Charter schools are a hot topic in many states this spring. But as New York City knows well, the debate quickly falls into a predictable rut, with partisans wrangling over the virtues and vices of charters themselves.
Here’s a much more promising focus: How can we dramatically expand students’ access to the nation’s best charter schools? While many charters do no better than district-run public schools, a subset of charters – perhaps 10% – produces extremely high levels of learning and college-going by disadvantaged children who enter school years behind.
