School Choice--Charter Schools Chart Major Gains

During a recent debate with John McCain before the election, Barack Obama made the statement that he is against 'school choice' as a means to provide competition to failing public schools.

Instead, Obama pointed to D.C.'s Charter School program as a major success story.

McCain replied that the director of D.C.'s Charter Schools program supports the concept of school choice.

And why wouldn't he? Deciding to send one's children to a Charter School instead of a traditional public school is a choice parents make to improve the quality of education their children receive.

In California, for example, Charter Schools are outperforming traditional public schools among the state's poor.

Charter Schools are public schools that are run by independent nonprofit groups rather than the various state educational systems. These schools emphasize the basics of math and English and give the students all the tools necessary to succeed.

Public schools, by contrast, tend to view students in poor areas as victims. That very simple difference in perspective makes all the difference in how students perform. Children from poor families tend to have a strong, innate desire to succeed, despite commonly accepted educational dogma.

According to the California Charter Schools Association, 12 of the 15 top performing schools in the state that serve children in poverty are Charter Schools.

With the multiplicity of problems facing traditional public schools that seem to be failing the nation's poverty-stricken children, Charter Schools are one way to address those problems.