Why Charter Schools Fail the Test

As a public educator who has long questioned the motives of those advocating school choice and the impact it would have on those students left in public schools, I found the results of the analysis of the school choice program "heartening." Only a person with Murray's agenda would be depressed to learn that our public schools -- even when those parents with the will and means pull their students and send them to charter schools -- do as good a job as the vaunted charter schools that Murray champions. Of course he is right to point out that standardized test scores are an awful way to measure school success. But, I find it amusing that Murray has apparently only come around to this point of view when the data doesn't support the superiority of charter schools. Like too many experts and conservative educational gurus Murray has always viewed education reform through the lenses of his personal bias. In other words he would make a bad scientist because he has always tried to make the data match his hypothesis rather than drawing conclusions based on observable facts. And now, when the facts don't support his theories, he claims the data is flawed. Seems to me that Murray has forgotten the "scientific method." Maybe he needs to go back to a 5th grade public school science class for some remediation.

You could try that.