Education Segregation: Delaware Black Caucus Threatens To Sue
(Note: This is a long post, but worth it! At least in my opinion. Perhaps I’ll email it to Jack Wells’ massive email list!)
The leader of the Delaware Black Caucus said if the state’s Race to the Top education reform plan doesn’t result in greater racial equality in schools and a fairer distribution of education dollars, the group may consider taking legal action.
Speaking Wednesday night during a forum at Delaware State University in Dover, New Castle County Councilman Jea Street, who chairs the caucus, said racial inequality is alive and well in Delaware’s public school system.
While Race to the Top may be the trigger, the re-segregation of our schools was well underway long before RTTT with the help of Choice, Neighborhood School’s Law, and Charters.
Jea Street spells it out: “The new millennium term is ‘charter school’ and ‘choice school. I call it segregation. There are black charter schools and there are predominantly white charter schools. You can call it what you want, but it is what it is.”
It is segregation, just repackaged into terms designed to hide the truth. Go back and look at what happened to Red Clay’s city elementary schools when Brandywine Springs opened.
Let’s review, and this time I’ll add the racial breakdown. Shortlidge was already struggling with re-segregation before Brandywine Springs opened while Highlands hung onto balance for several years. Warner felt the effects of Brandywine Springs overnight.
WARNER:
1999–2000: The Year Before Brandywine Springs Opens
823 students
40.7% African American
2.1% Hispanic
52.7% White
34.9% Low Income
10.6% Special Ed
2000-2001: The Year Brandywine Springs Opens
600 students
68.3% African American
4.2% Hispanic
23.5% White
51.3% Low Income
12% Special Ed
2011–2012: Today
555 students (K -5th)
77.7% African American
16.9% Hispanic
3,8% White
87.4% Low Income
16.6% Special Ed
HIGHLANDS:
1999–2000: The Year Before Brandywine Springs Opens
348 students (K-3rd)
36.8% African American
16.7% Hispanic
43.4% White
44.8% Low Income
6.9% Special Ed
2000-2001: The Year Brandywine Springs Opens
359 students
35.4% African American
18.7% Hispanic
43.2% White
44.3% Low Income
7% Special Ed
2011-2012: Today
367 students (K-5th)
51.5% African Americans
31.6% Hispanic
14.2% White
83.4% Low Income
10.9% Special Ed
SHORTLIDGE:
1999–2000: The Year Before Brandywine Springs Opens
483 students
79.5% African American
11.2% Hispanic
8.5% White
70.8% Low Income
8.9% Special Ed
2000-2001: The Year Brandywine Springs Opens
482 students
82.8% African American
12% Hispanic
5% White
68% Low Income
8.5% Special Ed
2011–2012: Today
311 students (K-5th)
95.5% African American
2.6% Hispanic
1.6% White
90.4% Low Income
12.9% Special Ed
Wow, talk about white flight!
No wonder Red Clay wanted an All Choice District. Choice re-segregated schools faster than the Neighborhood School’s Law – and it didn’t involve those pesky feeder patterns. I believe Red Clay spoke out against the Neighborhood School’s Law not because it re-segregated, but because the way it re-segregated schools was a court battle waiting to happen.
Now… what’s the plan with Charters?
Mike O., The Seventh Type blog, connects the dots.
But also in Chuck Baldwin’s (President of the Charter School of Wilmington) post was this:
“This building, which will be used for education, will allow for successful models to replicate in Delaware (KIPP, Montessori). Schools will be established in the inner city and provide educational opportunities for thousands of our children. DuPont and Bank of America are committing million of dollars in resources and are truly “putting their money where their mouth is” when it comes to education reform.”
He also points to Charlie Copeland’s post on the BofA, 2000 seat school:
The Longwood Foundation plans to take that building and create the “Community Education Building” (CEB) and put 4 Charter Schools right in the heart of the City of Wilmington. Wilmington’s own “Charter School District” — an idea that I floated in January 2006 on a Comcast Newsmaker Broadcast but could find no supporters at the time.
And there you have it. Those in the know obviously know the plans for the 2,000 seat school the rest of us just learned about. Charter, baby.
Now, pay attention… Wilmington’s own “Charter School District?
