Charter School Saturation and Segregation in the United States

• In Event: Globalization, Privatization, Marginalization: Assessing Connections and Consequences in/Through Education

Abstract

The United States historically segregates students, with the current Secretary of Education proposing a solution of education privatization. This paper examines the saturation of its most popular modality, charter schools, at the national, state, and district levels. Within districts, we compare charter and public schools in six districts where 25% or more students attend charter schools, analyzing access (by race/ethnicity and free and reduced lunch), provision (special education and English Learners), and outcomes. Results show increased levels of segregation in charters, especially for special education students and students in schools intensely segregated by both race and class.

Research Questions:
RQ1: How much do charter schools saturate the United States’ education system and where?
RQ2: Do demographic characteristics and programmatic participation differ between charter schools and public schools when measured at the district-level?

The conceptual framework builds on previous research highlighting the need for a multi-scalar approach (Frankenberg et al., 2011) and the interplay of Race/Ethnicity and poverty (Jankov and Caref, 2017; Vasquez-Heilig et al., 2019). In aggregate, charters enroll a greater number of poor and minority students than public schools, although researchers have found this national statistic obfuscates local realities (Carnoy, Jacobsen, Mishel, & Rothstein, 2005, 2006). Additionally, equitable access regarding English Learners and Special Education Learners is debated in research (Rapa, Katsiyannis, & Ennis, 2018; Welner, 2013). Therefore, we analyze national trends and use district-level data for primary research to evaluate levels of provision and segregation.

While 5.7% of students attend charter schools nationally, charters are concentrated primarily in urban areas serving high-poverty students and students of color (NCES, 2017a). Nationally, 56.5% of charters operate in an urban environment, although only 24.9% of K-12 students live in these areas (NCES, 2017b). In 208 U.S. school districts, charter enrollment saturation reached 10%, and in 34 districts, charter enrollment saturation reached or exceeded 25% (See Table 1).

Locally, analysis of six districts (bold, Table 1) reveals special education students segregated into public schools at a statistically significantly higher rate than charter schools in four districts (See Table 2), reflecting prior research by Author (2015), Lafer (2018), and Drame (2010). Examining intense segregation (schools with 90% or greater students of color), we find five districts with large percentages for both public and charter schools (Table 3). However, charter schools have more doubly intensely segregated students, by both race/ethnicity and student FRL status, than public schools (See Tables 2 and 3).

The study reveals three main points:
1) Education privatization is increasing in the U.S., but its predominant form of charter schools
are unevenly dispersed and concentrated primarily in urban areas serving students of color.
2) Segregation remains a major education issue for all schools, with students of color in urban
contexts often attending intensely segregated schools.
3) Instead of mitigating the segregation problem, charter school selection appears to exacerbate it, specifically for special education students and for students in schools doubly segregated by both race/ethnicity and FRL status.

Authors

• Frank M. Adamson, California State University, Sacramento

• Meredith Galloway, California State University - Sacramento