UW–Madison’s Mead is the National Education Policy Center’s ‘Interview of the Month’
This particular discussion examines how privatization of schools can lead to discrimination.
Mead is the School of Education’s associate dean for education and is a professor with the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis. Eckes is a professor in the Educational Leadership and Policy Studies Department at Indiana University.
Mead and Eckes had recently co-authored a policy brief for NEPC detailing the ways school vouchers and charter schools have “opened the door to discriminatory practices.” Mead was compelled to explore this issue as she was originally trained in teaching children with audio disabilities. First having examined state law, the women now are digging into federal law.
They emphasize that these charter school and voucher practices, which receive federal funding, don’t comply with the diversity protection offered by federal laws. They base their conceptions of equal protection in Amendment 14 and the series of law that add protection to various, specific groups, like the Americans with Disabilities Education Act, Titles 6,7, and 9 of the Civil Rights Act, and the Equal Education Opportunities Act. On the podcast, they discuss the difficult ambiguity of deciding whether or not entities are public or private, and therefore not necessarily subject to upholding protections.
Mead and Eckes also warn that allowing discriminatory policies like these to continue, we run the risk of perpetuating and worsening conditions of inequality that already exist in the education system.
Fortunately, Mead and Eckes have proposed solutions. First, they suggest that Congress clarify in anti-discrimination laws that they apply to charter and private schools that effectively receive federal funding. Second, if the schools do not meet federal standards, finds should be withheld. Third, state law should also clarify that school participating in voucher programs must uphold anti-discrimination standards. And fourth, states should monitor these provisions in practice.
Listen to the complete podcast on NEPC’s website.