I can’t just point to CREDO, the definitive study on charter schools when it backs up what I believe and that’s charter schools are a poor investment. My opinion hasn’t changed even with the results of their recent study that says charter schools are improving. I am just not sure CREDO is asking the right question.
With selection bias, low numbers of ESE and ESOL students, fewer numbers on free and reduced lunch, the ability to both counsel out poor performers and bad apples and to put requirements on parents, the question shouldn't be why are charter schools improving, it should be why aren't they killing public schools.
These defacto publicly funded private schools have so many advantages over traditional public schools and yet when you look at the numbers despite their recent improvement they aren’t doing any better than public schools. You would think if charter schools had more of the best and public schools had more of the worst then charters should be doing much better. Bottom line is they aren't.
