Report Successful Charter Schools

U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige issued the following statement regarding today's New York Times article on charter schools:

"The New York Times' front-page 'analysis' of charter schools used faulty methodology to come up with a flawed conclusion. In other words, it was wrong.

"The Times made no distinction between students falling behind and students climbing out of the hole in which they found themselves. The Times grudgingly conceded that 'tracking students over time might present findings more favorable' to charter schools—but that point was buried at the end of the story.

"Another point: it is wrong to think of charter schools as a monolith. There are schools for dropouts, schools for students who've been expelled, schools serving the most economically disadvantaged families. Charters are as diverse as the children they educate. In fact, according to the authors of the data the Times cites, differences between charter and regular public schools in achievement test scores vanish when examined by race or ethnicity. It is virtually impossible to come up with a statistically significant result otherwise.

"The purpose of charter schools is to provide an alternative to parents and students who have been poorly served by their previous schools. Poor instruction, unsafe conditions, a lack of proper attention—these are all factors in a parent's decision to apply to a charter school. The thousands of names on waiting lists to attend charter schools attest to the need for these vital educational options."

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