Opinion

Fresh proof: charters work

For the second time in six months, a promi nent researcher has put New York City’s public charter schools under a microscope and found that, overall, they’re outperforming the city’s traditional public schools.

This confirmation couldn’t come at a more appropriate time. Last month, the state Board of Regents proposed a package of education reforms aimed at winning New York $700 million in desperately needed funding from the federal Race to the Top. A key recommendation was lifting the artificial cap on charters.

Getting the Legislature to pass the Regents’ reforms requires dispelling some lingering doubts about charter schools. The latest evidence, from Margaret Raymond of the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University, should do just that.

Raymond is no charter cheerleader. Her national study of charter schools, which didn’t include New York City, found mixed and sometimes negative results — especially in states with weak oversight of charters. Local charter critics rightly praised the study’s rigor. Leo Casey of the United Federation of Teachers, which is increasingly hostile to charter schools, said it “sets a new benchmark.”

But now Raymond’s team has brought the same methodology to New York City, and the findings are clear: Charter schools have a positive and lasting effect on students in the city’s historically underserved communities — and these results have nothing to do with “creaming” the easier-to-educate students.

The study looked at a pool of 20,640 students from 49 charter schools, then assigned them “virtual twins”: district-school students with identical characteristics. Comparing state test scores, the study found that:

* The typical charter student performs significantly better in reading and mathematics.

* The gap grows over time, to a 15-point difference in math and a four-point difference in English language arts after three years.

* African-American and Hispanic students are the main beneficiaries.

This comes on the heels of another study by a reputable Stanford researcher. Caroline Hoxby and her colleagues worked independently, using a different methodology to compare charter students with similar students in district schools. Their basic conclusion was the same: Charters have a positive and cumulative effect on student achievement.

Hoxby and Raymond have recently sparred over research methods. But while their academic debate will surely continue, their findings converge when it comes to New York City: The positive impact of the city’s charters is now beyond dispute.

As President Obama calls for nationwide expansion of charter schools and tens of thousands of New York parents sit on charter waitlists, only one element is missing: concrete action by the Legislature to expand access to these schools and help New York’s chances at a $700 million federal windfall.

The Regents have spoken, as have the parents — and now the researchers, too. The $700 million incentive speaks for itself.

Will our lawmakers listen?

James D. Merriman is CEO of the New York City Charter School Center.