broad categories or dimensions: (1) the empirical support (or lack thereof) regarding charter schools and equity; and (2) the political perspective of charter schools and equity issues. The paper ends with a brief summarization and the formulations of conclusions about the issue based on the reviewed literature.
Charter Schools and Equity: Empirical Dimensions
A key question that must be asked in examining equity issues is: To what extent can confidence be placed in the NEA's (2000) claim that charter schools are inequitable in terms of race, socioeconomic status and achievement. In other words, does the empirical literature support this claim and, if so, to what extent?
With respect to the foregoing questions, Schwartz (1996) has examined some of the equity and diversity issues associated with charter schools. She notes that the Federal government clearly mandates that all schools receiving funds from its charter school initiative must adhere to civil rights statutes, one of which is that all students must be given an equal opportunity to attend the charter.
Thus, if charter schools were in some way placing obstacles in the way of certain student groups to attend these schools, this would be a violation of this mandate. In examining several studies, Schwartz (1996) notes that, in general, the available enrollment data suggest a good deal of variability across charter schools with respect to equity.
For example, Schwartz (1996) reports that in a national survey of about 100 charter schools (about one-third of all charter schools in operation at the time of the study), it was found that minorities, on average, are equally represented in charter schools. On the other, it was found that this can greatly differ from school to school with minority students ranging from a high of 70 percent in New Mexico to a low of 20 percent in Colorado.
About one third of these students were found to be eligible for a subsidized lunc...