Charter schools are independent public schools, and for the most part they perform very well. The schools use non-traditional teaching methods. And the thinking is that kids who come from mediocre schools could potentially thrive in charter schools. But apparently the U.S. Department of Education kept statistics hidden about how these schools are doing, according to the New York Times. The statistics showed that kids in public schools tested better on average than those in charter schools. The testing sample was fourth graders from students in the two different schools. That’s not to say that all charter schools don’t work. Clark talked recently about a charter school in Washington D.C., where 100 percent of the students were going to college. Clark likes charter schools because they’re innovative and because schools will simply go away they don’t do well. We need continual monitoring of all schools to find what works and what doesn’t work. We spend so much money on school taxes every year that we owe to ourselves and our kids to have an honest discussion about it.