Washington D.C. is set to welcome a new all-boys charter school aimed at providing a robust education for boys of color, particularly those academically at-risk. The Empowering Males of Color Initiative has earmarked $20 million to establish a charter high school specifically for black and Latino boys in one of the nation’s most impoverished areas.
This development raises some important questions: Is it permissible to create a publicly funded school that selects students based on race? The answer is no. While the school will focus its outreach on minority boys, Robert Simmons, the district’s Chief of Innovation and Research, clarifies that applications are open to all boys. Additionally, the legality of single-sex public schools is under scrutiny. For example, UrbanPrep in Chicago operates boys-only charter schools, but their compliance with Title IX regulations is uncertain, particularly if similar options for girls are lacking. The ACLU has expressed concerns regarding potential violations of Title IX in Washington.
More critically, one must consider whether single-sex education genuinely provides an advantage when all variables are considered. A 2011 study published in Science examined various neurological justifications for single-sex education, concluding that these reasons do not hold up. Furthermore, the effectiveness of charter schools, such as UrbanPrep, is often debated. While UrbanPrep claims high college attendance rates among its graduates, it does not account for students who leave before graduation, whether voluntarily or otherwise. A meta-analysis by the American Psychological Association of 184 studies on single-sex education revealed that only those studies without control groups suggested any benefits to single-sex settings—and even then, the advantage was minimal. Studies that included control groups indicated that co-educational schools had a distinct benefit, particularly for girls.
Single-sex schools can be appealing to parents, especially those seeking a more rigorous curriculum and pathways to college, particularly in areas with limited educational options. However, it is essential to recognize that the distractions posed by the opposite sex are not the primary issue in American education; rather, it is poverty that significantly impacts student outcomes. If a child starts kindergarten lagging behind their more affluent peers, it matters little whether those peers are boys or girls.
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In conclusion, while all-boys schools are being positioned as beneficial for boys, evidence supporting their superiority over co-educational environments is lacking. The primary challenge in education remains addressing the inequalities stemming from socioeconomic factors rather than the gender composition of schools.