Good News on Charter Schools*

UPDATE: Dems prepare to destroy school choice in Milwaukee. More at WSJ:

Because the 20-year-old program polls above 60% with voters, and even higher among minorities, killing it outright would be unpopular. Instead, Democratic Governor Jim Doyle wants to reduce funding and pass "reforms" designed to regulate the program to death.

***Major triumph in math! NY Post:

A record 90.7 percent of students in the city's charter schools aced this year's state math tests -- a rate nearly 9 percentage points higher than the city's traditional public schools and more than 4 points higher than the statewide average.

"Charter schools have not only closed the longstanding achievement gap between New York City and the rest of the state, they have also essentially closed the achievement gap that exists between poor, African-American and Hispanic students and their white peers," said Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

We need more of this approach everywhere--it's working.

More: Illinois lifts the cap on the number of charter schools--albeit mostly under the radar. (Squawks from those who keep our kids down on the left.)  Concern though that the legislature has passed a companion bill which allows card check for charter schools--subjecting those employees to union intimidation and in the long run undermining the reforms that have made the charters successful. Lots of horse-trading going on among interest groups.

More: Coverage of the bill ChiTownDailyNews. Tribune. The NLRB rules in favor of private entity to stall unionization. From the SEIU-er rat blog, Progress Illinois. Illinois Network of Charter Schools blog here.