School Choice

For over two and a half decades, Minnesota has been ground zero for an ongoing national experiment in public school charterization. Part I of the project updates the Institute’s previous work on Twin Cities’ charter schools, which focused on their high degree of racial and economic segregation and mediocre academic performance. This latest report shows that both trends continue unabated. 

Chicago remains one of the nation’s lowest performing school districts. Sadly the charters schools, which on average score lower that the Chicago public schools, have not improved the Chicago school system, but perhaps made it even weaker. Further charters, which are even more likely to be single race schools than the already hyper segregated Chicago school system, and are more likely to use student expulsion.

This Article highlights the evolution of school choice policies and their consequences, much of which has been negative in terms of increasing racial segregation.

Charter School Partners’ (CSP) January 6 blog post titled Minnesota Charters 2014: Part I: Building a high-impact charter sector, Closing the opportunity/achievement gap misrepresents recent Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity (IMO) updates on charter schools in the Twin Cities.

This study provides evidence that Minnesota's open enrollment program increases racial segregation in area schools.

This report updates the data underlying the 2008 report entitled Failed Promises: Assessing Charter Schools in the Twin Cities.

This study examines reform in New Orleans public schools after Hurricane Katrina.

This research paper details the prevalence of segregation in many Twin Cities schools.

This IRP report reveals the disturbing extent of school segregation in the Twin Cities region. However, the authors envision a brighter future if an already successful school choice program is expanded. The report describes how economic and racial segregation harm children and the region.

This article, published in the Fordham Urban Law Journal, recommends that land use and housing policies be marshaled to reduce residential racial segregation and concentrated poverty. Such policies should be statewide, or at least regional, in scope. Isolated policies encourage leap-frog development that in turn promotes both sprawl and racial segregation.