Do independent state schools help the most deprived students?

Everyone could benefit from Free Schools. Evidence from Sweden shows that providing new schools makes existing schools better, not worse. Under a system including free schools every parent can send their child to a school that offers what their child needs. Evidence from the United States shows that the poorest benefit from this policy the most. Studies show that Charter Schools are more likely to serve deprived students and communities than they are middle-income students: 90 percent of New York charter school students are African-American or Hispanic and the same percentage participate in the Free or Reduced-price lunch program - undermining the theory that charter schools draw more privileged students. The Harlem Children’s Zone’s Charter Schools teach students from an area with over double the national child poverty rate. Chicago’s successful Charter Schools are in ‘disproportionately minority and poor’ neighbourhoods and their students are generally lower achieving on entry than their neighbourhood public school peers. Swedish evidence shows that school choice has NOT resulted in school segregation on first-generation immigration or parental income lines. Link to further information http://www.newschoolsnetwork.org/assets/events/files/Summary%20of%20Evidence%20for%20New%20Schools%20v2%202.pdf