Julian Vasquez Heilig reports here on a new study about segregation and charter schools in which he is one of the authors. The other authors are Jameson Brewer and Yohuru Williams.

Here is an abstract of the study:

Abstract: We conduct descriptive and inferential analyses of publicly available Common Core of
Data (CCD) to examine segregation at the local, state, and national levels. Nationally, we find that
higher percentages of charter students of every race attend intensely segregated schools. The highest
levels of racial isolation are at the primary level for public and middle level for charters. We find
that double segregation by race and class is higher in charter schools. Charters are more likely to be
segregated, even when controlling for local ethnoracial demographics. A majority of states have at
least half of Blacks and a third of Latinx in intensely segregated charters. At the city level, we find
that higher percentages of urban charter students were attending intensely segregated schools.

Dr.Heilig writes:

We are honored today to release a new study entitled Choice without inclusion?: Comparing the intensity of racial segregation in charters and public schools at the local, state and national levels that examines segregation in the entire universe of US public and charter schools.

In its landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 [1], the United States Supreme Court powerfully concluded that in the field of public education, the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ had no place. Further, “separate educational facilities,” Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote for a unanimous court “are inherently unequal.” It has been over sixty years since the Supreme Court ruled unanimously in Brown to abolish the separate-but-equal legal doctrine and Jim Crow segregation by race. Yet, since that time, courts have allowed de factosegregation to flourish [2]and, as a result, schools in the United States are more segregated than they were at the time of the Brown decision [3].

The resegregation of the United States, in contravention of Brown, has occurred as a result of judicial retrenchment, but also due to other factors such as lax executive enforcement and White flight [4]. Not incidentally, during the past two decades, schools in the United States have become increasingly segregated by race and class. According to the national data, nowhere is the problem more acute than in the nation’s charter schools [5]. While public schools have generally acknowledged the problem and have usually agreed to remedies to address segregation [6], some charter supporters have sought to downplay the issue, emphasizing the need to provide greater choice to low income and minority students as a means of achieving an educational equity in outcomes regardless of the racial composition of the school [7]. In fact, some charter advocates have suggested that racial segregation within schools is acceptable if that comes as a natural by-product of parental choice [8].