What happened when Minneapolis got some serious school choice?

There is a really interesting podcast from the Education Writers Association about a study conducted by reporters at the Minneapolis Star-Tribune about the impacts of school choice on what was once Minnesota’s largest school district.

What happened is interesting. When charter schools and district to district transfers became available, it wasn’t white students that bailed out of the traditional Minneapolis schools. It was kids of color who took the most advantage of these options – particularly blacks and Asians – and they did so for a number of reasons. That surprised the Star’s reporters who really expected to find white flight predominating. The reporters were also surprised that blacks who left for charters were not predominantly from upper income black families, either. For sure, the white flight myth some have pushed regarding charter schools didn’t pan out in practice in Minneapolis.

The reporters say students left the traditional public school system for a number of reasons such as behavioral problems in the traditional schools that are better controlled in charters and for the better academic environment that results. Parents interviewed said they were happy with their children’s new schools of choice and had no intentions of returning to the traditional system.

But, is it working? Due to privacy laws, the Star’s reporters could not access individual student data to positively track what happened to each student that took the choice option. However the reporters did do some checking that indicates schools where these kids transferred tend to do better for minority groups than the traditional schools in the Minneapolis system.

One more point caught my attention. With its student base dwindling, the traditional system in Minneapolis is finally waking up and starting to change, as well. The district is currently conducting a study, or assessment, of its own to find out what can be done to better serve students. That change in district behavior is EXACTLY what charter proponents have been saying would happen all along. Maybe the traditional school “boat” in Minneapolis will rise, yet.

This 14-minute podcast is well worth a listen and it shows, at least in Minneapolis, comments some have made to malign school choice are wrong.