One system is not enough: a free-market alternative for the education of minorities; many minority parents are finding the best education for their children in private schools where they are considered equal partners in the schooling process

The education of America's minorities, its poor, and its disadvantaged has been shaped in recent decades by forces of Romantic optimism. But some minorities have steadfastly refused to accept this monolithic vision of what should be theirs. Faced with government-sponsored programs, they have developed other options in education. Their laudable efforts now deserve broader support, as America continues to revitalize itself by infusions of immigrating ethnic minorities that face startlingly similar problems.

Once upon a time

It was idealistically assumed that because mass education had worked rather well after World War II, it would continue to work. America's disenfranchised ethnic groups were expected to derive the same benefits as had their European counterparts in the past.

It was also assumed for several generations that compensatory education programs would prepare minority cultural groups for assimilation. They were to be "melted" by public schools into a culturally neutral mass that some perceived as the only true path to becoming a "a good American."

Moreover, it was assumed that once these children were introduced to the public education system, they would be able to make significant academic and social advances, year after year.

Finally, it was assumed that the problems with minorities would be solved if large quantities of educational resources were allocated, then marshaled under the systemic umbrellas of public schools that took advantage of economies of scale. Billions of dollars were spent on these programs.

Many of the programs that were devised to respond to the perceived needs of these children have achieved only some of their short-term objectives and have produced few measurable long-term gains.

Instead of assimilation, there is acute alienation from the process of schooling for a large proportion of minority students, especially those from poor neighborhoods in urban areas, where there are many Blacks and Hispanics. The cause has been attributed primarily to ineffective schooling for both the children and for the parents, who are therefore unable to provide the necessary extracurricular academic support found in other communities.

Although Asian-Americans have not experienced high dropout rates, they are beginning to have an experience with which Blacks and Hispanics are familiar. Majority-culture communities are physically relocating themselves and their educational resources outside communities with significant numbers of Asian-American immigrants, leaving them captives of a diminished public system.

The downward slide of schools in general also has been well documented, but it has had a greater impact on minorities because a larger proportion of them are influenced by poor schools. Not only are they more severely damaged, but the popular clarion call for excellence in education does not specifically address this setback. Again there is a demand for top-down action, when the impetus must be a groundswell from the bottom up. And this is no less true of minorities, who must find within themselves the resources they need.

A model for action already exists. For more than 180 years, minorities across America have sought options for education in addition to public schools. Valiantly, parents continue to exercise greater control over the educational fate of their children by placing them in nonpublic institutions. By their successes, using far fewer resources, they have earned the right to be considered as valuable and equal partners in the process of schooling. They now seek to influence government policies to incorporate greater freedom of choice in the existing educational system.

Enriching the system

A recent study sponsored by the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (NCNE) has identified over 300 independent schools operated by and for minorities. Many more are believed to exist. A preliminary report indicates that these institutions seem to be making great strides in providing quality education for African-American, Hispanic, American Indian and Asian-American children, generally in urban areas. These are not elite schools, limited to children of the affluent or to disadvantaged children on scholarships. These elementary and middle schools are struggling institutions that serve as "feeder" schools to public and traditional private schools. They survive on little more than tuition, and their fundraising campaigns, for the most part, are gnomes compared to the large endowments of others. Site visits to nearly 40 of them indicated that their strengths lie in the determination of the parents, the academic success and social development of the children, and the commitment of teachers and administrators.

For a long time, parents have complained about the treatment they have received in many large urban public systems. Often there were subtle and blatant examples of racial discrimination. They have been held at arm's length and ignored by teachers. Frequently they have been manipulated in PTA meetings by off-the-record decision-making between administrators and teachers. Many times they were disillusioned by the apparent passivity and apathy among some of their fellow parents. In an attempt to develop their range of options for the education of their children, they have created or found schools that are able to respond to their needs in a timely manner.