When powerful policy makers and political stakeholders took control of the Camden City School District in 2014, many argued it was a necessary move to provide students and families with a better education. Opponents claimed it facilitated school privatization, in particular by giving the state the authority to hand over the management of Camden’s lowest rated public schools to privately-run charter management organizations.
The takeover was sold to black families (black students represent 46 percent of the district’s student body) as a plan for safer schools that better prepared their children for college and careers. Both “renaissance schools” (schools taken over by approved charter management organizations) and non-network charter schools (schools operated by local, independent charter organizations) were promoted to Camden families as—unlike district schools—safe environments where learning could take place.
Specifically, renaissance and charter operators promised Camden families a zero-tolerance or “no excuses” philosophy would make schools safer and higher performing through a combination of higher expectations and cracking down on minor offenses, such as an untucked shirt or standing out of line.
Camden’s “no excuse” charter schools, are likely able to increase test scores only by making the problem of racial discriminatory suspensions worse.
Schools using the “no excuses” model have been praised for raising state test scores and getting students into college. There is some evidence of urban charter schools outperforming public schools, and in Camden charters have, so far, been able to outperform district schools on the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers—known as the PARCC test.
But Camden’s black parents have seen the implementation of “no excuses” comes at the high price of over-suspension of their children.
It’s true, nationally, as of 2014, black students K-12 are 3.8 times more likely to be suspended than white students. Black children as young as preschool age are suspended more than white students: 3.6 times more.
But in Camden, black students were 56 percent of all out of school suspensions in both charter and district schools. In twenty of twenty-one New Jersey counties, black students missed more days than any other students; 50 percent of all days missed by students due to suspensions in Camden were missed by black students.
Camden’s “no excuse” charter schools, are likely able to increase test scores only by making the problem of racial discriminatory suspensions worse. When you compare PARCC data fewer district students met or exceeded proficiency levels than charter students—but renaissance and local operators have higher rates of suspension than district schools.
Data compiled from the Civil Rights Data Collection and the New Jersey Department of Education for the 2015-2016 school year. **Uncommon Schools and KIPP did not report PARCC scores to protect the privacy of students according to the NJDOE
Is this the only choice that Camden parents have—sacrificing suspensions for high test scores?
Suspensions are neither a logical or feasible strategy for improving academic performance, especially among black students. Suspended students are less likely to graduate, possibly because they miss important instructional time. And many suspended black students fall victim to the school-to-prison pipeline.
Despite Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ending Obama Administration discipline guidelines—and the biased research she cites as her justification—school districts across the country have reduced suspension rates, especially for black students.
Camden school district officials put in place systems and restorative justice practices. After one school year, suspensions at high schools were down 73 percent.
The results are promising. Researchers at the University of Chicago found that when Chicago Public Schools cut down suspensions, student test scores increased and attendance rose.
In Camden, school district officials put in place systems and restorative justice practices to reduce suspensions. Overall, suspensions in the district were down 73 percent at high schools and 24 percent at elementary, middle, and K-8 schools from the 2015-16 school year to the 2016-17 school year.
One renaissance operator has even shifted from the “no excuses” philosophy. But other charter schools resist the change and point to evidence that while restorative justice led to safer schools, it hurt blacks students’ standardized test scores.
Is that a fair trade-off? Must we over-suspend black children because the only way educators believe they can learn is through control and compliance?
No-excuse policies exploit the values and ethics of hard work and determination often expressed in black and Latinx households, while leaving students and parents little to no room for practicing restorative justice or challenging systemic racism within organizations.
Black families are not getting the better choices charter schools promised them. Lost in the discussion is the much more important question of what we’re educating black children for.