You have probably seen headlines like, “Students Fall Months Behind During Last School Year.” They are everywhere. And as school begins all over the country, there is a push to get students safely back in the classroom to make up for lost time. But what is not being covered enough is the great shift away from urban schools.
McKinsey and Company did several research studies on school statistics across the country last year, and one of their most important findings was the disparities between school district types.
“Students in predominantly low-income schools and in urban locations also lost more learning during the pandemic than their peers in high-income rural and suburban schools (Exhibit 1).”
Sadly, this storyline was all too familiar before COVID, and now the disparities are being amplified. A lack of quality education in urban schools has previously pushed parents with the financial means to move out of areas where their children will end up assigned to low-income schools. But now, it is clear that the gaps are widening even further as families run to better districts and private schools.
Over and over last year, the nation watched as education bureaucrats made decisions that disproportionately harmed low-income neighborhoods, but this was not a new issue. Ultimately, their decisions make these neighborhoods unlivable for middle-income families with children, driving these districts into deeper poverty.
In fact, one recent court ruling shows how different the rights are among those stuck in assigned public schools vs. those with the ability to leave those schools. In San Diego, families in both the public and private education sector sued the state of California for “a fundamental right to basic education.” For those who attended private schools, the court ruled that when California forced private schools to close, the state violated “the right of parents to control their children’s education and to choose their children’s educational forum.”
But for those in the public school system who felt that their children had not received basic, quality education, they were not in luck. The court ruled that the state had the right to shut down the public system, without regard to parents’ right to control their child’s education. Parents still had the right to control their child’s education by enrolling them in a private school. But what about families that can’t afford private schools? More generally, what about families required by truancy laws to enroll their children in school, but who can’t buy their way out of a bad school and into private education? What rights do they have?
More targeted educational opportunities can't come fast enough in low-income neighborhoods. We need to activate school choice programs in low-income, urban neighborhoods to save those cities. Help keep our communities from financial stratification and encourage more families to remain in cities by demanding that politicians allow more opportunities for parents to access high quality choices in those neighborhoods. Research shows that the health of our communities, neighborhoods, and schools is deeply tied to this issue, and the results of this school year are a reminder that the quality of school options in a community matters to everyone!