One of the eternal battles in the policy arena pits public schools against private, where the weapon of choice is data. Accountability models, yearly progress goals, racial differentials, and socioeconomic strata are hurled repeatedly from studies taking flanking positions against the opposition. The pro-public school axis recently celebrated the return of their own Henry Knox from Fort Ticonderoga — a highly anticipated, and much ballyhooed, U.S. Department of Education report purportedly showing no real difference in performance between public schools and private schools when socioeconomic conditions were taken into account. In an interview with Lockwood Phillips and Connie Asero, Lindalyn Kakadelis explained, in words similar to John Hood‘s in the Locker Room, that the methodology behind the study was flawed. When adjusted for a more accurate look at student characteristics, private schools vastly outperformed publics.
