Alternative Journalism Fall 2020: The Slippery Slope of Charter Schools For All

Full stop: school choice might be great in theory, but it can be discriminatory in practice. Photo by: Shutterstock.

The year is 2025.  After eight years of President Donald Trump, the United States has decisively elected its first woman as chief executive.  President Kristi Noem, inaugurated just last week, is already plowing ahead at top speed on her First 100 Days agenda with the help of Vice President Tim Scott.  School choice, a prized issue for her predecessor and her party, is top on her list of initiatives.  To ensure a smooth transition, she has asked Betsy DeVos, an avowed school choice champion, to stay on as Secretary of Education and play a central role in her administration.  Together, they intend to lay the groundwork for an eradication of typical public schools.  They are using the city of New Orleans, known for its chartered institutions, as a prototype for the country.

New Orleans is unlike any other city in America in that more than eighty charter schools dominate its educational landscape.  Charter schools in the Crescent City are operated by competing nonprofit organizations, such as InspireNOLA and the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP), given authority by the state of Louisiana or the Orleans Parish school district.  They are empowered to design their own calendars, which allows them to designate their own student holidays, and they can also be exceedingly selective with their hiring and staffing decisions.  Most notably, they get to design their own curricula, each one deciding for itself which lessons are most important and how they should be taught to children.  All of this freedom, all of this choice, is contingent on the schools’ ability to adhere to various guidelines.  If the schools perform well (on standardized test scores, student improvement since last year, high school graduation rates, and ACT scores), their contracts are renewed, and they welcome more students through their doors.  If they don’t, their contracts are revoked, and they are forced to shut down.

Charter schools have the privilege to operate as individuals, whereas public schools within a given district operate as a unit, collectively held accountable for their students’ success.  Parents can choose to send their children to any charter school in town, but families are assigned to specific public schools based on where they live.  Public schools within a given district have a uniform curriculum, but charter schools have the freedom and choice to strike out on their own and decide what needs to be emphasized.

Republicans like Noem, Scott, and DeVos have long supported school choice, which makes sense given its underlying promises of freedom and liberty – two pillars of political conservatism.  When he was in office, President Donald Trump and his band of MAGA hat-wearing supporters loudly trumpeted its merits.  At the 2020 RNC, “school choice” was a hot topic, with most of the event’s speakers paying it some form of lip service.  Rebecca Friedrichs, a teacher from California, lambasted teachers’ unions for “trapping so many precious, low-income children in dangerous, corrupt, and low-performing schools,” touting school choice as the solution to the problem. Donald Trump Jr. explained that school choice would specifically benefit Black and Latinx kids, many of whom attended “unsafe” public schools “just because of their zip code.”

Devout Christians tend to support school choice, citing concerns about the ‘dangers’ of secularism in public education.  Secretary DeVos has fanned these flames, fiercely advocating for the expansion of (many religious) charter schools and stating that her ultimate goal as an education policy leader is to “advance God’s kingdom.”  Noem has similar motivations: she served as governor of South Dakota, where she proclaimed statewide days of prayer and proposed a slew of policies inspired by her Christian faith.  Scott also identifies as an evangelical Christian; his beliefs have played a central role in shaping his stances on policy issues.  It is no wonder, then, that school choice – apparently sanctioned by the church – is a cornerstone of the Noem/Scott/DeVos utopia.

School choice proponents cite its religious and patriotic benefits.  Photo by: Shutterstock.

When charter schools were first implemented in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, they saw almost instant success.  Orleans Parish – previously the second lowest-performing school district in Louisiana, the second lowest-performing state in the country – was suddenly rising in the ranks.  Standardized test scores have since improved by eleven to sixteen percentage points, high school graduation rates by three to nine, and college matriculation rates by eight to fifteen.  School choice proponents have taken notice, citing the reforms in NOLA as a prime example of charter schools opening doors for their students.  Knowing this, it appears that Noem, Scott, and DeVos are on the right track.

