This week, a draft of New York State's five year report on charter schools was presented to the governor and legislature. To the dismay of charter opponents, it shows that "charter schools in operation for two or more years have shown dramatic increases in student performance that equals or surpasses [sic] the local traditional public schools," and that there is "little financial disruption to school districts where a charter school drew students and their per-pupil public aid." In a telling response, a representative of the New York school boards' association said they "don't think [the report] tells the whole story" because the results don't "necessarily square with what our member districts are telling us about the charter schools' impact on them." So while charter supporters point to the facts gathered by an impartial statewide review, opponents are left only with the unsurprising assertion that "our members disagree."
"Regents to act on report of charter school success," by Michael Gormley, Associated Press, September 11, 2003
"State reports charter schools surpassing competing public schools," by Michael Gormley, Associated Press, September 10, 2003