Charter Schools Versus Public Schools

A recent study conducted by the Department of Education, which compared the achievement of traditional public schools to charter schools, revealed that charter schools are not meeting state performance standards. In Texas, 98% of the public schools met the state standards, whereas a sad 66% of charter schools met the standards. In Bush's No Child Left Behind law it states that those public schools not meeting the state performance standards will be converted into charter schools. But how can we consider this an option if charter schools continue to fail to meet the state standards? Dr. Paul E. Peterson, a professor of government at Harvard University, states that charter schools exist simply to serve those of a disavantaged population. Perhaps charter schools are failing to meet standards because as Peterson states "When you have targeted a needy population, you will have more difficulty reaching state standards." http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/23/education/23charter.html?oref=login