#AnotherDayAnotherCharterScandal
A Case Study In White Savior Complex
Citizens of the World Charter Schools’ mission to celebrate diversity ended up hurting the BIPOC communities they sought to help.
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- Citizens of the World
The Citizens of the World chain of charter schools describes itself as being committed to “socio-economic, cultural and racial diversity.” They claim to be “the first national school network with a commitment to economic and racial diversity”. But just how well does this school live up to these lofty goals?
According to the California Department of Education (CDE), 43% of students attending Citizens of the World Charter School 5, which is located in Reseda, are white. Hispanic or Latino students make up the next largest racial group comprising 23.7% of the student body. This is about a third of the percentage of Hispanic students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
To experience the promised diversity, the students at Citizens of the World only have to look across the schoolyard. To open this latest iteration of the Citizens of the World franchise, space had to be given up by Shirley Avenue Elementary School. The CDE database shows that only 5.5% of the students at this public school are white. Like much of the LAUSD, about three-quarters are Hispanic or Latino.
Not only does the student body of Citizens of the World West Valley not reflect the neighborhood where it is located, but the charter school is also harming the students whose parents have chosen to…
