Are Charter Schools Right for Connecticut Students? | AFT Connecticut

Are Charter Schools Right for Connecticut Students? | AFT Connecticut: "the unfortunate truth is that charter schools have actually increased racial and ethnic isolation in Connecticut’s student communities.

Our state has invested over $300 million so far in advancing charter schools. But if we look at the districts where these schools are recruiting students, like Bridgeport, Hartford and New Haven, we see that the public school system is actually less isolationist than the charter school populations. Sometimes by a vast degree.

Those who support charter schools, like Achievement First that operates some CT charter schools, convinced our legislators that these schools were an answer to the problems of city school systems in Connecticut. But take a hard look at the numbers, and you’ll see minority students becoming more isolated than ever. While some charter schools are serving a higher percentage of minority students than the public school system (therefore increasing their isolation), others are barely scratching the surface of “serving” the population in their communities. Latino students, in particular, are barely even represented in some Hartford charter schools, for instance."

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