- Study: Charter school growth accompanied by racial imbalance, By Nick Anderson, February 4, 2010, Washington Post: “Seven out of 10 black charter school students are on campuses with extremely few white students, according to a new study of enrollment trends that shows the independent public schools are less racially diverse than their traditional counterparts. The findings from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA, which are being released Thursday, reflect the proliferation of charter schools in the District of Columbia and other major cities with struggling school systems and high minority populations. To the authors of the study, the findings point to a civil rights issue: ‘As the country continues moving steadily toward greater segregation and inequality of education for students of color in schools with lower achievement and graduation rates,’ the study concludes, ‘the rapid growth of charter schools has been expanding a sector that is even more segregated than the public schools…'”
- Report: Racial gap grows in charter schools, By Emily Gersema, February 8 2010, Arizona Republic: “The racial gap is widening with the increase in charter schools in Arizona and other states due to a lack of regulation and enforcement of existing civil-rights regulations, a group of researchers based at the University of California-Los Angeles said in a new report. The UCLA Civil Rights Project report, ‘Choice Without Equity,’ revealed what researchers deemed a troubling pattern of racial stratification in charter schools across the country. They said they believe state and federal intervention can turn the trend around. Gary Orfield, the project’s co-director, said the Obama administration’s recent grant programs, such as Race to the Top, and charter-school grants that encourage the expansion of charters and development of new ones, are a timely opportunity for regulation…”
Poverty-related issues in the news, from the Institute for Research on Poverty