Not so fast.  A sizable proportion of New Orleans residents are displeased with the all-charter setup, explaining that many charter schools are corrupt and inadequate and thus rated D or F in terms of educational strength.  What is more, many high-income white children have the privilege to be placed in the city’s best schools, but when those fill up, low-income children of color – particularly Black children – are left with fewer and less prestigious options.  It is worth noting that the post-Katrina reforms in New Orleans also included a huge influx of education spending, totaling almost $1,400 per student per year.  It is this outpouring of money, more so than the charter setup, that likely spurred positive outcomes.  Republicans, though, who are typically loath to increase education spending this drastically, have conveniently left this tidbit out of the narrative.

Opponents of school choice dislike the concept because they feel it gives charter schools too much license to discriminate against non-Christian and LGBTQ+ students.  This concern should not be overlooked.  If Noem, Scott and DeVos succeed in creating an all-charter landscape, the lack of central accountability measures could easily create a slippery slope, allowing discrimination and coercion to become the norm.  Prayer could be made mandatory at School A, rainbow Pride attire could be banned at School B, “Black Lives Matter” could be labeled as “hate speech” at School C, and the theory of evolution could be rejected at School D.

References:

“Betsy DeVos.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 21 Sept. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betsy_DeVos.

Cauterucci, Christina. “School Choice Was the Main Policy Mentioned at Monday’s RNC. Why?” Slate Magazine, Slate, 25 Aug. 2020, slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/08/school-choice-rnc-obsession.html.

Frazier-Anderson, Pamela N. “Public Schooling in Post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans: Are Charter Schools the Solution or Part of the Problem?” The Journal of African American History, vol. 93, no. 3, 2008, pp. 410–429., doi:10.1086/jaahv93n3p410.

Heidelberger, Cory Allen. “Pastor Kristi Tells Everyone to Pray and Fast on May 4.” Dakota Free Press, 26 Apr. 2019, dakotafreepress.com/2019/04/26/pastor-kristi-tells-everyone-to-pray-and-fast-on-may-4/.

Jewson, Marta. “Compare 2019 New Orleans School Ratings.” The Lens, 11 Nov. 2019, thelensnola.org/2019/11/06/compare-2019-new-orleans-school-ratings/. 

Jewson, Marta. “New Orleans Becomes First Major American City without Traditional Schools.” The Lens, 1 July 2019, thelensnola.org/2019/07/01/new-orleans-becomes-first-major-american-city-without-traditional-schools/.

McGill, Kevin. “Study: Post-Katrina Changes Improved New Orleans Schools.” AP NEWS, Associated Press, 16 July 2018, apnews.com/article/fc4481ae524540e2a25609951fc491a4. 

Munguia, Hayley. “Test Scores Don’t Tell Us Everything About New Orleans School Reform.” FiveThirtyEight, FiveThirtyEight, 25 Aug. 2015, fivethirtyeight.com/features/research-suggests-education-reforms-after-hurricane-katrina-worked/.

“NOLA By The Numbers & Education Statistics.” Teach New Orleans, teachneworleans.net/nola-by-the-numbers/.

Rizga, Kristina. “Betsy DeVos Wants to Use America’s Schools to Build ‘God’s Kingdom.” She’s about to Get Her Chance.” Mother Jones, 2017, www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/betsy-devos-christian-schools-vouchers-charter-education-secretary/.

Schaffhauser, Dian. “What We Can Learn from New Orleans’ Post-Katrina School Reforms.” THE Journal, 20 Aug. 2018, thejournal.com/articles/2018/08/20/what-we-can-learn-from-new-orleans-post-katrina-school-reforms.aspx. 

Strauss, Valerie, and Carol Burris. “Analysis | The Real Story of New Orleans and Its Charter Schools.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 4 Sept. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/education/2018/09/04/real-story-new-orleans-its-charter-schools/.

“Tim Scott.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 25 Sept. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Scott.

Vanacore, Andrew. “Thirty Nonprofits Line up for New Orleans School Charters.” NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune, 9 Sept. 2011, www.nola.com/news/education/article_46f96c14-2826-5d33-8b93-92bf5fdef2c8.html.