Many charter schools have arisen in urban areas, and they appear to enroll more students of color and low-income youth. In this article, the authors investigate the implications of charter school choice for equity. Three standards of equity—racial balance, resources, and outcome—are discussed. The authors review (a) the equity provisions of state charter legislation, (b) research on who may be choosing to send their children to charter schools and why, and (c) analyses of the demographics characteristics of charter schools' students. These analyses suggest that charter schools have not overcome racial isolation. The authors conclude the article with a discussion of the complexities of applying the three equity standards to charter schools.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arsen, Plank, & Sykes, (n.d.). School choice policies in Michigan: The rules matter (School Choice and Educational Change). East Lansing: Michigan State University.
2.
Ascher, C., Jacobowitz, R., & McBride, Y. (1998, February). Charter school access: A preliminary analysis of charter school legislation and charter school students (Report to the Annie E. Casey Foundation). New York: New York University, Institute for Education and Social Policy.
3.
Ascher, C., Jacobowitz, R., & McBride, Y. (1999, August). Standards-based reform and the charter movement in 1998-1999: An analysis of four states. Final report to the Edna McDonnell Clark Foundation. New York: New York University, Institute for Education and Social Policy.
4.
Barrett, E. J., Taebel, D., Thurlow-Brenner, C., Kemmerer, F., Ausbrooks, C., Clark, C., et al. (1997, December). Texas open-enrollment charter schools: Year one evaluation. Austin: Texas State Board of Education.
5.
Bosetti, L. (1999, June 9-12). Alberta charter schools: Paradox and promises. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education, Sherbrooke, Quebec.
6.
Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
7.
Cobb, C. D., & Glass, G. V. (1999 January 14). Ethnic segregation in Arizona schools. Education Policy Analysis, 7(1), 1-45.
8.
Cotfelter, C. (1976). School desegregation: Tipping and private school enrollment. Journal of Human Resources, 7, 29-50.
9.
Finn, C. E., Manno, B. V., & Vanourek, G. (2000). Charter schools in action: Renewing public education. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
10.
Holt, M. (2000). Not yet “free at last”: The unfinished business of the civil rights movements. Oakland, CA: Institute for Contemporary Studies.
11.
Horn, J., & Miron, G. (1999). Evaluation of the Michigan public school academy initiative. Kalamazoo: Western Michigan University, The Evaluation Center.
12.
Kozol, J. (1991). Savage inequalities: Children in America's schools. New York: HarperCollins.
13.
Lankford, R. H., & Wykoff, J. H. (2000, May 22). Why are schools racially segregated? Implications for school choice policies. Paper prepared for the School Choice and Racial Diversity Conference, Teachers College, Columbia University, sponsored by the National Center for the Study of Privatization and the Civil Rights Project.
14.
Lee, V., Croninger, R., & Smith, J. (1996). Equity and choice in Detroit. In B. Fuller & R. F. Elmore (Eds.), Who chooses, who loses: Culture, institutions, and the unequal effects of school choice. New York: Teachers College Press.
15.
Levin, B. (2000). Race and school choice. In F. D. Sugarman & F. R. Kemerer, (Eds.), School choice and social controversy: Politics, Politics and Law. Washington, DC: Brookings Institute.
16.
Levin, H. M. (2001). Studying privatization in education. In H. M. Levin (Ed.), Privatizing education: Can the marketplace deliver choice, efficiency, equity, and social cohesion? Boulder, CO: Westview.
17.
Mintrom, M., & Plank, D. N. (2000). The emerging market for schooling: Evidence from Michigan. Unpublished manuscript, Michigan State University, East Lansing.
18.
Miron, G. (2000, April 24-28). What's public about Michigan's charter schools: Lessons from school reform from statewide evaluations of charter schools. Paper prepared for the AERA Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.
19.
Public Sector Consultants, Inc., & MAXIMUS, Inc. (1997). Michigan charter school initiative: From theory to practice. Retrieved from http://www.mde.state.mi.us
20.
RPP International. (1998). A national study of charter schools: A second year report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
21.
RPP International. (1999, May). The state of charter schools. Third-Year report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
22.
RPP International. (2000). The state of charter school 2000. National study of charter schools: Fourth-year report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
23.
RPP International. (1997). A study of charter schools: Third-year report. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.
24.
Schneider, M., Teske, P., Marschall, M., & Roch, D. (1997, Fall). School choice builds community. Public Interest, 129, 86-90.
25.
Smrekar, C., & Goldring, E. (1999). Schools choice in urban America: Magnet schools and the pursuit of equity. New York: Teachers College Press.
26.
SRI International. (1997). Evaluation of charter school effectiveness (Written by J. Powell, J. Blackorby, J. Marsh, K. Finnegan, L. Anderson). Report prepared for the state of California Office of Legislative Analyst, Menlo Park, CA.
27.
Texas Education Agency. (2000). Texas open-enrollment charter schools: Third year evaluation, 1998-99. Austin: Texas Education Agency.
28.
Vergari, S. (2002). (Ed.). The charter school landscape. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press.
29.
Weiher, G., Barrett, E. J., Taebel, D., Thurlow-Brenner, C., Kemmerer, F., Ausbrooks, C., et al. (1997, December). Texas open-enrollment charter schools: Year one evaluation. Austin: Texas State Board of Education.
30.
Wells, A. (1998). Beyond the rhetoric of charter school reform: A study of ten California school districts. Los Angeles: University of California, Los Angeles.
31.
Wells, A., Holme, J. J., Lopez, A., & Cooper, C. W. (in press). Charter schools and racial and social class segregation: yet another sorting machine.