There you go. That’s the plan. Public schools in the city will be decimated when the new mega-charter opens, and will most likely be turned into Charters themselves. You are familiar with these nifty Charter Laws?
provided, that a school district must make unused buildings or space (defined as space no longer needed, permanently or temporarily, for non-charter school purposes) buildings or space in buildings available to a charter school, and shall bargain in good faith over the cost of rent, services and maintenance related to such space; [emphasis mine]
And what about this:
(a) A public school may only be converted to a charter school by approval of the board of the school district in which it is located and that the charter application received the approval of over 50% of the teachers and over 50% of the parents residing in the attendance area of the school with a child or children under the age of 18 years, who, after 30 days prior written notice to all teachers and parents eligible to vote, attend a public meeting held for the specific purpose of voting on the proposed conversion; provided, however, that such approval shall not be required where a district school board converts a choice school or program with a specific career or academic subject matter focus already approved as of the effective date of this chapter to a charter school with the same focus. [emphasis mine]
Let’s consider these two points. City students leave their failing public schools creating UNUSED space that a school district MUST make available to a charter school. My guess, Warner goes first.
The second part should have Cab and Conrad parents sitting up and taking notice since both have a “specific career or academic subject matter. No teacher or parent approval needed in this case. The School Board decides.
And while this Charter wave is starting in the city my bet is that it won’t stop there. Are we witnessing an attempt to end public education? I think so.
And it may take a lawsuit to find out what’s really going on.
Tags: Charter Schools, Choice Schools, Education, Neighborhood Schools Act, Race To The Top
A couple of independent charter schools is a useful experiment. A 2000-seat juggernaut funded and directed by our largest employers is a coup.
Another piece of the puzzle is Chip Rossi’s comment at the initial press conference, taking great care to point out that the building would be for “new or existing charter schools. It’s subjective, but to me that sounds like at least one existing charter school is already lined up.
Let’s also not forget the smiling faces of our elected officials at the announcement ceremony, who surely know the whole plan.
GREAT job, Pandora.
As a parent, it’s very depleting being told to cheer for an amazing array of choices when the thing I actually wanted for my child & the society I hoped she’d be inheriting from me is what is being systematically taken away.
Public ed advocates have been skillfully divided over this, and locally still sound a bit scattered in their interests to me – each standing up in response to some thing they are against, not what they are for – it’s distracting and I think it is very important for this community to come together now around common interests because it is way behind the curve.
P.S. There is going to be a screening of “The Inconvenient Truth Behind Waiting for Superman” next Thursday, March 1 at Gauger Cobbs (free buses being provided from Bayard). I can’t vouch for the film itself but might be another interesting opportunity for frank discussion.
Only in Delaware can we win $150 million in Federal dollars and turn it into a problem.
RTTT is only part of the problem – and one whose arrival comes late to the game. Choice, Charters and Neighborhood Schools put us on this road a decade ago.
Yes, our discussion here is sort of conflating charters and RTTT. According to the article, the Black Caucus is focusing on RTTT. But Jea Street connects the dots just as we are doing here:
I don’t agree with the scorched-earth policy against RTTT and anybody connected with it. I think we need to see it as an opportunity, but to push back on Washington for more flexibility to make it work for Delaware. It’s getting late for that though, and I’m not sure we even know what to do with it.
There’s a case that could be made that without Charters, Choice and Neighborhood Schools Race to the Top may not have even been necessary… or look very different.
And I’m not kidding. While the Charter mania is focused on the city at this point in time, it won’t stop there. The end game is getting rid of traditional public schools.
Choice, Charter and Neighborhood Schools have already implemented the mindset. Years ago people would praise their school district – they would say, “I want to move into the Red Clay District.” Today they focus solely on the school their child attends, and say, “I want to move into the North Star feeder.” This mindset will make the charter transition easier because the districts are divided.
Ugh… I’m beginning to sound like a conspiracy theorist.
I was on a panel on Monday at Chris Counihan’s UD government class with CRI’s John Stapleford. Stapleford was doing his normal soapboxing for charter/choice (in time, voucher). He freely quoted (as he does in the WNJ) that African Americans are amongst the most active in applications to DE charter/choice. I suspect that he completely disregards inconvenient figures such as the segregation within the charter/choice schools, and in the remaining public schools.
I was surprised at the thinly-veiled vehemence of a student (freshman/sophomore), laying the blame of our ‘failed education system’ at the feet of the teachers’ unions.
