Let me start out by saying I am not pro-charter or anti-charter; after a minimal amount of research, I think charter schools sound like a good idea in principle. I am writing, however, to point out that the research sited by John Bambenek in his article Thursday seems a minority view among experts, and that he simplified the issue in order to support his viewpoint.

After reading Bambenek’s claim that charter schools close the achievement gap, I was naturally curious about a number of factors such as whether the economic and racial makeup of charter schools differ greatly in charter and public schools. I was surprised to find that the National Education Association, aside from saying that “It is difficult – not to mention scientifically invalid – to make blanket comparisons of charter schools to traditional public schools,” also pointed to indicators that students at charter schools may perform poorly compared to those in public schools when race and economic background are controlled. (http://www.nea.org/charter)

In addition, Caroline Hoxby’s paper, which Bambenek cites, has been questioned by some experts, who say that she failed to control for a wide range of factors including socioeconomic status. A report addressing the problems with Hoxby’s paper can be found at the Economic Policy Institute’s Web site, at http://www.epinet.org/content.cfm/bp158. The EPI may well have political leanings, although they call themselves nonpartisan, but their own analysis of Hoxby’s data and that from other surveys strongly indicates that charter schools tend to be made up of students from a better economic background (see table 1).

While economic status and race are correlated, economic status is the more important factor in achievement. Based on these findings, one must wonder whether the closing of the achievement gap at charter schools results from a disproportionate enrollment of students from a better financial background, and whether this leaves disadvantaged students behind in public schools that are now receiving even less funding.

Andrew Waymire

Senior in LAS