On Feb. 15, the Democrat-Gazette's Dave Perozek reported the "state Board of Education unanimously rejected a diversity report" from Haas Hall Academy. The board cited the lack of diversity in Haas Hall's student body as a reason for rejecting the report and raised questions about the diversity of Haas Hall's faculty.
Haas Hall Academy is a charter school, which is a publicly funded school in which students can enroll regardless of where they live. Charter schools are limited in the number of students that they can enroll, and if more students apply than there are spots available, admission is determined by a lottery. By law, charter lotteries in Arkansas must be blind to applicants' academic performance, program needs and demographic characteristics.
Demographic trends in Northwest Arkansas indicate that Northwest Arkansas schools, including the four Haas Hall campuses, are growing increasingly diverse.
The share of nonwhite students enrolled in the region's public schools has steadily increased for the past 16 years. In the 2018-19 school year, Washington County traditional public schools enrolled 47 percent nonwhite students, Benton County traditional public schools enrolled almost 38 percent nonwhite students, and, importantly, the four Haas Hall campuses enrolled 31 percent nonwhite students, though a disproportionate share of these students are Asian. All of this data is publicly available from the University of Arkansas' Office for Education Policy. To see a figure summarizing these trends, visit https://twitter.com/hmatthewlee.
In 16 years, Haas Hall, which enrolled no minority students when it first opened, has narrowed the diversity gap with Benton County traditional public schools by almost 17 percentage points and with Washington County traditional public schools by over 10 percentage points.
Haas Hall's faculty (95 percent white) is already comparable to schools in the area in terms of its demographic composition. Schools in Bentonville (96 percent), Fayetteville (93 percent), Rogers (91 percent), and Springdale (93 percent) school districts are similarly unrepresentative of the communities they serve. Haas Hall Bentonville (81 percent) is more diverse in staff than these districts.
Racial and ethnic diversity aside, Haas Hall continues to underwhelm with respect to its English Language Learner, Special Education, and Free-and-Reduced Lunch eligible student populations. According to the Office for Education Policy's 2016-17 Northwest Arkansas Education Report Card, 50 percent of all traditional public school students in the region are eligible for Free-and-Reduced Lunch, 11 percent are Special Education, and 22 percent have limited English proficiency. Haas Hall lags far behind in enrolling students from these three categories.
A choice system allows families and students to choose the school they believe best meets their needs. As charter schools offer an alternative to district schools, they may attract, and therefore serve, a population that looks different from the traditional district population. If minority, FRL, SPED, or ELL students feel better served by their district public school, we should celebrate the fact that they are able to enroll in these schools. However, if it is true that Haas Hall has engaged in practices to deny or discourage these students from attending their schools, though they wish to do so at commensurate rates, such practices should desist immediately.
Because admission is determined by blind, unweighted lottery, increasing FRL, SPED, or ELL enrollment must come by encouraging more of these students to apply. This might involve improving services available for these students or circulating information about these schools more widely.
Nationwide, charter schools serve a disproportionately greater share of historically underserved student populations and excel at doing so. Researchers Julian Betts and Emily Tang from the University of California San Diego surveyed charter school literature in 2016 and found that charter schools overall improve achievement in mathematics, with no difference in reading scores. A nationally-representative survey conducted by Harvard University's journal Education Next finds that a greater share of Blacks and Hispanics support charter schools than oppose them.
Taken together, this evidence suggests that Haas Hall can be successful in serving minority, FRL, SPED, and ELL students in Northwest Arkansas. Haas Hall still enrolls a smaller proportion of these students, but enrollment trends are pointing up for them. I hope that the state Board of Education's recommendations and whatever changes Haas Hall makes in the coming years will reveal their true commitment to educational excellence for all students.
Commentary on 03/09/2019