On Feb. 1, the first day of Black History Month, hundreds of African American students and parents rallied outside the Capitol in Sacramento to encourage lawmakers to support charter schools in order to help improve student achievement.
“We all know the system is failing black kids,” said Margaret Fortune, president and CEO of Fortune School, which operates several Sacramento-area charters and Hardy Brown College Prep in San Bernardino.
As the popularity of charter schools has soared, including among more traditionally Democratic-dominated constituencies, a fracture has appeared in the historic Democratic-labor union alliance, with a growing segment of the Democratic Party joining with Republicans in calling for greater school choice.
There is a reason for that increased support for charters: results. Of 13 predominantly African American and low-income California schools deemed “high achieving” on state assessments, 12 are charters, Fortune noted.
When the NAACP considered an ill-conceived resolution calling for a nationwide moratorium on new charter schools last fall, the California Legislative Black Caucus sent a letter opposing the idea. “African American students in charter schools gained the equivalent of 14 extra days of learning in reading and 14 extra days of learning in math per year, compared with their African American peers in traditional public schools,” the letter noted. Those benefits rise to 29 and 36 extra learning days, respectively, for low-income African American charter students.
“Additionally, African American and Latino students in California charter schools are accepted into the University of California at much higher rates than students in traditional public high schools” (19 percent versus 11 percent, respectively).
“An outright moratorium,” the Black Caucus added, “would put minority students and students in low-income neighborhoods and underperforming districts at a significant disadvantage by eliminating a critical educational option.”
These benefits are not limited to African American students, of course.
Greater choice, greater flexibility and greater competition in education should be embraced because they will lead to more innovation and better educational outcomes for students of all racial and economic backgrounds.
