Charter leaders are pushing back on claims that charters promote segregation. In an op-Ed (“Charter schools spur achievement and choice–not segregation”) published this week in North State Journal, Joanne Woodard, Sandeep Aggarwal, and Eugene Slocum write:
We are the leaders of two public charter schools in North Carolina serving mostly minority and low-income students. We caution anyone about making an association between public charter schools, choice and segregation …
… Conflating parental choice with segregation is polarizing and ultimately pointless because it keeps us from the great educational imperative: boosting student achievement. It makes no sense to condemn charter schools for their freedom.
Instead, we should focus on collaboration, learning from the experience of charter schools that succeed in closing the achievement gap.
Joanne Woodard and Sandeep Aggarwal are leaders at Sallie B. Howard Charter School in Wilson, North Carolina. Sandeep is also a Coalition Board member. Eugene Slocum is the superintendent of Alpha Academy in Fayetteville. Read more from them here.
