Charter schools, the alternative to public schools, which the Bush administration has made a key part of its educational platform, routinely trail behind public schools in academic achievement, according to data obtained by AFT.
Comparing math and reading scores on the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often called the “nation’s report card,” AFT found fourth-grade students attending charter charters for the most part score worse and sometimes roughly as well as public school students.
The findings, released Aug. 17, 2004, are significant because President George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind education law punishes schools that persistently fail to make progress—and one possible sanction is restructuring a public school as a charter school.
Since the No Child Left Behind law was enacted in 2002, teachers and school administrators say they increasingly are hard-pressed to meet its goals because the Bush administration has not adequately funded the law.
School Vouchers
Some politicians in Congress and state legislatures are seeking to re-channel public money to private schools. Those efforts, including creation of a voucher system, in which families receive taxpayer funds to pay for private schools, would reduce support and funding for public schools, leaving behind millions of students. Unions are fighting back.
Many voucher proponents are the same right-wing politicians and special interest groups attempting to privatize Social Security and deny workers a say in the political process with paycheck deception schemes.
