There Is No Excuse: Charter Schools and the Assault on Students' Educational, Civil, and Human Rights

• In Event: The "No Excuses" Model of Urban School Reform: Wrenching Truths, Critical Perspectives, and Dissent

Abstract

In this paper, Kristen Buras shares her case study of "No Excuses" charter schools in New Orleans, many noted for high rates of out-of-school suspension. Her study draws on semi-structured qualitative interviews with past students, parents, and teachers as well as documents, including academic records, suspension forms, IEPs, school handbooks, and written complaints, to illuminate racial equity concerns. More specifically, Buras utilizes critical race theory (CRT) to analyze data, centering the experiential knowledge of communities of color and counter-storytelling as a methodology that captures voices "at the bottom of the well."

Her findings reveal notable concerns over student welfare. Consider, for example, the following testimony:

A grandmother reports her grandson, who is autistic and avoids physical contact, was forced to shake hands with teachers as a mandatory ritual—or risk punishment. He was bullied while teachers did nothing and emotional distress reached crisis-level when he came home, vomited, and begged not to return (Interview). An independent psychological evaluation urged withdrawal due to school-related stressors (Document).
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Parents note their son was cited by administrators for using his cell phone after school to contact them. His citation read, "Offender" (Interview, Document). After protesting school policies, he was given lunch detention; when he refused to serve, he was denied food. Upon serving, he reports the school's detention center was packed with students given nothing educational to do despite hours of silence and isolation (Interview).

A female student, suspended almost daily for minor infractions, struggled academically. At one point, her failing grade was visibly posted on a wall. When she attempted to scratch out her name and grade for privacy, she indicates an administrator grabbed and physically retrained her. As a result, she was pushed out of school and not long after became pregnant and never completed high school (Interview).

As Buras reveals, analysis of student-parent-teacher data tells a composite story about pervasive and stringent disciplinary standards; criminal profiling of black students; use of isolation and deprivation as punishment; violations of state and federal laws; and ultimately an assault on students' educational, civil, and human rights.

Author

• Kristen L. Buras, Georgia State University