Betsy DeVos struggles to provide answers to '60 Minutes' when asked for evidence to support school choice policies. Introducing charter schools forces public schools into the sort of competition you see in the free market, forcing the public institutions to improve. Then, we cross-referenced those changes with the increase in charter school student enrollment as a percentage of public school enrollment. A 2016 analysis of New York City schools found positive effects in public schools near charter programs, but that effect was linked to increased spending at those public schools, not necessarily increased competition. Meaning it was easy for Stahl and “60 Minutes” to introduce an example where DeVos’s rhetoric clearly doesn’t capture reality.

Source: Washington Post March 12, 2018 14:50 UTC