UCLA Study Finds That Charter Schools Are Producing Higher Levels of Racial Segregation in K-12 Education

Charter schools are independently managed public schools that often are not required to follow regulations and procedures governing other schools in a particular school district. While the results are mixed, many charter schools have an excellent record of increasing student performance.

Charter schools are becoming increasingly popular. About 2.5 percent of all K-12 students are enrolled in charter schools. This is triple the rate from just seven years ago.

The Civil Rights Project at the University of California at Los Angeles finds that 70 percent of African-American children who attend charter schools are enrolled at schools where 90 percent or more of all students are minorities. This is double the percentage for black students in the public schools as a whole.

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