The Hudson Institute's survey claims that 63 percent of the students who attended charter schools nationally were minority. But while the schools are diverse overall, many are segregated. Another one in three serve a mixed population. Nearly half are schools with student populations 80 to 100 percent white. The schools also appear to serve fewer students with limited English abilities as the regular schools, except in Massachusetts and Minnesota.
Charter schools have similar rates of low-income students as regular schools.
The report noted that many schools may be eligible for Title I money for serving disadvantaged students, but are unaware of how to obtain the federal dollars. That prompted some Republican Congressmen to request a federal General Accounting Office study about the issue. The GAO this September told a Congressional committee that its survey indicates charter school operators believe they are treated fairly when applying for federal dollars. However, some barriers exist, the GAO says. For instance, because many of the schools did not exist the year before, they did not qualify for funding.