Over the last several years, public charter schools have faced steady criticism that there are a larger percentage of charter schools with majority race/ethnicity groups than traditional public schools. The critics will point to national, state, or peculiar comparisons at metropolitan statistical areas to show that charter schools enroll more students of color.
Regrettably, racial isolation has been growing in our public school systems, largely as a result of the lifting of court order busing mandates, limitations on the use of race/ethnicity as an assignment mechanism, residential segregation, school district boundaries, attendance zones, and limited transportation. The fact is that, more often than not, charter schools mirror the demographic trends of the surrounding school district (read more here). Today NAPCS is releasing a Details from the Dashboard report that presents race/ethnicity breakouts for public charter schools and traditional public schools at the state and school district levels. We present the data at these two levels to show that when comparisons are made solely at the state level, the differences between charter schools and traditional public schools in the demographics of students enrolled are exaggerated. District level comparisons provide a much better assessment of student demographics. The table below shows a couple of examples of states where charter schools appear to enroll a much different student population than the state average, but in reality the charter schools are on par with traditional public schools in the surrounding district. The Details from the Dashboard report serves as a complement to our recently released issue brief on the different ways in which public charter schools serve the diverse needs of communities. The state and district statistics provide context to the case studies presented in the report. Race/Ethnicity Percentages by Public Charter Schools and Traditional Public Schools, 2010-2011
State (School District)
White %
Black %
Hispanic %
Asian %
Other %
Indiana
CPS
32.6
51.2
8.1
0.7
7.3
TPS
74.0
11.2
8.4
1.6
4.8
Indianapolis Public Schools
CPS
28.2
53.1
8.9
0.3
9.5
TPS
24.2
53.9
15.6
0.4
5.9
Gary Community School Corporation
CPS
1.0
90.6
6.9
0.0
1.5
TPS
0.7
88.4
2.7
0.1
8.1
Maryland
CPS
11.7
80.0
4.8
1.2
2.2
TPS
43.5
35.1
11.7
5.8
4.0
Baltimore City Public Schools
CPS
8.2
83.9
5.1
1.0
1.8
TPS
7.8
86.6
3.9
1.0
0.7
Prince George’s County Public Schools
CPS
1.3
91.7
3.5
1.3
2.1
TPS
4.5
68.9
21.0
2.9
2.7
Michigan
CPS
33.1
54.4
6.7
2.1
3.2
TPS
72.5
16.3
5.8
2.7
2.7
Detroit Public Schools
CPS
4.1
85.9
8.6
0.9
0.3
TPS
3.0
86.7
8.9
1.0
0.3
Southfield Public Schools
CPS
7.1
91.6
0.4
0.0
0.8
TPS
4.9
93.9
0.4
0.3
0.5
Missouri
CPS
10.0
78.2
9.7
1.3
0.2
TPS
76.1
15.7
4.4
1.9
1.9
Saint Louis Public Schools
CPS
11.2
82.8
4.0
0.8
0.2
TPS
12.8
81.1
3.4
2.2
0.2
Kansas City, Missouri School District
CPS
8.6
73.1
16.0
1.8
0.1
TPS
8.9
66.5
21.8
2.5
0.2
Pennsylvania
CPS
40.4
42.4
11.9
2.3
2.8
TPS
72.8
14.2
8.1
3.2
1.7
The School District of Philadelphia
CPS
15.6
64.4
15.9
2.7
1.3
TPS
13.8
59.5
17.7
6.1
2.9
Source: Compiled by NAPCS using the Public Charter Schools Dashboard.
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