AFT's Weingarten Speaks to 'Those' Charter School Cap Opponents

Any broad reading of the research on charter school success - and I don't mean simply reading the stories one agrees with - leads one to the conclusion that charters are completely devoid of magical properties and taken as a whole are no better than public schools. Some studies have proclaimed charter success. Other reports have described dismal failure and even graft. Most are somewhere in between.

But now that Arne Duncan has made them a centerpiece of his administration, and attached huge sums of money to the effort, folks are starting to pay attention to charter's - and their shortcomings.

Many states have experimented with charters, but placed caps on their number awaiting the heretofore promised free-market magic. Duncan doesn't want to wait. He'd rather believe. Since giving people choice is a populist notion that rarely draws controversy, the political downside for Duncan appears to be relatively small.

This from Politics K-12:

In response to new research that casts doubt on the quality of charter schools, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weigarten had this to say, in an official statement:

"...the inconsistencies in the quality of charter schools should give pause to those who want to lift charter caps, particularly when they are not matched with calls for legislatures to increase accountability."