School choice benefits families of all races and backgrounds, education expert says

A new article by a University of South Carolina professor attempts to paint school choice as an instrument of segregation and other maladies, but history and evidence suggest otherwise.

Dr. Kendall Deas, who teaches education policy, law and politics, claims that school choice was used by white segregationists to avoid integration following the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954.

School choice programs “harm public schools serving black students in a host of ways,” Deas writes in The Conversation. “School voucher programs tend to exacerbate both racial and economic segregation, a trend that continues today.”

It’s just the opposite, says one expert.

Dr. Corey DeAngelis, a school choice advocate and senior fellow at the American Culture Project, says there is “a preponderance of evidence today that finds school choice initiatives yield integration.” 

“The government school system is also divided along racial lines,” he told The Lion in an email. 

For Deas, the solution is to maintain the system of government control. 

“Rather than focus on school choice and voucher programs that take money away from public schools serving black students, I argue that policymakers should address systemic inequities in education to ensure that all students have access to a quality education.” 

But DeAngelis says teachers’ unions, which heavily influence the educational establishment,  are the main “barrier that’s trapping minority children in failing government schools today.” 

Segregationists actually “locked arms with teachers’ unions to oppose school choice in the 1950s” after the Brown decision, he said, adding that the system of assigning students to schools based on ZIP code is “rife with inequality.” 

“If the ideologues running teachers’ unions were honest, they would label the vast disparities in government-run schools ‘systemic racism,’” DeAngelis wrote. “Yet, they don’t because the apparent solution – giving families the right to choose their children’s education – would diminish their power.” 

An example is Baltimore, where more than a dozen high schools lack a single student who is proficient in math. The city spends $23,400 per pupil – far more than the state and national averages – yet produces dismal results. 

Maryland does not have a broad school choice program, something many Democrats, who receive millions in support from teachers’ unions, oppose. 

In Deas’ article, he cites predominantly black school districts such as Cleveland’s that lose funding when students leave through Ohio’s school choice programs.  

He claims school choice harms black schools without addressing why students are leaving – such as unsafe conditions and poor academics. Only 15% of Cleveland students are proficient in math, compared to 52% statewide. 

School choice advocates such as DeAngelis argue more can be done to help black families find the educational environment that works for them. 

DeAngelis cites polling by Texas Southern University showing 66% of black families support that state’s new school choice program, proving that families of all backgrounds want educational options. 

“The only group opposing school choice is White Democrats,” DeAngelis writes. “Maybe they don’t want other people’s kids gaining access to their children’s schools.” 

Deas criticized private schools for being able to select students and argued that, even with school choice, some black families still cannot afford private tuition. 

However, many private and religious schools offer financial aid. 

Moreover, private grants such as ACE Scholarships – a nonprofit providing school choice scholarships to low-income families – help bridge the gap. ACE has a 25-year history of awarding privately funded scholarships, typically around $3,000. Parents pay a portion of their income, and the school covers the rest. Thousands of students of color have benefitted from this model. 

There are strong school choice advocates in the black community, including leaders in Wichita, Kansas, and Pennsylvania who have founded successful schools for black youth – often producing better outcomes at a fraction of the cost of public schools. 

One powerful example is Walter Blanks Jr., whose mother pulled him out of public school after he was beaten up.  

The principal told her to wait five years for improvement. 

“My mother looked at him and said, ‘In five years, Walter will either be in jail or in a body bag, and we don’t have time for either of those things,’” Blanks told a congressional committee in March while testifying in support of school choice. 

Today, Blanks is a college graduate with a bright future. 

“We’ve heard that vouchers don’t work, or that vouchers don’t help the lower-income minority community,” he said. “That’s me. I am that student that was a low-income minority and didn’t have any other options.”