U.S. News and World Report, August 30, 2016: Charter Schools: The Reform that Sticks

“In Los Angeles, where charter schools are also greatly outperforming the traditional school district in educating poor and minority children, the charter/district performance has become an existential issue. So many parents have moved away, enrolled their children in private schools or opted for charters that the Los Angeles school district may be headed toward bankruptcy. Something similar is played out with the federal ‘Race to the Top’ incentive program engineered by former Education Secretary Arne Duncan. The idea was to offer carrots (lots of dollars) to states willing to undergo reforms such as serious teacher evaluations. Again with the benefit of hindsight, what really worked was the bribe (err, carrot) to allow more charter schools. In Massachusetts, for example, that produced some charter schools serving poor and minority students that literally wiped out achievement gaps – until then an unthinkable feat.”