Better Choices for Buffalo's Students: Expanding & Reforming the Criteria Schools System By Gary Orfield, Jennifer Ayscue, Jongyeon Ee, Erica Frankenberg, Genevieve Siegel-Hawley, Brian Woodward and Natasha Amlani A Report to Buffalo Public Schools May 2015 Acknowledgements The Civil Rights Project would like to acknowledge the many people who contributed to this important study. The collaboration of the Buffalo Public Schools staff was paramount, particularly Will Keresztes for making things happen, Eileen Bohen for her coordination, the school principals who spoke to us willingly and openly, Mark Frazier and staff who responded to our many requests for data, Maria Giardino for assisting Mr. Keresztes, and others who helped behind-the-scenes in Buffalo. On our research team, Natasha Amlani’s work was essential, and we want to thank her for the research she did. Our on-the-ground volunteers in Buffalo, Sara Asrat and Jenna Tomasello, worked tirelessly during the site visits, shepherded our researchers to many a meeting, organized and led survey field tests and provided overall indispensable support and consult. Pastor Pointer of the Lincoln Memorial United Methodist Church provided space and recruited parents for one of our field tests. Other key collaborators in Buffalo were Rhonda Ried and staff at Cornerstone Research & Marketing for carrying out the survey work, and Caroline Taggart for sharing her suggestions on survey data collection. Thanks to Professor Mindy Kornhaber of the Pennsylvania State University who shared her expertise on testing. Laurie Russman worked miracles of coordination and communication, and Carolyn Peelle helped us as a perceptive and always-thoughtful editor. We also want to thank the many parents, teachers and students who responded to the surveys, and all of the Buffalo residents who met with us, wrote or called us, and shared their concerns about and wishes for a school system that could expand choice and opportunity for more of the youth in Buffalo. This research was funded by a contract from the Buffalo Public Schools as part of an agreement with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights. It represents our independent judgment on the issues addressed in the OCR investigation and agreement with the Buffalo Public Schools. Table of Contents List of Figures ................................................................................................................................. ii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................. iv Foreword ......................................................................................................................................... v Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... viii PART ONE: BUFFALO HISTORY AND THE CURRENT CIVIL RIGHTS CHALLENGE FOR THE SCHOOLS Challenges and the City’s Future .................................................................................................... 1 A Long History of Struggle for Racial Equity ................................................................................ 4 The Road to the Model Desegregation Plan ................................................................................... 5 Reverting Back to Segregated Schools and Changing the Choice Process .................................... 7 A History with the Office for Civil Rights ................................................................................... 10 Concerns of a Two-Tiered System ............................................................................................... 10 The Evolution of Choice in Buffalo .............................................................................................. 11 PART TWO: THE CURRENT STATUS OF BUFFALO PUBLIC SCHOOLS BPS and Criteria-Based Schools .................................................................................................. 13 The Broader Context of School Choice: Are Charter Schools Solving the Need for High Quality and Diverse Education? ............................................................................................................... 26 Impoverished White and Asian Schools within BPS ................................................................... 30 Teacher Demographics of Criteria-Based Schools ....................................................................... 32 Providing Real Options for Students Who Have a Right to Transfer ........................................... 34 PART THREE: PERSPECTIVES OF PARENTS, EDUCATORS, AND STUDENTS Interviews and Focus Groups ........................................................................................................ 37 What Buffalo Parents Think About the System: The Parent Survey ............................................ 54 Insights from Buffalo’s Educators: The Teacher and Staff Survey .............................................. 62 Views from Students: The Student Survey ................................................................................... 70 Comparing the Surveys ................................................................................................................. 76 PART FOUR: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 79 Moving Forward: Recommendations ........................................................................................... 80 Appendix: A Note on Testing ....................................................................................................... 87 Better Choices for Buffalo’s Students, May 2015 Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles for Buffalo Public Schools i List of Figures Figure 1: Relationship between the Share of Low-Income Students and the Share of Black and Latino Students in BPS ................................................................................................................. 14 Figure 2: Percentage of Black and White Students in Criteria-Based Schools ............................ 16 Figure 3: Share of Low-Income Students in Criteria-Based Schools ........................................... 16 Figure 4: Relationship between the Share of Low-Income Students and the Average Score of Mathematics Assessment ............................................................................................................. 19 Figure 5: Relationship between the Share of Black and Latino Students and the Average Score of Mathematics Assessment ............................................................................................................. 20 Figure 6: Relationship between the Share of Low-Income Students and the Share of Students at Levels 1 and 2 for Mathematics Assessment ............................................................................... 21 Figure 7: Relationship between the Share of Black and Latino Students and the Share of Students at Levels 1 and 2 for Mathematics Assessment ........................................................................... 22 Figure 8: Relationship between the Share of Low-Income Students and the Share of Students at Levels 3 and 4 for Mathematics Assessment ............................................................................... 23 Figure 9: Relationship between the Share of Black and Latino Students and the Share of Students at Levels 3 and 4 for Mathematics Assessment ........................................................................... 24 Figure 10: Racial Composition of Students Who Were and Were Not Accepted to Criteria-Based Schools ......................................................................................................................................... 25 Figure 11: Acceptance Rates by Types of Schools Applicants Attended .................................... 26 Figure 12: Demographic Comparison of Charter Schools, Criteria-Based Schools, and District 27 Figure 13: Relationship between the Share of Low-Income Students at Charter Schools and the Average Score of Mathematics Assessment ................................................................................. 29 Figure 14: Relationship between the Share of Black and Latino Students at Charter Schools and the Average Score of Mathematics Assessment .......................................................................... 30 Figure 15: Schools with a Large Percentage of Low-Income Students and White and Asian Students ........................................................................................................................................ 31 Figure 16: Relationship between the Share of Low-Income Students and the Average Score of Mathematics Assessment in Impoverished White/Asian Schools ................................................ 32 Figure 17: Racial Composition of Teachers in Non-Criteria-Based Schools and Criteria-Based Schools .......................................................................................................................................... 33 Figure 18: Racial Composition of Teachers in Individual Criteria-Based Schools ..................... 33 Figure 19: Math Proficiency, Grade 8, BPS ................................................................................. 36 Figure 20: Racial Composition of Parent Survey Participants ...................................................