Parents unhappy with the “woke” propaganda that permeates many publicschoolsmay think they can escape leftist indoctrination simply by using school-choice options. However, “choice” by itself doesn’t guarantee that their children will end up inschoolsthat promote the values they prefer.
When it comes tocharterschools, new evidence suggests that many are amplifying, not curtailing, thewokevalues that parents seek to avoid.
Charterschools, currently the most common type of school choice offered in the U.S., often aren’t designed properly to respond to parents’ values. To open and continue operating,charters need to be in the good graces of state-selectedcharterauthorizers who are tasked with deciding which applications for newcharters should be accepted and whether existingcharters should be forced to close.
Signs for a rally celebrating National School Choice Week on Halifax Mall in front of the Legislative Building in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Jan. 24, 2024. (Travis Long/Raleigh News & Observer/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In addition, because they receive less per pupil funding than traditional publicschoolsand need to acquire school buildings,charters often find themselves courting financial support from major philanthropies like the Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation.
WHAT THIS MILESTONE MEANS FOR THE SCHOOL CHOICE MOVEMENT
Pleasing authorizers and funders can look very different from pleasing families. And it shows.
Ina report recently published by The Heritage Foundation, we gauge the values ofcharterschoolsby examining their parent-student handbooks and counting the number of times they use words that signal fealty to progressive ideology, including (1) diversity; (2) equity; (3) inclusion; (4) restorative; (5) justice; (6) social-emotional learning; (7) gender identity; and (8) culturally affirming/relevant.
VideoThesewokevalues tend to emphasize social justice, not individual justice, and eschew traditional American and classical-liberal values of individual responsibility and equal treatment in favor of differentiated treatment by group identity.
We then comparecharterresults to that of the handbook produced in the geographically closest district school serving the same age-group. Overall, we observe that these eight “woke” terms are used almost twice as often in thecharterschools(2,517 times across 211schools) compared to districtschools(1,317 times across 211schools).
The pattern is replicatedona head-to-head basis, as there are 122 cases of acharterschool using the terms more than the comparison district school butonly 68 cases of the opposite (21 cases were a tie).
VideoOur results indicate thatcharterschoolsare significantly morewokethan districtschools.Charterwokeness is not a function of parental demand, but the degree to which regulators and philanthropists have captured thoseschools.
In a previous report, we observed that the prevalence ofwoketerms incharterhandbooks was correlated with regulatory environment. Wherecharterpolicies forceschoolsto be more answerable to regulators and donors rather than parents, the morewokethosecharterschoolsare. Notably, that pattern holds even after statistically controlling for state political partisanship.
FLEXIBILITY FOR PUBLIC SCHOOLS IS THE NEXT STEP FOR SCHOOL CHOICE
Onthe regulatory side, the main culprit is the National Association ofCharterSchool Authorizers (NACSA), a national membership organization forcharterauthorizers and a kingmaker in setting priorities for thechartermovement generally. NACSA lobbies heavily to advance diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) incharterauthorizing, considering itone of their top priorities.
VideoIn areportthat offers “practical guidance and recommendations to authorizers who are ready to close the DEI gap and prioritize DEI in their organizations,” NACSA promotes such divisive practices as “equity audits” (i.e., counting the number of people from various racial groups to identify where race-based hiring should occur) and racial affinity groups (i.e., racial segregation).
Onthe philanthropy side, the main culprits undermining parents are the Gates Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, and NewSchools Venture Fund. These organizations give hundreds of millions of dollars tocharterschools, and all have a clear expectation of DEI implementation.
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For example, Walton’sfive-year planstates that “prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion in the grants the foundation makes and the voices it engages” isone of their top three goals. Gates, meanwhile, underwrites “anti-racist” curricula that view “getting the right answer” as a manifestation of “white supremacy.”
VideoNot to be outdone, the NewSchools Venture Fundstatesthat allschoolsin its portfolio must be “committed to developing educational experiences” that are “aligned to… three design principles,”one of which is “equity.”
Given the leverage these organizations have overcharterschools, it’s no wonder that the range of options offered bycharters are far to the left of those preferred by the average parent.
Thankfully, however, a fix is possible. NACSA’s influence can be neutralized by slashing the millions of dollars they receive through state and federal funds. In addition, introducing multiplecharterauthorizers and deregulation can helpcharters more closely resemble parental preferences, asArizonahas done.
VideoParents shouldn’t fleewokepublicschoolsonly to find that theircharteralternatives are even morewoke. Reforms ofcharterpolicies can ensure thatcharters reflect the full range of values that parents prefer.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM JAY GREENE
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM IAN KINGSBURY
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE BY JASON BEDRICK
Ian Kingsbury is senior fellow at the Education Freedom Institute. Jason Bedrick is a research fellow in the Center for Education Policy at The Heritage Foundation.
Jay P. Greene is a senior research fellow in the Center for Education Policy at the Heritage Foundation.
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