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Thursday, February 19, 2015

Walking to DC opposing the immoral ground of school choice policies



My response to Connecticut Governor Malloy budget increases for charter schools would be the same response for any state increasing it's funding for charter schools. Their is no data to support them as education reform successes. 
It is obvious our politicians, policy makers, and their education reformer pals are not reading the research on choice schools and charters. The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles from UCLA 40 states review of school choice impacts 2010 reported that charter school actually increase racial isolation. See:
Frankenberg, E., Siegel-Hawley, G., Wang, J. (2010). Choice without Equity: Charter School Segregation and the Need for Civil Rights Standards. Los Angeles, CA: The Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA; www.civilrightsproject.ucla.edu. 

Perhaps the reading level is too high for these so-called education reformers to understand?
"Executive Summary
Seven years after the Civil Rights Project first documented extensive patterns of charter school segregation, the charter sector continues to stratify students by race, class and possibly language. This study is released at a time of mounting federal pressure to expand charter schools, despite on-going and accumulating evidence of charter school segregation."....
"Their analysis of the 40 states, the District of Columbia, and several dozen metropolitan areas with large enrollments of charter school students reveals that charter schools are more racially isolated than traditional public schools in virtually every state and large metropolitan area in the nation."

As for Connecticut Connecticut Voices For Children issued their 2014 report: 

Choice Watch: Diversity and Access in Connecticut's School Choice Programs Robert Cotto, Jr., Ed.M. & Kenneth Feder

http://www.ctvoices.org/publications/choice-watch-diversity-and-access-connecticuts-school-choice-programs

Let me make this simple, school choice provides cover for Connecticut being one of 49 states who spend more money on their wealthy schools than their poor schools." This is a moral struggle with immoral policy that fails to provide all our children with an equal start and finish in our public schools. Education reform should begin with providing children in all 50 states an equal start and finish not with gimmicks. Study after study reveals one simple finding Choice without equity is a failure, and that our political leaders either can't comprehend data, or they just don't care. If they don't care then everything they are doing is rooted in immorality.
One Man Walking To DC In The Name Of Love,
Jesse

If you you like to know what song inspired my walk today? It's Barry Lane's "More Than A Number" https://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Barry+lane+more+than+a+number+utbue\&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz35







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