Let the Charters Bloom

President Obama staked out a position on education this spring, delivering a radio address that bluntly acknowledged that American high school students are trailing international averages. He sketched out details of a bill his administration would be pushing to revise the No Child Left Behind Act. He proposed to preserve testing requirements but create a better measuring stick, require that teachers be evaluated by performance (not credentials), and use carrots instead of sticks to encourage progress. But nothing in the speech or his proposed legislation hinted at the need for school choice and competition. Charter schools went unmentioned. One worries that the president, like many critics of charter schools, has a naive view that blinds him to the value of markets in education. But nothing in the speech or his proposed legislation hints at the need for school choice and competition. Charter schools went unmentioned.