This is an interview with Dr. Julian Vasquez Heilig, the scholar who was recently named dean of the University of Kentucky School of Education. JVH’s scholarship focuses on equity. He has written about charter schools and Teach for America.
From the Progressive:
Vasquez-Heilig and his co-authors, T. Jameson Brewer of the University of North Georgia College of Education, and Yohuru Williams of the University of St. Thomas College of Arts and Sciences, analyzed publicly available data to confirm what public school advocates have said for years: Nationally, higher percentages of charter students of every race attend “intensely segregated” schools.
I had an opportunity to speak with Vasquez-Heilig about his study and the urgency to address the hard truth of his findings.
Q: What questions were you were looking to answer with this study?
Vasquez-Heilig: So what we really wanted to know is, are charter schools more segregated, when you look at the state-level data, the national level data, and the local level data. We wanted to determine if the one reason why charter schools are more segregated is because they sit in segregated communities, as is often discussed.
We found that across all levels, charter schools are more segregated where African American and Latinx students are in the majority. We found geography didn’t explain that away, and that it’s growing worse.
Q: Did your research find any variation with respect to segregated charter schools from state to state?
Vasquez-Heilig: That’s a good question. There are a couple of states—and cities—where neighborhood public schools are slightly more segregated—Los Angeles, and Hawaii, for example. But those are the exceptions. In the vast majority of states and the vast majority of cities, African American and Latinx students were more segregated in charter schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
I agree with the distinction Vasquez-Heilig makes between a public service and a private charter school.
“What is the difference between rights and privileges in our society?” I think there’s a good argument to be made that the things that we consider to be rights in our society should be publicly managed.”
His reasoning makes sense to me. I also think that anything that involves the health, well-being of people should be publicly managed. Privatization creates winners and losers. We cannot afford to ignore the needs of certain students. A democratic society must prepare everyone to be a future voter and member of society. Private charter schools have no interest in providing equity for students. They often screen students according to a preset criteria whereas public schools serve all students as aspire to equity. Private charter schools are “boutique” schools whose model is not scalable to large segments of the population. Public money should not be used to enhance segregation and other anti-democratic goals of private charter schools. States should not be allowed to transfer public money to private entities without oversight, accountability, evidence and equity.
Charter schools are part of the pro white agenda.
Today, the person who Trump called, “My African American” left the GOP after 18 years. In a PBS interview he said Republicans use black men like him as political pawns.
Men and women paid for service to the ed deform campaign are promoting a pro white agenda, whether it is the scheme of DINO’s or Republican. And, their financial transaction to do so taints them as “used”.
Charters are about Jim Crow and the “Colonial Model.”
The “solution” to segregated schools is being marketed under the banner of choice, with charter schools and vouchers clearly favored over other means. I think that is a crock, and it bothers me to see that idea forwarded both by the Center for American Progress and in this Newsletter from https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/newsletter-latinx-segregation-091219.
With enough dollars dangled in front of them, would CAP be persuaded to champion a different cause? It’d be easier to sell continuation of a common good to Democrats than a product that enriches grifters and is promoted by the Koch brothers and Walton heirs. It would be easier to sell a pro-union stance to the rank and file voters than an anti-union organization.
CAP education staff should read the Manhattan Institute’s “Catholic Schools and Truth Decay”. In making its case for Catholic schools, the author spells out the disadvantages of charter schools for minority communities.
so simply said, so easy to grasp: Segregated schools marketed under the banner of choice.