Mike,
I am on the “scorched earth” team as you call it. There is almost nothing redeeming in the policies espoused in that grant application. There is no social science backup, no vision for success in the long term other than an arbitrary suggestion that more money equals better selection, training, and better execution. While those outcomes seem intuitive they are being run through policy initiatives like merit pay, retention pay, incentive pay, data coaches, 90 minute PLCs, and very ornate district plans that employ consultants and RTTT dedicated employees to track $$ and ensure that the policies with no evidence are being followed.
It is a catastrophic concept. I have been against it from the beginning. Jea is 100% correct to conflate RTTT with Charter expansion and the resultant segregation BECAUSE BOTH RTTT and Charters flow from a market based intuition…..and if I have to remind anyone what market based economic policies with no regulation can do to an economy…..then the future of Education is on life support already, we just don’t quite know it.
Pandora,
If I may shamelessly plug, my blog: http://transparentchristina.wordpress.com/ has been at the fore, along with Kilroy at amassing resources and articles pointing out the disconnectedness between the policies RTTT espouses and their ACTUAL outcomes.
Stapleford is using data to make his point while ignoring data that hurts his case. Typical.
And that UD student is simply quoting his/her mommy and daddy. All this selective finger pointing drives me nuts. Want to know who’s to blame? Everybody pick up a mirror.
“I suspect that he completely disregards inconvenient figures such as the segregation within the charter/choice schools”
I think that is the reason the courts do not declare us out of compliance with desegregation: because the segregation is happening by “choice.” The existence of choice and charters allows us to say that we do not require students to attend segregated schools. The existence of high-minority schools by itself is not evidence of segregation. At least that is the theory; I’m not saying it is a good theory or even that it would hold up to a challenge. But that is the principle that has kept the courts out of our schools for decades now. Either we work it out, or have the courts eventually work it out for us (again).
Plug away, John. We need more people screaming about this. Not sure if you know, but I started my blogging life on Kilroy’s in 2007 and this was my issue. I was on the front lines (child at Warner) when Brandywine Springs opened.
I have heard such and see a huge re-invigoration has hit! It is a fascinating topic, always!
It is about time that somebody made local school districts AND the DOE accountable for the ongoing undermining of city schools. I’m cynical that the Delaware Black Caucus is going to do that, though. This has been going on for a long time and there has been opportunity to push back on some of this. It is well past time that city, county, state leadership in the city help their constituents get better outcomes from school districts and the DOE. As far as I can tell, they haven’t prioritized that much expect for a fair amount of lip service.
The prison industrial complex hoovers up young black and brown kids, young poor kids with astonishing efficiency, an efficiency that our electeds have prioritized helping. It is well past time for elected officials to prioritize the education of these kids with the same kind of efficiency.
Newark Charter School:
1) Hispanic—————-4.2%
2) Blacks——————-11.1%
3) Poverty——————15.1%
4) Special Needs———–5.8%
West Park:
1) Hispanic—————–4.1%
2) Blacks——————–20.7%
3) Poverty——————-44.1%
4) Special Needs———–8.4%
Downes:
1) Hispanic——————7.9%
2) Blacks——————–20.4%
3) Poverty——————-35.9%
4) Special Needs———–6.4%
McVeigh:
1) Hispanic——————15%
2) Blacks———————33.3%
3) Poverty——————–62.9%
4) Special Needs————7.8%
Newark High:
1) Hispanic——————-12.1%
2) Blacks———————-34%
3) Poverty———————44.6%
4) Special Needs————-8.4%
Glasgow High:
1) Hispanic——————–18%
2) Blacks———————–48%
3) Poverty———————-58%
4) Special Needs————–11.5%
Christiana High:
1) Hispanic———————13.5%
2) Blacks————————52.1%
3) Poverty———————–60.6%
4) Special Needs—————-11.1%
CSD: 1) Hisp.–16.9%, 2) Bl.—40.1%, 3) Pov.—60.1%, 4) SN.—17.1%
5) Asians:—4.5%, 6) Whites—–35.6%
NCS: 5) Asians—11.6%, 6) Whites—67.5%
Looks like Newark Charter is another public/private school.
Question: If a high poverty parent applied to Newark Charter would they be provided transportation? (I realize they have a 5 mile radius preference zone, but not sure if transportation is offered there. Is it?)
