Charter-School Stress Breaks Record With Pandemic Aid Ending
- Fifty-five charter schools are actively impaired on debt
- Gauge of high-yield education debt has slumped this year
The number of public charter schools in the US increased by nearly 50% between 2011 and 2021.
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The number of distressed charter schools rose to a record in the beginning of 2024 as the sector struggles with the end of pandemic assistance and rising costs.
So far this year, five charter schools have become impaired, meaning a borrower has defaulted on their debt, broken a covenant or used some emergency means to make a payment. The impairments bring the total to 55 schools, according to a report by Municipal Market Analytics, a record that eclipsed the previous peak set during the early months of the pandemic in 2020.