Charter schools enrolling low numbers of poor students
At Waterstone, about 32 percent of students in 2010 qualified for free or reduced-price lunches, an indicator of poverty, according to data from the National Center for Education Statistics. At Campbell Drive, about two miles away, 93 percent of the students qualified.The trend is evident across Miami-Dade County, where overall, the number of poor children enrolled in charter schools is disproportionately low compared to traditional public schools — an advantage for the charter schools, given that poverty correlates with poor academic performance. Charter schools in Miami-Dade also enroll a smaller share of black students than traditional public schools, according to federal data. In traditional public schools, one-third of children are black, compared to one-fifth of children in charter schools.Read those two paragraphs carefully. In Miami-Dade County, charter schools serve a different population than traditional schools, and thus are not comparable. So begins the third and final installment of the Miami Herald's 3-part series examining local charter schools.
The rules under which charter schools operate - Federal, state and local - are supposed to ensure equal access