If they don’t provide transportation outside the zone (or inside it) then that would be a huge obstacle for the high poverty population to overcome.
We see this obstacle when it comes to Choice, since it is the responsibility of the Choice parent to get their child to and from school. For a population with one or two cars and a job with flexibility this isn’t a hardship, but for parents without a car and parents that work shift work or can’t leave their job to dash out and pick up kids this obstacle is insurmountable. It limits, deliberately, imo, their choice.
Fyi, Newark Charter is a straight lottery system (complete with a live random drawing of names). Hundreds of (maybe more than 1,000) kids enter the lottery and about 100 are chosen for kindergarten each year.
Of course, if the pool of people who enter the lottery don’t match the district profile, you’re not going to get the same representation. My point, which I’m hopefully not offending anyone by trying to make, is that if more of one group applied in a given year, it would stand that their odds of being selected would increase proportionately.
This is all based on my semi-limited knowledge of the process.
As for busing, I know that there is transportation provided to and from school.
Why is there still a “Black” Caucus? And how is membership determined?
Btw, I’m not saying any of that above to dispel the overall issues Pandora raised. Just commenting on that one specific area.
Of course, if the pool of people who enter the lottery don’t match the district profile, you’re not going to get the same representation. My point, which I’m hopefully not offending anyone by trying to make, is that if more of one group applied in a given year, it would stand that their odds of being selected would increase proportionately.
I get that, but I need to know about transportation. Are those buses available to only certain areas? (and I get why they can’t go everywhere, but knowing where they go is vital to this discussion) Because… if transportation isn’t provided (or only provided to certain areas) then the pool of applicants could be self-selecting. If a parent cannot get their child to Newark Charter school (due to the obstacles I listed above) then those parents wouldn’t apply to begin with. See what I’m saying.
“I think that is the reason the courts do not declare us out of compliance with desegregation: because the segregation is happening by “choice.””
I think it’s because the court no longer oversees Delaware after Robinson’s 1994 court ruling. Taking it back to court would mean filing a new suit.
With all due respect, the threat of a new lawsuit is almost certainly BS. The first lawsuit never would have succeeded if not for the DuPont Co. lending its legal resources to the plaintiffs (the then-Wilmington School District relied heavily on DuPont’s city property taxes, and the company didn’t want to end up its major means of support). Who plays that role this time?
The federal courts also have shifted dramatically to the right since the 1970s. There’s not much chance de facto resegregation due to a race-neutral law would trigger court-imposed sanctions today.
You know QP, every once in a while one of my children asks me a questions like the one you asked above. They here kids talk in school, and they come home and say, “Dad, Why isn’t there a ‘white history’ month?”
I tell them it is because every other month of the year and every other month in the history of the mankind was white history month.
Jason: The difference is that your children are capable of learning. Conservatives like QP aren’t.
Understood, and I agree with your point, Pandora.
It would be a good question to ask the school. If the preference is for that five-mile radius, then I’d imagine the buses would pick any kid up. But again, good question for the school about how/where their buses run.
It would also be interesting to look at the percentage of poverty in that 5 mile preference zone, and then look at how many high-poverty students at Newark Charter come from outside the preference zone.
If I were a betting gal, I’d bet that most of the 15% poverty at Newark Charter comes from within the preference zone… which includes transportation.
It’s like looking for a job. If there’s an ad for a delivery person that states you must have your own car, those without cars don’t apply. It’s self-selecting… or a self-fulfilling prophecy. 😉
“…every other month in the history of the mankind was white history.”
Huh!?
To over 4/5ths of the world who aren’t technically white/Caucasoid or part of the West (i.e. Caucasians still living in caves in Afghanistan), that would be news to them.
Jason, your kids deserve better than that. There’s a greater world out there than the insufferable, apologetic little narrative that white liberals in this country create for their political benefit.
Though, regardless of why such a retrograde racial body still exists. How is membership determined=? Is it 1/1, 1/2, 1/4 or 1/8th? Or is it a mindset, whereby, a State Rep/Senator who happens to be white, but has a degree in Afro-American Studies can join?
May I please request not feeding the troll – no matter what he says. This thread contains interesting, thoughtful discussion. Let’s not let it be derailed. Ignore him, which is what I intend to do in 3… 2… 1…
Um, Pandora, my inquiry is directly related to the original post.
Maybe I’ll frame it differently next time, but my question still stands.
