Racial imbalance in charter and traditional public schools

By Nicholas Munyan-Penney

Article Submission

Table 1. White and black imbalances in charter and traditional public school in highly populated and non-highly populated areas.

  White Imbalance Black Imbalance
Urban* Charter -2.6 6.89
Non-Urban Charter -1.64 5.38
All Charter -1.86 5.72
Urban* TPS -5.48 2.56
Non-Urban TPS -2.37 1.46
All TPS -2.63 1.52

 

Charter opponents have long argued that school choice increases racial isolation in America’s public schools. Earlier this month, for example, the AP released an unsophisticated analysis that supported this hypothesis. (That misleading story was swiftly discredited.) Related to this issue, Brookings has followed up a previous report, “Segregation, race, and charter schools: What do we know?,” with a study comparing the racial compositions of schools with their surrounding neighborhoods. It’s more rigorous and nuanced than the AP report, although it also risks further confusing the rhetoric in such an important and politically charged debate.

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