The Success of Charter Schools
Letter to the Editor
By Lisa Snell

There is a data-driven reason for "charter mania" in Los Angeles. The Accelerated School, whom the authors vilify for teaching yoga, is a case in point. African American students at the Accelerated School outscore African American students in the Los Angeles Unified School District by 88 points on the Academic Performance Index; Latino students score 40 points higher; and English-language learners score 40 points higher. Green Dot Public Schools replicate these scores at every school for every subgroup of disadvantaged children. Charter schools in Los Angeles are hardly unorthodox. They do a better job of teaching low-income and minority children to read and do math.

LISA SNELL
Los Angeles

Lisa Snell is director of education at Reason Foundation. An archive of her work is here and Reason's education research and commentary is here.

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