Charter schools segregate students. That’s a claim public school advocates in North Carolina and nationally continue to make (see here and here) . They spout the nonsense in hopes of stemming the growing numbers of students transferring from government schools to charter schools.
The segregation argument is not new and the claims have already been vigorously disputed ( see here, here and here).
Darrell Bradford, Executive Director of the New York Campaign for Achievement (NYCAN) dissects the claim even further on a blog post on the education web site, The 74, Bradford says the segregation claim is really a stealth attack on the concept of providing educational excellence for all African-Americans.
Bradford writes:
The truth is, the attack on charters and their perceived role in segregation reveals a deep and troubling double standard. It’s powered by a desire to destroy black academic excellence — along with those who seek it out and those who seek to provide it — in the name of some other set of democratic fundamentals that, at this point, don’t exist even on paper, let alone in reality. This line of attack illuminates the preferential treatment non-black minorities and, of course, white Americans receive in the realm of public education as a framework for schooling. A framework that doesn’t work for millions of black and brown children but is valorized over those we see having life-changing effects, particularly in our large urban centers.
You can see this bias clearly when you examine how traditional district loyalists and anti-charter activists defend underperforming and overwhelmingly black neighborhood schools. These folks have held these schools blameless during their destructive reign even as black futures have been squandered within them.
Bradford continues:
Black folks are unique in America because we are often asked to sacrifice some notion of personal agency or sovereignty “for the greater good” in manners that other groups are not asked to and would never be expected to. Don’t protest police shootings because law and order matter more than living and breathing. Give up school choice because democratic school boards are more fundamental than if your kid is educated. Don’t seek a school that may mirror your values and affirm your racial and ethnic identity because integration and assimilation are more important, even if the former is a problem of white preference and the latter potentially undermines your child’s sense of self.
In this round of “segregationist” attacks on charters (a line of reasoning now also core to union opposition against charters as well), we see the latest in a long line of American school policies that all amount to the same thing: a raucous and callous shout of “get to the back of the line” to the country’s black families.
It’s a command to which no family, charter or otherwise, should assent. Now or ever.
Next time you hear the segregation card played against charter schools, don’t buy it. It’s a baseless charge. It’s odd how you never hear the claim from a parent or child who actually attends a charter school? Such smears only protect the failed status quo and limit educational opportunities for African-Americans. All compelling reasons why such charges should be vigorously disputed.
Journalism? A think tank? …What has Civitas become?
“spout the nonsense”
“segregation card”
“such smears”
“stealth attack”
It has always been difficult to take NCCivitas seriously…lately it has become nearly impossible.
It must be sad to not have anything do except trash everything Civitas reports on.Go grade some homework or something.
Proud of being a drooling attack dog that posts comments solely to degrade and dehumanize other who oppose his views. That is SAD Larry. And violent.
NC Civitas takes what should be a civic good (Public Education), and commercializes it at every turn. And Bob has yet to write one article about why Hedge Fund managers are so interested in Charter Schools!
http://billmoyers.com/2014/05/15/hedge-fund-titans-hum-a-happy-tune-as-they-target-public-schools/
So,Scott now I violent.You have called me a pimp,illiterate,a and many more names.I think that this kind of an attitude is what causes violence.But,that can’t happen because you know you can spew your anti-American hate and Marxist garbage and hide behind no one knows who you are.That makes you a tiny little man.
George,did you have a problem with gerrymandering when the Democrats used it for many,many years?I think not.Whats good for the goose is good for the gander.You and your sidekick,Scott don’t like it when the table gets turned after a hundred years of corrupt one party politics.
Larry justifying evil because ‘they did it first’
WOW
Scott,whining about evil when he did it forever.
Wow!
Last time Larry. I support neither corrupt Corporate political Party. That leaves only one of us who is truly a partisan idiot.
Since you can’t defend your support for the defenseless actions of the GOP, you project your frustration and hatred at others.
That’s all you do,Scott.Trash the GOP and right down the line you argue the Gimmedat Party line.You are all for abortion,tax and spend,and everything the Gimmedats want.The tiny man comes out again with your name calling.Its getting to be funny that it’s so easy to get your goat.
I defend nothing the NCDP does. You support all the NCGOP does.
You lie like a rug.Every tax and spend crap there is you are for it.You are obviously for abortion.You have argued for everything the Gimmedats are for.I am sure you are for DACA and as many immigrants as you can get in the state and country.What about sanctuary cities?What about the tax cut?
Are you mentally ill Larry or just ignorant?
You keep asking that question when I post something you don’t have an answer for.Its hilarious how much you are sounding like those jokes in the media asking Trumps doctor how many cokes he drinks or how do you think he isn’t Senile.These people are unhinged and when you answer with are you mentally ill or just ignorant you sound just like them.Bahahaha.