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Friday, February 24, 2012

U study: Segregation, performance woes persist in metro charter schools | StarTribune.com

U study: Segregation, performance woes persist in metro charter schools | StarTribune.com:

U study: Segregation, performance woes persist in metro charter schools

  • Article by: PAUL WALSH , Star Tribune
  • Updated: February 24, 2012 - 1:12 PM

Most charter schools in the Twin Cities still underperform academically when compared with traditional public schools and are highly segregated by race and income, according to updated research released Friday by the University of Minnesota.

The new data, collected in 2010-11 and augmenting a 2008 study by the U's Institute on Race and Poverty, shows that charter school enrollment growth has slowed but little else has changed in the three years since the original study was released.

"Despite some significant changes in the state's charter laws aimed at improving accountability ... charter schools as a group continue to fail to meet the academic and social objectives set forth by proponents," Myron Orfield, director of the Institute on Race and