charter schools, whether virtual or physical, operate within charter school districts that share fiscal, academic, and operational responsibilities. When a funding reduction happens to one part of the district, such as the virtual schools, it weakens the infrastructure, support, and economies of scale that all of us rely on to survive.  While virtual charter schools were the specific target of this funding cut, the ripple effect will be felt far beyond the digital classroom. Many of South Carolina’s brick-and-mortar charter schools, including those in rural and underserved communities, are part of public charter school districts, such as the Charter Institute at Erskine and South Carolina Public Charter School District, that rely on shared economies of scale and centralized support services. When any part of the district sustains a loss in per-pupil allocations, the operational and academic strain affects the entire system.

What makes this recent funding change particularly alarming is not just the outcome, but the process. As reported by the Post and Courier, the proposal to cut virtual charter school funding by nearly half passed rapidly, tucked into the state’s $13.8 billion general appropriations bill, with little transparency, no public hearings, and zero fiscal impact studies. Lawmakers adopted the measure without consulting education finance experts or allowing the charter school community a meaningful voice at the table. Such hasty policymaking, with high-stakes implications for tens of thousands of public charter school students, sets a dangerous precedent, and erodes trust in the fairness and integrity of the legislative process.

In South Carolina, public charter schools already face a significant funding deficit compared to their traditional public school counterparts. According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS), South Carolina charter schools receive, on average, 27% less funding per student than traditional district schools, a gap of more than $3,500 per pupil annually (2023 Charter School Funding Report, NAPCS).

But for brick-and-mortar charter schools like mine, the challenges go even deeper. We are already asked to do more with less—and now even less with less.

Here’s what that really looks like:

  • We receive no local tax revenue—the same funds traditional public schools depend on for essentials like transportation, facilities, and programming.

  • We are ineligible for school bonds, which means we can’t build or expand without seeking costly private financing.

  • We receive no facilities funding, yet we must pay rent, utilities, and upkeep out of the same pot used to pay teachers and purchase textbooks.

  • We operate without funds for transportation, meaning many of our families drive long distances each day because they believe in what we offer, despite how hard it is to access.

  • We lack federal and state aid funding for special programs, wraparound services like mental health, social workers, interventionists, or advanced programming that traditional districts often take for granted.

  • And now, with a per-pupil reduction hitting our broader charter system, we face further staffing constraints, fewer instructional resources, and deeper financial uncertainty.

To the public eye, these numbers may seem small, just a few hundred dollars per student here, a percentage point cut there. But to a school already running on fumes, those dollars are difference-makers. They are staff positions. They are arts programs. They are mental health supports. They are opportunities for our students.  Despite these disparities, public charter schools are held to the same, and often higher, academic and financial accountability standards.

Charter schools educate public school students - period. And yet, we are funded as if we are “less than” public. We are often left out of state initiatives, county allocations, and bond referendums. We’re held to the same standard, but given only some of the tools.  The recent per-pupil reduction for virtual charter students further undermines the already precarious financial conditions of our sector. It sets a dangerous precedent and deepens the inequities that persist between traditional public schools and public charter schools. In a state that champions school choice, we must ensure that all public school students, regardless of the model their family chooses, are funded equitably.

This is not simply a funding issue. It is a matter of fairness, sustainability, and opportunity. When we restrict the resources available to any part of the charter ecosystem, we constrain the entire system’s ability to serve students effectively.  South Carolina’s public charter schools are not the cause of the state’s education challenges—we are a solution for families who need alternatives that are flexible, responsive, and community-driven. But in order to continue being that solution, we must be resourced accordingly.

If South Carolina truly believes in innovation, equity, and student-centered education, then it’s time to fund all public schools, charter or traditional, fairly and fully.

It’s time to close the funding gap. It’s time to stop punishing children for the kind of public school their parents chose. It’s time to recognize that we can’t grow what we don’t water.

Charter schools aren’t the problem. We’re part of the solution.


Policy Recommendations:

  • Reverse the per-pupil funding reduction for virtual charter students and safeguard equitable funding for all public charter school students.

  • Create a transparent, collaborative process for education funding changes that includes all stakeholders.

  • Establish facilities funding parity or grants that allow public charter schools to access capital improvement support.

  • Allow access to local tax dollars or establish a state-level supplement that reflects local funding averages.

  • Ensure transportation funding equity, especially for rural charter schools serving geographically dispersed students.

South Carolina students deserve funding based not on the type of public school they attend, but on their needs, aspirations, and potential. A just funding model will enable all public schools—traditional and charter—to meet their mission and support every student on the path to success.


Let’s be clear: A rushed funding model passed without transparency or research is not education reform, it’s educational harm. It’s time to correct this course before more students are left behind in the name of politics.




 
 
 

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