Private School Parents Switching to Charter Schools: Avenues for Renewed School Diversity and Community?

• In Event: Roundtable Session 100
  In Roundtable Session: Unpacking the Social Context of School Choice for Parents: Preferences, Information, and Participation

Abstract

Purpose and Perspectives
Prior literature has compared private school choice vis-à-vis public schools, but little on charter schools (Epple et al, 2004). Research indicates that school location is important to compare charter school enrollment characteristics with the composition of surrounding neighborhoods (Lubienski & Gulosino, 2007). Henig and MacDonald (2002) found that charter schools were more likely to locate in areas with greater proportions of African-American and Hispanic families, but with middle incomes and higher home ownership rates. Literature also suggests that parents indicate they choose schools for academic reasons because of dissatisfaction of their zoned schools and for safety and convenience (Smrekar & Goldring, 1996; Hamilton & Guin, 2006; Kleitz et al., 2000).

In this paper we explore the geographic neighborhood contexts of schools and parents' reasons for choosing a charter school to examine an area of choice that has received limited attention. We ask: What are the parent and neighborhood characteristics of charter schools that attract the most switchers from private schools? Why do parents switch their children from private schools to charter schools? The answers to these questions have implications for understanding the promise of charters schools in achieving racial, ethnic and socioeconomic diversity and providing urban parents with alternatives to private schools.

Data and Methods
In 2007 we administered surveys to parents from all 16 mayor’s charter schools in Indianapolis (response rate 84%, N=2,493). We collected school-level demographics and matched the addresses of charter schools with census tracts to obtain data regarding the racial-ethnic diversity and economic conditions of the neighborhoods. We constructed GIS mapping to identify connections between schools of higher rates of private school switchers and their locations. We asked parents to indicate the types of schools their children went to immediately before switching and measured their reasons for choosing the charter schools.

Results
Sixteen percent of parents indicated they switched their children from private schools to charter schools. Students who switched from private schools have higher family income and their parents with higher education levels than their counterparts who switched from public schools. Parents of students switching from private schools tend to be of higher socioeconomic status in terms of income and education than both the average of parents in the charter school, and of the surrounding charter school neighborhood. While parents across school types emphasize academics, the private switchers stand out as a group that consistently underscores both academic quality and academic focus.

Significance
Charter schools may provide a moderating effect in processes of residential segregation by providing parents with an opportunity to exercise educational choice without residential mobility. Charter schools that attract middle class private school families may serve as ‘new’ institutions that are integral to the overall growth of the community surrounding the school by serving as ‘engines’ of social change and providing vital social capital. In this paper we provide case study examples from Indianapolis where two charter schools located in a highly disadvantaged area are banding together to start development efforts in community revitalization and fund raising.

Authors

• Ellen B. Goldring, Vanderbilt University

• Xiu Cravens, Vanderbilt University