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Race and Massachusetts Charter Schools

The Boston Globe reported on March 28, 2016 that “Racial aspects tinge Mass. charter debate.”

As the state debates lifting its cap on charter schools, if there’s to be any focus on race and charter schools, it should be centered around the fact that charter schools in MA, and across the nation, are helping minorities historically underserved by our traditional education system.

In Massachusetts, charter school students score proficient or advanced in every subject and at every grade level compared to their traditional public school peers. And, Massachusetts charter schools serve a student population that’s 58 percent Black and Latino compared to 27 percent statewide.

While the Globe reports that the NAACP opposes permitting more charter schools, the African American community is voting with its feet and choosing charter schools for their children. Because traditional civil rights groups like this oppose structural change, groups like the Black Alliance for Educational Options (BAEO) were born. African-American lawmakers and celebrities have advocated for charters and started their own, from former NBA star Jalen Rose in Detroit, MI, to John Legend supporting Harlem Village academies and writing a song in honor of the school’s first graduating class, to Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs announcing his support to start a charter school in Harlem, NY.

Perhaps if Massachusetts lifted the cap on charter schools, it would have more celebrities rushing to start schools there…