Kudos to US Education Secretary John King — a black Latino serving under the nation’s first African-American president — for rebuking the NAACP for its misguided slap at charter schools.
In remarks last week at the National Press Club, King noted that “any arbitrary cap on the growth of high-performing charters is a mistake in terms of our goal of trying to improve opportunity for all kids.”
King — co-founder of Boston’s Roxbury Prep charter school — slammed the NAACP for standing against educational opportunities for minority children.
King opposes the group’s effort to place “artificial barriers” on the growth of quality charters — public schools that he calls “drivers of opportunity for kids.”
In his two terms, President Obama has overseen the expansion of public charters — to the chagrin of many Democrats. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of US charter schools has mushroomed from 3,000 to 6,500.
Nationwide, 27 percent of charter-school students are black, 30 percent are Hispanic and 35 percent are white. But one key dynamic is in the nation’s cities — where the best of these schools have managed to narrow the racial achievement gap.
King’s leadership at Roxbury Prep, then New York’s Uncommon Schools network and as education commissioner in New York has helped deliver real results for kids. It’s easy to see why he’s outraged at the NAACP’s call to deny that opportunity to more children.
Mayor de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña should heed Secretary King’s progressive call, recognize charters as drivers of opportunity and embrace the drive to double New York City’s charter sector.
The NAACP, meanwhile, should stop pretending it’s still a civil-rights group.