More Americans have enrolled their children in charter schools in the years since the coronavirus pandemic upended education, according to new data—at a time when enrollment at traditional public schools is continuing to decline.

Enrollment at charter schools increased by 492,210 students (14.69 percent) nationwide from the 2019-2020 school year to the 2024-2025 school year, according to preliminary data from the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools that was provided to Newsweek. The nonprofit describes itself as "committed to advancing the charter school movement."

Charter schools are allowed to operate in almost all states and the District of Columbia. Like traditional public schools, they are tuition-free and publicly funded . However, they operate independently of other p

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