Report Warns of “Hyper-Segregated” Charters
New York State has received their just reward, the highest dishonor. The schools statewide are known to engage in “double segregation.” Students are increasingly isolated not only by race, but also by income. A Black or Latino student in New York State likely attends a school with twice as many low-income students as their white peers. This is quite the distinction and one that must mean a lot. To he declared the most segregated in the nation. That is quite the accomplishment.
Perhaps, Connecticut wants to keep up. They too want to achieve. How else might we explain what appears to be competition? Acceleration in segregation must be is the key that opens charter school doors and sadly closes others. It is our children who suffer. While the predicament or predilection is apparent in our public institutions, it can barely compare to what we see in countless charter schools. Changes in school enrollment policies have only worsened the problem. To better understand, let us look to a recent report, “Choice Watch:Diversity and Access in Connecticut’s School Choice Programs.”
Students at Amistad Academy Elementary.| Melissa Bailey PhotoBy Melissa Bailey | Originally Published at New Haven Independent. April 9, 2014 8:08 AMNew Haven’s charter schools are too black and brown, a new report concluded—sparking a debate over who should get seats in coveted schools.
The report, issued Wednesday morning by the New Haven-based advocacy and research group Connecticut Voices For Children, raises difficult questions: Are charter schools hurting kids through racial isolation? Should they open up seats to wealthier white students, even if that means turning away poor minorities? Do black kids need white kids in the classroom to succeed?
The report, “Choice Watch: Diversity and Access in Connecticut’s School Choice Programs,” examined the demographics of Connecticut’s magnet, charter, traditional public district and technical schools.
Click here to read the report. Among the report’s findings: The majority of charter schools in the state are “hyper-segregated,” with over 90 percent of students in a racial or ethnic minority.
That’s especially true in New Haven, where students at the five charter schools run by Achievement First are empathyeducates – Report Warns of “Hyper-Segregated” Charters:
