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School choice proponents say it offers families more options – but those don’t always extend to immigrant students
School choice proponents say it offers families more options – but those don’t always extend to immigrant students. Originally published by The Conversation.
By William McCorkle, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education, College of Charleston · 2026-09-14T13:20:25.945Z
School choice gives families options, but not all families necessarily have the same ones. Andrii Yalanskyi/iStock via Getty Images Plus Educators https://baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2026/05/27/debate over school choice heats up after florida education association files lawsuit , politicians https://www.k12dive.com/news/senators debate how school choice harms or helps public schools vouchers/810759/ and education observers https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/nyc charter school funding rally/ have long debated school choice. This controversial policy approach https://www.ncsl.org/education/education choice policy resources lets families pick alternatives to their assigned neighborhood public schools and, in some cases, allows them to use government funds https://www.edchoice.org/school choice/ to pay for private school tuition or other educational expenses. Some of the school choice debate has focused on whether charter schools https://www.usnews.com/education/k12/articles/understanding charter schools vs public schools – meaning publicly funded, independently operated schools – offer students more equitable educational opportunities https://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/reports/choice without equity charter school segregation and the need for civil rights standards/ and better academic outcomes than traditional public schools. Not much of the debate has focused on how school choice can affect immigrant students. We are scholars of social studies education https://charleston.edu/school education/faculty/mccorkle william.php and educational foundations https://charleston.edu/school education/faculty/lloyd beth.php . In our forthcoming research https://journal mobilityhumanities.com/aims and scope/information/ , we examined the impact of school choice on the academic outcomes of immigrant students, primarily from low income families. We found that school choice often leaves them behind, as they struggle to succeed academically in often less than ideal educational environments.
The immigrant population in Charleston, S.C., has grown rapidly. Ivan Burchak/iStock via Getty Images Plus A study of Charleston schools From 2024 through 2025, we analyzed the impact that school choice is having on immigrant students in our city, Charleston, South Carolina. Though South Carolina’s foreign born population https://charlestoncitypaper.com/2025/08/21/s c foreign born residents reach historic high level/ is smaller than it is in some states, it has increased by more than 900% https://charlestoncitypaper.com/2025/08/21/s c foreign born residents reach historic high level/ since 1980. Approximately 7.2% of the residents in Charleston County are foreign born https://censusreporter.org/profiles/05000US45019 charleston county sc/ . School choice and the rise of charter and magnet schools can heavily influence immigrant students’ experiences in Charleston schools. As in many parts of the country, charter schools have expanded https://scdailygazette.com/2026/02/09/growth of sc charter schools outpaces traditional senators say it needs more accountability/ across Charleston since 1996, when lawmakers first allowed them in the state https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t59c040.php . In 2025, South Carolina passed https://www.wcnc.com/article/news/politics/south carolina politics/south carolina private school vouchers 2025/275 801da2c8 492c 42fb 81d4 c8021ac6131b a bill that allows many state residents to use virtual vouchers https://www.scstatehouse.gov/sess126 2025 2026/bills/62.htm – or, as they are also called, educational scholarship funds – that people use to pay for scholarships at private schools or, in some cases, to cover home schooling expenses https://www.postandcourier.com/politics/sc unbundlers homeschoolers voucher program/article 049037b0 b91f 4626 8b5e afdba9d8de4c.html . Charter schools have increased inequality https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci9030205 and racial and socioeconomic inequality within https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1171677.pdf school systems, some research shows. In our opinion, this new voucher plan will likely exacerbate https://www.brookings.edu/articles/3 waves of school vouchers a history of expansion and exclusion/ these issues. Another challenge in Charleston is the rise of magnet schools. Magnet schools and inequality Magnet schools are free, public schools https://magnet.edu/about/what are magnet schools that are often specialized in their scope, and they admit students from a range of neighborhoods. Magnets, similar to charter schools, can be completely separate schools with their own buildings, or housed within a particular section of a traditional public school. Unlike charter schools, magnet schools often, but not always, determine prospective students’ acceptance based on certain academic criteria, including how well they score on standardized testing and the student’s GPA https://amhs.ccsdschools.com/about us/admissions . Other magnet schools select students based on a lottery. Magnet schools, whether at the elementary, middle or high school level, tend to attract students https://www.edweek.org/leadership/magnet schools struggle to be diverse says study/2015/06 from wealthier homes and draw particularly white populations. One reason is that admission to magnet schools – including Academic Magnet High School https://www.usnews.com/education/best high schools/south carolina/districts/charleston county school district/academic magnet high school 17566 , Charleston County’s top public