The Impact of School Choice on Integration in Milwaukee Private Schools. Current Education Issues.

This report presents data for the 1999-2000 school year on 86 of 91 private choice schools in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. These schools enrolled 7,430 of 7,913 Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) students. These enrollment data were compared with enrollment data for all 99,990 students in the Milwaukee school system. Religious schools enrolled most (62%) of the low-income choice students, leading to more integration in the MPCP schools than in the system as a whole. Continuing a pattern that preceded the MPCP, nonreligious private schools in Milwaukee were less integrated than Milwaukee's public schools. Adding religious schools to the MPCP, as was done in 1998, has meant more integration in the choice schools. In 1999-2000, half of the students in the public schools attended racially isolated schools (where 90% of the enrollment is either "minority" or white), compared with 30% at the religious private schools. Appendixes contain enrollment figures for the nonreligious and religious MPCP schools. (SLD) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. The Impact of School Choice on Integration in Milwaukee Private Schools Howard L. Fuller and George A. Mitchell Current Education Issues No. 2000-02 June 2000 BEST COPY AVAILABLE Marquette University Office of Research 2 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as /iginr ceived from the person or organization ating it. r Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 1wa 'gite./ 4 -44:1Lear L8ve TO EDU Al NAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 1 INSTITUTE FOR THE TRANSFORMATION OF LEARNING MARQUETrE UNIVERSITY OFFICE OF RESEARCH Current Education Issues No. 2000-02 June 2000 The Impact of School Choice on Integration in Milwaukee Private Schools Howard L. Fuller, Ph.D., and George A. Mitchell' SUMMARY In 1998, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld a law expanding the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) to include religious schools. Opponents said this would increase racial segregation. In fact, the opposite occurred. Adding religious schools has meant more integration in choice schools than in the Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS). In 1999-2000, half of MPS students attended racially isolated schools (where 90% or more of the enrollment is minority or white) compared to 30% of students at religious choice schools. Figure 1. Students in racially isolated MPS schools and in private religious schools in the MPCP (1999-2000). 30.1 % 4,210 of 13,965 students Students at religious schools MPS students