Posted on March 12, 2012

Report Reveals Trend of Segregation in Charter Schools

CBS Local, March 10, 2012

The expansion of charter schools has led to classrooms being more segregated today than they were 30 years ago, according to a recent report that provides policymakers with detailed recommendations on how to ensure all students have access to a quality education.

Some of the nation’s most segregated schools are charter schools, where students are often isolated by race, income, language and special education status, according to the report, authored by Julie F. Mead, of the University of Wisconsin, and Preston C. Green III, of Penn State University.

For example, 43 percent of black charter school students attend schools that are 99 percent minority, according to the report. Meanwhile, researchers found that less than 15 percent of black students in traditional public schools attend such highly segregated schools.

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Mead and Green say improving education means serving “all children regardless of race, ethnicity, socio-economic status, language, disability and gender.”

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