high school – is typically based on test scores. It is often more difficult for students from low income families, including some immigrant students, to score well on the tests and qualify for these schools. Since high performing magnet schools tend to enroll the most privileged students and experienced staff, other nearby public schools might experience drawbacks, like decreased enrollment https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/research/underachieving and underenrolled chronically low performing schools post pandemic and more staff turnover https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED498833.pdf . A sharp divide Just about a mile from Academic Magnet is North Charleston High School, a traditional public high school that is required to enroll any local resident. The school has about 830 students https://www.usnews.com/education/best high schools/south carolina/districts/charleston county school district/north charleston high school 17568 , a number smaller than are actually zoned for the school. It also https://www.usnews.com/education/best high schools/south carolina/districts/charleston county school district/north charleston high school 17568 has some of the highest rates of poverty and lowest test scores in the state. Many students in the area instead attend charter schools https://www.thepeoplesentinel.com/stories/school choice is expanding for south carolina families,106158 , magnet schools or even other traditional public schools that perform better academically https://www.postandcourier.com/archives/poor schools still on losing end of choice group of education leaders assists north charleston/article e7f31244 78e1 5c85 b074 bbbd606770d9.html , which these students can often attend https://www.ccsdschools.com/family resources2/student transfer – if they have their own transportation. This dynamic often creates various challenges for students who remain at struggling neighborhood schools. These issues include worse student academic performance https://ocpathink.org/post/independent journalism/new research finds school choice students outperform peers , reduced teacher retention https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/teacher turnover united states report and increased racial and socioeconomic segregation https://www.buffalo.edu/news/news releases.host.html/content/shared/university/news/ub reporter articles/stories/2026/07/kimmelberg school choice.detail.html . Our findings In our forthcoming study, we examined the academic performance and demographics of three Charleston area schools: North Charleston https://www.usnews.com/education/best high schools/south carolina/districts/charleston county school district/north charleston high school 17568 , Academic Magnet https://amhs.ccsdschools.com/ and Fort Dorchester https://fdhs.ddtwo.org/ , a neighborhood public https://www.usnews.com/education/best high schools/south carolina/districts/dorchester 02/fort dorchester high school 17602 high school. Approximately 92.5% of the students at North Charleston are Black or Hispanic. About half the students at Fort Dorchester are Black or Hispanic. Meanwhile, only 8.9% of the students at Academic Magnet https://www.usnews.com/education/best high schools/south carolina/districts/charleston county school district/academic magnet high school 17566 are Black or Hispanic. Approximately 100% of the students at North Charleston https://www.usnews.com/education/best high schools/south carolina/districts/charleston county school district/north charleston high school 17568 are economically disadvantaged, meaning they qualify for free or reduced lunch https://www.usnews.com/media/best high schools/best high schools technical appendix.pdf . This compares with 60% of students at Fort Dorchester and 13% at Academic Magnet. While 39.7% of the teachers at North Charleston left after three years https://ed.sc.gov/educators/recruitment and recognition/critical need areas/crit need schools retirement 25 26/ , 18.6% of teachers left during this time frame at Fort Dorchester, and another 13.8% at Academic Magnet. We wanted to examine how these schools’ academic and demographic differences affect immigrant students and their academic performance. We found that English language proficiency among non native English speaking students https://ed.sc.gov/data/test scores/state assessments/access test scores/ at North Charleston was 3.4%. Overall, approximately 9.3% of students there had a level 4 https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/Performance Definitions Receptive Domains.pdf or higher English language score, out of a total six possible points. At Fort Dorchester, the numbers were much higher: 16.9% of non native students were proficient in English, and and overall, 34.4% were at level 4 or above in English. At Academic Magnet, due to the lack of non native English speakers, no data was available. We also interviewed some of the teachers in the “left behind” schools like North Charleston in the district. One shared that immigrant students or children of immigrants started having issues, like skipping school or engaging in disruptive behavior, that they saw other kids doing in these schools. As one teacher said: “I try to get them to understand, this is not all America … I would just feel so bad for that.”
Immigrant students do not necessarily experience some of the potential benefits of school choice. Klaus Vedfelt/Digital Vision via Getty Images Broadening school choice conversations We believe that school choice discussions should include immigrant students and magnet schools. In the often tense discussions on school choice, public school advocates often see magnet schools in a positive light https://nextstepsblog.org/2016/07/teachers unions evolved magnet schools can charters/ . However, our study indicates that school choice can often lead to greater segregation and inequality. School choice proponents often laud the benefits of those who use it, but they rarely discuss those who are left behind.
The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.