Why Massachusetts Is Ground Zero in the Battle Over Charter Schools

While students in the United States as a whole perform below expectations when measured against their peers in other countries, Massachusetts’ students do just fine...  if Massachusetts was counted as a separate country, its fifteen year olds would rank 9th in the world in math, tied with Japan, and 4th in reading, tied with students from Hong Kong. On the TIMMS test for 8th graders, Massachusetts students ranked second in the world in science competency. Despite this record of educational excellence, charter school advocates supported by major foundations and hedge fund investors have made Massachusetts ground zero in their battle to dismantle public education in the United States