Do Charters Further Segregate America’s Schools? Yes, New Study Says, but Most Blame Lies Elsewhere
July 23, 2019
By: Matt Barnum
Source: Chalkbeat
What is to blame for America’s segregated schools? Housing patterns and school attendance boundaries play big roles, certainly. But some have also pointed the finger at another culprit: charter schools. An Associated Press analysis from 2017 found that about one in six charter schools were severely segregated, and implied that the schools were deepening the isolation of students of color. Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cited that report in his education plan, concluding, “The damage to communities caused by unregulated charter school growth must be stopped and reversed.”
Charter advocates have pushed back, arguing that charter schools aren’t the cause of that segregation — they have only tried to provide better options for students in already segregated areas. Now, a first-of-its-kind national study offers some of the clearest answers to date about whether charter schools are contributing to racial segregation. The researchers find that the expansion of charters has in fact made segregation worse within school districts. But the impact is quite small: if charters were to vanish tomorrow, segregation in school districts across the country would fall by 5 to 7%.