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White families may have embraced pods and microschools as a short-term fix to cope with the pandemic. But for many Black parents, they offer something more permanent: an alternative to traditional schools where their children have historically faltered.

鈥淥ur motivation for building outside of the system is because we saw our system crumbling in the midst of the pandemic,鈥� said Lakisha Young, founder and CEO of The Oakland Reach in California, which in the early months of the pandemic launched a virtual hub for students who lacked internet access. Now, the nonprofit is training Black and Hispanic parents to work as math and literacy tutors 鈥�  鈥渓iberators,鈥� they call them 鈥� to help students thrive in local schools. 

鈥淣ot only are we putting caring, committed people back into our communities,鈥� Young said, 鈥渢he system now has to re-engage with us in a different kind of power dynamic.鈥� 

As they look to build a movement, however, leaders are grappling with some thorny questions. Are they contributing to school segregation? And to what extent do they want to remain connected to the very public schools their families left?

Young was among the leaders and researchers featured in a Monday webinar hosted by the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a think tank studying the future of pods after most students have returned to traditional schools. The center鈥檚 showed that Blacks were more than twice as likely as whites to report that their children were happier in pods 鈥� 52% to 25% 鈥� and also that they had more trust in the educators leading them than they did teachers in public schools. 

The majority of Black children still attend traditional public schools 鈥� 85%, according to . But CRPE researchers wanted to see whether Black pods and microschools connected to broader trends, such as the increase in Black , the and the growth in legislation supporting such models.

Are such policies 鈥減aving the way for an explosion in self-determined alternatives to public schools?鈥� asked Jennifer Poon, a fellow with the nonprofit Center for Innovation in Education, which contributed to the research. 鈥淎nd if so, what would that mean for the families in Black pods and microschools? On the flip side, what would that mean for the majority of families who are still served by public schools?鈥�

Introducing a topic often debated in the first year of the pandemic, moderator Chris Stewart, CEO of Brightbeam, a nonprofit that focuses on improving educational opportunities, pitched another question to the panelists: Do pods and microschools contribute to ? 

Speakers rejected the idea. Janelle Woods, founder of the Black Mothers Forum in Phoenix, said Black students are already segregated within public schools because they are suspended and expelled at higher rates than white students.  

Maxine McKinney de Royston, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, formed a small pod for middle school students in cooperation with the Madison school district. She said 鈥渋t’s a particular form of gaslighting鈥� to blame Black parents for resegregating schools, which she chalked up to  predominantly white, middle class communities from urban school districts.

What 鈥榮chools aren鈥檛 delivering鈥�

While homeschool families are used to patching together a variety of learning settings and programs for their children, that is becoming increasingly true of public school parents as well, according to recent research from Tyton Partners, a consulting firm. Its demonstrated growing interest in what researchers described as 鈥渕ulti-site schooling.鈥�

Supplemental pods like those in Oakland are a part of that trend.

鈥淚n some cases, parents are looking actively and aggressively for something that schools aren鈥檛 delivering,鈥� said Adam Newman, managing partner at Tyton. 鈥淚t really increases opportunities and challenges for schools to be more creative [and to think] about how they can bridge some of these gaps, particularly around issues of equity.鈥�

Historically, Black parents have always sought better opportunities for their children outside of mainstream schools, said Robert Harvey, former superintendent of a charter school network in East Harlem, New York, and now president of FoodCorps, a nonprofit that helps students access healthy food.

鈥淭he early pod school was the slave cabin,鈥� he said.

And four years before the pandemic, Woods founded the Black Mothers Forum in Phoenix to support parents whose children were disproportionately disciplined in public schools.

鈥淥ur children were being criminalized and demonized for behavior that was normal for their age group,鈥� she said. 

When schools shut down, the organization launched microschools to serve students whose parents had to work and couldn鈥檛 stay home to supervise remote learning. Parents who stayed with microschools are happier, she said, because their children aren鈥檛 being disciplined for minor infractions.

Economic options

Because they receive state education funds, the forum鈥檚 microschools are free for families. But Woods said foundations can help by supporting meal costs at microschools, which don鈥檛 qualify for the National School Lunch Program. It costs $6,000 to $7,000 per month to feed students, she said.

Pods and microschools serve as a 鈥渟afe harbor鈥� for some Black students, Stewart said. But in states where public funding isn鈥檛 available, many Black families can鈥檛 afford to form a pod or pay for a private microschool..

Harvey added that Congress opted not to increase the expanded child tax credit, which could have been an 鈥渆conomic option for 鈥� Black folks who live one check away from suffering and one check away from thriving.鈥� 

Young said she wants to see more microschools, like those in Arizona.But The Oakland Reach 鈥渆volved and adapted鈥� to offer enrichment and tutoring support rather than establish pods outside of the district.

鈥淔or better or for worse,鈥� she said, 鈥渕ost of our families are going to be in these public school systems.鈥�

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