The Charter School vs. Public School Debate | A Better Choice for our Kids?

As a new mother with two daughters (the eldest is two years old and the youngest, a 6-month-old) - my attention has now turned to being the best parent that I can be, which means offering choices and opportunities that lend forth a certain quality of life.  At the center of this is, of course, education. After discussing the state of our educational system with my sphere of influence, I have encountered a wide array of perspectives on the best choice for our generation to educate our kids.  My husband and father-in-law (who happens to be a retired district superintendent) are both proponents of public schools.  It is clear that public schools served the family well - with an engineer, doctor and PhD to boast of as products of the public school system.  On the other hand, every mother in my peer group with children are in support of private schools, with children thriving and excelling in these costly institutions.  And now with all the hoopla surrounding charter schools as a viable option with proven track records of success across the nation (and not without its critics who detract from documented successes), I am baffled at which direction to go.

To add to the confusion, I watched Soledad O'Brien narrate the latest installment of CNN's Black in America: Great Expectations and walked away with solid arguments both pro and against charter schools.  The most shocking discovery is how so many hardcore critics who are lobbying against charter schools have yet to offer viable alternative solutions to the growing achievement gap between Caucasian, African-American and Asian students within the framework of the public school.

[Click Here to view Excerpt from Documentary]

Here are some staggering statistics with stark contrasts revealed:

• In the public school system - while Black children make up 15 percent of public school students ages 6 to 21, they represent nearly 33 percent of those in special ed [Source: US Commission on Civil Rights].
• In the public school system - Black students are three times more likely than all other racial and ethnic groups to be labeled mentally retarded ("intellectually disabled") and 2.3 times more likely to be labeled emotionally disturbed. [Source: US Commission on Civil Rights].
• In a top charter school - eighth-grade graduates go to college at twice the national rate for low-income students, when evaluated through its own in-house study.  
• In the same top charter school - In a span of three years, math test scores rise at a rapid rate as if students had four additional years of schooling [Source: Mathematica Policy Research Inc.] 

So - which one is the better choice?  What are your thoughts?  Please weigh in using your personal experiences with public schools or charter schools.