The civil rights organization asserts that several changes and reforms should be put in place before any more charter schools are allowed to open.
Among them:
- Charter schools must be subject to the same transparency and accountability standards as public schools.
- Public funds must not diverted to charter schools at the expense of the public school system.
- Charter schools must stop expelling students that public schools have a duty to educate.
- Charter school must not engage in de facto segregation of the highest-performing students from those whose aspirations may be high but whose talents are not yet as obvious.
“We are moving forward to require that charter schools receive the same level of oversight, civil rights protections and provide the same level of transparency, and we require the same of traditional public schools,” says Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman of the National NAACP Board of Directors. “Our decision today is driven by a long held principle and policy of the NAACP that high quality, free, public education should be afforded to all children.”
The debate over the resolution reflects a split among African Americans and civil rights groups about the value of charter schools and how they affect traditional public schools. Opponents say that too many charter schools promote racial segregation, are poorly run and siphon public funds from traditional public schools, which educate the neediest students.
But charter school supporters say a moratorium on charter schools might limit black students’ access to high-quality schools that perform better than the traditional public schools they otherwise would have to attend.