A new report rates one Colorado community among the national leaders in charter school enrollment. Nearly one in six public school students in Brighton, Colorado, attends a charter school, according to an analysis by the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools (NAPCS). The NAPCS brief “Top 10 Charter Communities by Market Share” includes a list of the 19 cities with 10,000 or more public school students that have the greatest percentage of students attending charter schools.

Due to the restructuring caused by the Hurricane Katrina disaster, New Orleans is by far the leader, with charters enrolling nearly 70 percent of its public school pupils. Dayton, Ohio, a national leader in charter school reform, is next with 28 percent, followed by Washington, DC, with 25 percent. Other cities with 20 percent or greater enrollment in charter schools are Pontiac, Michigan; Kansas City, Missouri; and Youngstown, Ohio.

At 16 percent, Brighton ranks behind 11 other communities as the only Colorado representative on the list. Brighton is the smallest community recognized in the NAPCS report, while Detroit, Michigan, is the largest.