Twenty-First-Century Jim Crow Schools: The Impact of Charters on Public Education

by Raynard Sanders, David Stovall, Terrenda White

How charter schools have taken hold in three cities—and why parents, teachers, and community members are fighting back

Charter schools once promised a path towards educational equity, but as the authors of this powerful volume show, market-driven education reforms have instead boldly reestablished a tiered public school system that segregates students by race and class. Examining the rise of charters in New Orleans, Chicago, and New York, authors Raynard Sanders, David Stovall, and Terrenda White show how charters—private institutions, usually set in poor or working-class African American and Latinx communities—promote competition instead of collaboration and are driven chiefly by financial interests. Sanders, Stovall, and White also reveal how corporate charters position themselves as “public” to secure tax money but exploit their private status to hide data about enrollment and salaries, using misleading information to promote false narratives of student success.

In addition to showing how charter school expansion can deprive students of a quality education, the authors document several other lasting consequences of charter school

   • the displacement of experienced African American teachers
   • the rise of a rigid, militarized pedagogy such as SLANT
   • the purposeful starvation of district schools
   • and the loss of community control and oversight

A revealing and illuminating look at one of the greatest threats to public education, Twenty-First-Century Jim Crow Schools explores how charter schools have shaped the educational landscape and why parents, teachers, and community members are fighting back.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction

144 pages, Paperback

Published April 3, 2018

Reviews

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this book lets you know this is an anti-charter school text. Do not go in looking for a balanced, both sides of the issue discussion. Of the three essays, the last (by White) is the most nuanced, while the first represents what appears to be the charter school system in the worse shape. Unfortunately, even agreeing with a lot of the endpoints of Sander's arguments in that first essay, I didn't feel he successfully supported them. Similarly, I felt Stovall's direct correlation between charter school systems and post-reconstruction jim crow was a bit of a stretch. Similarities exist for sure, but I think he stretched his analogy too far.

I did appreciate that each author acknowledged that charter school originated innocuously, as small, community-led school before they were later essentially franchised. Lastly, taking all three essays as a whole, I was really surprised how many men are interviewed or references, considering how heavily skewed toward women the teaching field is.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Generally disappointing book about charter schools which has a lot of logical gaps and relies on the reader to come in with a bias against charter schools in order to fill-in for the often lacking, dated, or less-than-convincing evidence provided by the authors. There are certainly some good points buried in here but it certainly doesn't live up to the title or back-cover description, proving very little about the school choice movement and giving old takes, some of which have since been disproved.

[Elena H · Rating 2 out of 5]

White’s chapter about New York is by far the most nuanced argument in this book. Conversely, as other reviewers indicated, I was particularly disappointed by the limited argument in the Chicago chapter. Portions of this book lacked impact due to the level of negative bias and the complete absence of counterarguments.

[Veronica · Rating 1 out of 5]

Everybody, do yourself a favor and read “Charter Schools and their Enemies” by Thomas Sowell. A much better investigation. The hatred of charter schools doesn’t stem from any care for the better education of minority students, but the loss of the money that each student represents to school districts and teachers unions, which have grown too powerful.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed by the authors' lack of counter examples and alternative conclusions. I didn't find the book dishonest, but the one-sidedness of the arguments definitely makes me skeptical of the authors' conclusions.

[Bethany Benesh · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book itself was probably fine, I should have just read the synopsis more clearly because it was just a bunch of opinions and didn't really have any objective support.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book free Goodreads giveaways.

If you want to learn about schools especially charter schools then this is a must

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book I read for my grad class. Working at a charter school made me feel icky reading this, but it was definitely heavily biased. I wonder what its perspective would be of schools like mine that are more regional based. 3 stars because I had to read it fast and the insights are what I had already been feeling.