New Delhi: A new study suggests that wealthy Black families are more likely to send their children to private schools than wealthy White or Asian families.
The study by 50CAN, a nonprofit organisation focused on education, found that about 29% of high-income Black families send their children to private schools. The rate is higher than among high-income White and Asian families.
The debate over school choice
The February 2026 study gained attention after a recent essay by New York Times writer Nikole Hannah-Jones, published on 20 September.
In the essay, Hannah explained why she chose to send her daughter to a mostly Black public school in New York City and how that turned out to be a wrong decision.
She said she made the decision because she wanted to help reduce racial segregation in schools.
Hannah-Jones later wrote that after attending public schools, her daughter struggled academically, particularly with reading.
What the survey found
The 50CAN survey showed that private-school enrollment varies by both race and family income.
Among low-income families, about 3.6% of Black families, 4.2% of Hispanic families, 4.4% of White families, and 5.9% of Asian families sent their children to private schools.
Among middle-income Black families, about 8.6% chose private schools. For high-income families, the numbers were considerably higher: about 29.1% of Black families, 22.9% of White families, and 20% of Asian families sent their children to private schools.
The survey data was also shared by Marc Porter Magee, the founder of 50CAN, on X.
“Who send their kids to private school?” Magee wrote while sharing the data.
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Hannah-Jones’ decision
Hannah-Jones is known for creating the 1619 Project, which examines the role of slavery and racism in American history.
In her essay, she reflected on her decision in 2015 to send her daughter to a public school in Brooklyn rather than to one of the better-performing schools available to her.
“I felt an obligation to make educational decisions based on the collective good and not just our individual advantage,” Hannah-Jones wrote.
“We believed strongly that if families like ours went into schools like this one, it would challenge other families with similar values to do the same.”
Edited by Maryam Hassan