Dive Brief:
- An annual report on seven charter schools in the state that is required by North Carolina's legislature has been revised and approved by the State Board of Education after an initial draft was deemed "too negative" by Lt. Gov. Dan Forest.
- The report points out that charters in North Carolina have more racial segregation than traditional public schools, and they are 15% more white and have half the number of Hispanic students.
- According to WRAL, Forest had objected to a phrase in the draft report that said "the charter schools in North Carolina are increasingly serving the interests of relatively able white students in racially imbalanced schools," but that statement, made by researchers from Duke University, remained in the report.
Dive Insight:
Segregation in U.S. schools is a serious and polarizing issue, and the issue is becoming more prevalent nationwide. Districts are handling the problem in varying ways, and 14 states currently have active desegregation lawsuits with the U.S. Justice Department.
It's not just a problem in the South, either. NYC has a pervasive problem with segregated schools, most recently illustrated by a New School University study that shows many city schools aren’t as diverse as the neighborhoods around them. That study, at worst, showed “concentrations of extreme racial segregation,” according to The New York Times.
The answer might lay in integration, a tactic that has been deeply reported by journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones in media outlets including This American Life and ProPublica.