The Self-Defeating Condescension of an Anti-Racist Education

April 24, 2026

TL;DR

Charter schools showed progress in closing racial achievement gaps between 2015 and 2019, with some networks reporting Black and Latino students performing on par with or better than white students.
A shift occurred in many charter networks towards prioritizing "anti-racism" and "equity" over academic excellence, leading to a decline in student performance.
The author experienced this shift firsthand when raising concerns about "equity" training at the Ascend charter network they founded.
Dacia Toll founded Amistad Academy, a charter school that achieved extraordinary academic outcomes for disadvantaged students through intense focus on instruction and school culture.
Achievement First, founded by Toll, also achieved high results, with many seniors gaining admission to competitive colleges.
In 2019, Achievement First changed its core values to "Lead for Racial Equity," which led to the scrapping of merit systems, retirement of successful math programs, and a focus on social justice in the curriculum, resulting in inferior outcomes.
Following the murder of George Floyd, internal tensions at Achievement First escalated, leading to a "highly radicalized, toxic organizational culture," employee departures, and a drop in test scores.

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