Black Flight The exodus to charter schools.

Wall Street Journal ^ | March 2, 2006 | Kathryn Kersten

[grandpa jones]

MINNEAPOLIS--Something momentous is happening here in the home of prairie populism: black flight. African-American families from the poorest neighborhoods are rapidly abandoning the district public schools, going to charter schools, and taking advantage of open enrollment at suburban public schools. Today, just around half of students who live in the city attend its district public schools. ... They can do so because of the state's longstanding commitment to school choice. In 1990 Minnesota allowed students to cross district boundaries to enroll in any district with open seats. Two years later in St. Paul, the country's first charter school opened its doors. (Charter schools are started by parents, teachers or community groups. They operate free from burdensome regulations, but are publicly funded and accountable.) Today, this tradition of choice is providing a ticket out for kids in the gritty, mostly black neighborhoods of north and south- central Minneapolis

[grandpa jones]

Black leaders like Louis King have had enough. He has a message for the school board: "You'll have to make big changes to get us back." He says the district needs a board that views families as customers and understands that competition has unalterably changed the rules of the game. "I'm a strong believer in public education," says Mr. King. "But this district's leaders have to make big changes or go out of business. If they don't, we'll see them in a museum, like the dinosaurs."

[Mark]

How inpatient they are! The libs have only been given 50 years to fix the system.

[wouldntbprudent]

Excellent!

[DoughtyOne]

Glad to hear it. Now, if only they'll remember who gave them charter schools.

[tbird5]

But aren't these the same blacks for keep voting Democrat? I don't get it.

[DustyMoment]

"Today, I can't recommend in good conscience that an African-American family send their children to the Minneapolis public schools.

Based on the stats that preceeded this quote, this statement comes across as racist. Why limit the lack of a recommendation to just black kids? From the looks of those stats, anyone should be hard=pressed to recommend that families send their children to the Minneapolis public schools??

Inquiring minds and all that . . .

[sarasmom]

Why would anyone ever believe for a second that there is a monolithic "black" vote?
Or a "womans" vote?
BTW are we women supposed to be subdivided by race,religion, ethnicity and/or income levels?
Do you think there is a "white male" vote?

What kind of warped mind thinks skin color marks the difference between parents who want a better future for their child(ren), and understand the steps needed to provide that opportunity, and those who don't care much about anything at all?

[umgud]

While not monolithic (depending on where you draw the line), a majority of blacks do vote dem.

As to the women's vote, white married women generally vote repub, while single moms go dem.

And yes, there is a "white male" vote. The majority of middleaged white males do vote repub.

And no, skin color doesn't influence wether parents want their kids to get a good education.

[pickrell]

"But this district's leaders have to make big changes or go out of business. If they don't, we'll see them in a museum, like the dinosaurs."

Good post. I have seen the tyranny-saurus, and it has the ruthlessness of the liberal in it's DNA.

[Bill Nigh]

I think the Democrat leaning is largely based on the 'Southern Strategy', whereby Southern whites were induced to switch to GOP; late 70's, 80's.

[pray4liberty]

The same is happening here in Delaware. Charter schools are the only choice these days for minority children, or the children of working-class parents to succeed. Please FREEP this poll on whether charter schools should get more funding in Delaware. http://www.delawareonline.com