______
Hmmm, I live in the Red Clay District in the Highlands Feeder, I am very curious why my neighbors aren’t sending their K-5 year olds there anymore. Seems like a nice place. What’s going on?!?
Was that better? 🙂
newark charter school–i think that the issue is less transportation and more food.
to my knowledge, the school (by its design) lacks a cafeteria. coincidentally, this enables them to avoid the school lunch program, including breakfast and lunches for low income students. hence low income students have a very strong disincentive to apply.
surprise, surprise, low numbers of low income students.
Cause, meet effect!
It is better, and I’ll try and answer – but I’m warning you, any more shock-jock posts and you’re dead to me.
The Highlands’s feeder is interesting. Originally it did not contain Midtown Brandywine. That community revolted (privately citing their concern for their property values which would take a hit if they fed into Warner and Shortlidge) – remember at the time the Neighborhood School’s law took effect Highlands was keeping its poverty line the same. It couldn’t sustain this, and poverty crept in.
Once poverty hits the 50%+ mark a school is in trouble – losing programs that would keep or attract the non-poverty population. With every program lost the non-poverty students left. Not out of meanness, but rather in search of schools (private and public in the case of the Brandywine School District) that would serve their child’s educational needs.
Hope that helps explain. BTW, Highlands is still, imo, a good school with an active parent community.
No cafeteria? What are they? Little House on the Prairie? 😉
Highlands is a rare little gem in Red Clay that has maintained positive programs despite climbing poverty…they’re doing a wonderful job of serving kids across a spectrum of backgrounds and achievement levels. Test scores may or may not showcase that, not sure. But there’s not a lot of room for mediocrity when you’re facing a mixture of challenging students and those with quite involved parents. Give those leaders & teachers bonuses and study their ways, I say… ;P
Pandora,
Those other schools listed (West Park, Mcveigh, Downes) are all in that 5 mile radius and representative of the population (Black, poor, hispanic, special needs) of the 5 mile radius. Look at those disparities in those schools compared to Newark Charter and than realize that if Newark Charters expansion to a high school is allowed all of the students matriculating to high school from Wilmington and other areas outside the 5 mile radius will not be permitted to apply or choice into the new Newark Charter High School. The existing school will be the sole feeder (as per the modification application) and any additional space will be limited to lottery selection from within the 5 mile radius exacerbating the disparities at the High School levels (see the stats). Basically Wilmington area students (poor, black, hispanic, special needs) will be entitled to their only choices currently (Newark, Glasgow, Chtistiana) and will be excluded from choicing into the NCS high school. Greg Meese is attempting to and will create, by definition, a 20th independent School District that is exclusionary, resegregationist and discriminatory. If Greg Meese wishes to create a private High School he shouldn’t be permitted to do it with Public funds.
Wow, that’s a lot of info. Sorry, I’m not very familiar with Christina. Your data suggests that Newark Charter School is not representative of its community. The question is why? Are these high poverty kids not applying? Why not?
And there are plenty of high poverty charter schools, and parents are applying to these charters, so I’d take parental involvement off the table (altho, that will be part of it).
Do you have an explanation?
If parents of free and reduced lunch qualified students are willing to sign a waiver enabling the school to not have to have a cafeteria or provide these meals and you believe that may be a form of coercion it may be responsible for some of the statistical anomalies. Then consider the sibling exemption, high pressure of performing up to expectations and putting your child at a significant inferiority complex disadvantage and combine that with a dash of blind faith that everything is on the up and up in the lottery exercise might get you to accept some of that disparity but………..THERE WILL BE NO OPPORTUNITY TO CLEAR ANY OF THOSE HURDLES AND WIN THAT EDUCATIONAL POWERBALL FOR ANY OF THE WILMINGTON STUDENTS OR OTHERS WHO RESIDE OUTSIDE THE 5 MILE RADIUS IF THIS PLAN/PLOT IS ALLOWED TO PROCEED. De-facto discrimination and segregation are the watchwords here.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees in Evans v. Buchanan were paid by the Wilmington School District.
Who said anything about fees?
Uhh. Any legal discussion without fees is irrelevant. Fees are always involved… If you can’t afford the fees, you can’t afford to move forward.
“If you can’t afford the fees, you can’t afford to move forward.”
Which is why no lawsuit is going to be filed no matter how resegregated the schools get.