NHEG EDGuide December 2016

Evangelical Christian

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Unlike Their Neighbors: Charter School Student Composition Across States BY NAT MALKUS The national debate over charter schools has been fueled by two competing narratives about the kinds of students charters serve. Opponents claim charters unfairly select the most advantaged students, draining resources from traditional public schools and avoiding accountability. Proponents paint a different picture, claiming many charters purposefully serve the most disadvantaged students who have languished in failing public schools. Both characterizations have some merit, but neither accurately describes charter schools writ large. As cataloged in a previous report, Differences on Balance, charter schools nationwide display a variety of balanced differences in student composition, compared with their neighboring public schools. However, charters are governed by the states, and some states’ charter schools display a much less balanced set of differences. In some states, charter schools look much more like their opponents’ characterizations, serving far fewer historically disadvantaged students than their neighbors. Other states have charter sectors that look like charter proponents often suggest, serving more disadvantaged students. Several states are on the extremes of this spectrum, but most fall somewhere in between, reflecting the diversity of not only charter schools but also charter sectors across states. These individual reports profile each state’s charter sector to promote a more nuanced national portrait of charters and a more informed discussion of state charter policy. Report National debate over charter schools has hit a fevered pitch this year. Teachers unions and many classical Democrats have opposed charters with this wing successfully stiffening anti charter language in the Demo-cratic National Committee’s official platform. Even more extreme, the NAACP and the Movement for Black Lives Matter called for a complete national moratorium on charter schools. However, the charter debate does not cleave along a simple left/right divide. While those on the right tend to support charters, groups on the left fall on both sides of the issue. Teachers unions, traditional Democrats, and some civil rights organizations oppose them, but Presi-dent Barack Obama and many civil rights organizations have been strong charter supporters. Other groups, including the Democrats for Education Reform (DFER), the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO), and hundreds of civil rights leaders , have specifically dismissed calls for a moratorium, with BAEO President Jacqueline Cooper calling the NAACP resolution "ill-conceived and based on lies and distortions about the work of charter schools. The divide is rooted in two competing narratives about what charters are and what students they serve. Opponents paint charter schools as "public-private" schools run by independent groups that seek to profit from public funds without accountability and that use various means to select the most advantaged students for their schools. (Continued next page) 21