By Jamar Younger
What’s the difference between forced segregation and voluntary association?
Two students recently explored this topic in a short, but poignant video created by Choice Media.
Although critics may scapegoat charters for increased segregation, supporters, including thousands of parents, will say these charters have provided increased education opportunities for minority students, particularly African-Americans in underserved areas with historically low-achieving schools.
Many will also note that this country, its neighborhoods and school systems were already deeply segregated way before the arrival of charter schools.
Besides, there’s a difference between forced segregation and choosing a school that presents the best opportunity for your student.
“Segregation is when someone blocks a door, not when you don’t like which open doors are freely chosen,” the video states.
Derrell Bradford emphasizes the same point in an op-ed written for The 74. Bradford also attributes the racial discrepancy to another factor: ambition.
The ambition that drives affluent families to seek private schools and highly selective magnet schools is the same force that pushes minority families to choose charter schools that cater to their students, culturally and academically.
More often than not, these charter schools in predominantly minority neighborhoods are higher-performing than their traditional counterparts.
As minority families seek educational excellence for their students, they should not have to get to the “back of the line” because of “segregationist” attacks on charters, Bradford says.
“It’s a command to which no family, charter or otherwise, should assent. Now or ever,” Bradford said.
