Geography of music access, race, and SES in NYC public schools: public vs. charter

Abstract

This study explores segregation and privatization in NYC public schools through the lens of early childhood music education. On a macro level (district/citywide), this article compares access to music in charter schools and traditional public schools serving kindergarten through third grade (K-3) and examines how different socio-demographic factors related to the presence of music instruction in both sets of schools. Quantitative and geographic analyses indicate that charter schools and traditional public schools offered early childhood music programs at comparable rates and that the prevalence of music correlated with school size. However, when accounting for music instruction by non-certified school-based staff, traditional public schools were significantly more likely to provide K-3 music than their charter school counterparts. Notably, the socioeconomic status (vis-à-vis PTA contributions) and racial composition of schools correlated with the presence of music in traditional public schools, but no such correlations could be established for charter schools, which, in NYC, are predominantly located in communities of color with higher rates of poverty. In NYC, despite state mandates to provide instruction in all arts domains, lack of access to early childhood music instruction seems predicated on the unintended consequences of PTA funding and the expanding charter school movement.