For black students hoping to escape awful public schools, school choice is often the most effective remedy, according to a new report from the Black Alliance for Educational Options. The report compiles an array of research on black student performance in traditional public schools, charter schools and private schools.
Traditional public schools fail black students in many ways. For example, look at the portion of black fourth-graders proficient in reading: just 16 percent nationwide. More than twice as many white and Asian students are proficient.
In math, it’s the same story: 17 percent of black students are proficient, with 41 percent of white and Asian students proficient. Sadly, these numbers deteriorate by the time students get to eighth grade.
Prefaced by those numbers, it will come as no surprise that most black students are not ready for college. Only 15 percent of the black students who took the SAT in the class of 2014 scored high enough to reach the college and career readiness benchmark. On the ACT, only 11 percent of black students were college-ready in three out of four benchmark areas.
“Given these facts, the time is now for us to take action to educate Black and low-income children!” the report says.
Thankfully, many black students are getting a better education in public charter schools. These schools, which don’t charge tuition and have more flexibility than traditional public schools, are providing learning gains for black students. In math, black students in charter schools learn the equivalent of 36 extra days of instruction per school year. In reading, they learn the equivalent of 26 extra days. The gains are even higher for black students living in poverty.
Results vary from city to city, but it’s rare for a charter school to cause black students to learn less, on average. In Boston, Memphis and Newark black students in charters are getting the equivalent of more than 100 extra days of learning in both math and reading. The gains also exist, to a lesser extent, in some of the more maligned public school districts in the country, like Detroit, New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
“The conclusion … is unambiguous: Black and low-income students enrolled in charter schools with majority, or near-majority, Black school districts have higher learning gains in math and reading than their [traditional public school] peers; many of whom are Black, low-income or both,” the report says.
The report also reviews research on private school choice programs, like school vouchers. Of 12 gold standard evaluations of school choice programs, 11 find significant improvements for students in general, and black students specifically. The 12th study found that vouchers made no difference academically, so research undoubtedly shows that private school choice programs work. The report also reviewed survey data that show blacks and Hispanics think more income-based vouchers would improve education.
“Means-tested programs, parental demand for them and scholarly data about them prove that private school vouchers work for Black low-income and working-class students,” the report says.
Research on scholarships funded by state tax credits is more scant. Evaluation of the biggest program, in Florida, showed an incredible result: Students were gaining an extra year’s worth of learning in one school year. In other words, students are learning twice as much as they were in traditional public schools. Nearly 70,000 students are enrolled in private schools thanks to the Florida program.
Traditional public education in a one-size-fits-all environment is failing black students. School choice — whether it’s charter schools, vouchers or scholarships funded by tax credits — is working.
Jason Russell is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
