Questioning the Outcomes of Charter Schools as an Equitable Reform Initiative: A Critical Race Theory Analysis

• In Event: Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Critical Analysis in Education Policy

Abstract

This paper contributes to public understandings and political debates focused on charter schools as a viable intervention to increase education equity for students of color and low-income students in the United States. Using the tenets of racial realism, interest convergence, and intersectionality from Critical Race Theory, the authors review the findings of nine large-scale charter school studies focused on academic achievement in order to discuss the uneven outcomes of charter schools for students of color. The authors conclude that charter school reform provides limited successful schooling options for students of color to help sustain the American workforce and contribute to the U.S. economic stability, but it does not produce future economic equity for communities of color.

Authors

• Thandeka K. Chapman, University of California - San Diego

• Jamel K. Donnor, College of William and Mary