One of the myths we hear from opponents of charter schools is that these schools of choice disproportionately take money away from traditional public schools.

Up in Massachusetts, the Boston Globe says a new report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation shows that just isn’t so.

The report summarizes:

“Examination of school funding trends in districts affected by charter school enrollments does not suggest that charter schools are over-funded, that students in district schools are suffering a loss of support, or that the per-student funding of districts is trending negatively. Rather, per-student funding has increased quite steadily across the state, and the district-charter balance has been stable.”

The Globe editorial notes that self-interested teachers unions in Massachusetts are fighting the expansion of charters there, but the facts are that charters don’t unfairly take money away from the traditional public school system.

Besides, why shouldn’t funding follow the student to whatever school serves that student best? Who says the traditional schools should “own” all the money, even for students they don’t serve well? How does that benefit the kids?