Nearly 60 percent of Michigan's African-American students are in predominantly black schools

Christine MacDonald:

Black and white students aren't attending school together any more than they did 12 years ago, even with the addition of charter and school choice policies, according to a Michigan State University study.

The analysis indicates Michigan is no closer to shedding its designation as having the most segregated schools in the nation.

Nearly 60 percent of the state's African-American students are in predominantly black schools, a number that has stayed relatively consistent since 1992, according to the report from MSU's Education Policy Center.

At the same time, the number of racially segregated school buildings has increased by almost 50 percent to 431 schools statewide, primarily due to the opening of charters schools.

"You would think after 50 years we would see some progress," said David Plank, co-director of the Education Policy Center. "In Michigan, there hasn't been any progress.

"Parents are moving their students from racially segregated (traditionally public) schools to racially segregated charters."

Close to 75 percent of black students in Michigan attend segregated schools, which would mean the schools are more than 80 percent black, according to the report.

Charters and school-of-choice policies, first implemented in the mid-1990s, weren't touted as a way to integrate schools, Plank said. But it was a potential result, given parents were no longer restricted to districts where they lived.

Charter schools receive public money, operate outside traditional public school districts and must be overseen by a college or school district.

And school-of-choice districts are public school districts that allow out-of-town students to enroll in their schools.

Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, said diversity is important but the large numbers of parents choosing charters shows that a school's quality is a higher priority for parents.

"You've got to do the basics first," Quisenberry said.

Telly James said she isn't surprised or concerned by lack of diversity in charters.

Her daughter is a third-grader at Detroit's Woodward Academy and the school's racial makeup wasn't on her mind when she decided to send her there.

"The city is predominantly black," James said.

"When the neighborhood is black, the school is going to reflect it."

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