Not only do charter schools help their own students, but they also help students at traditional public schools finds Marcus Winters, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.
Exposing traditional public schools to charter competition puts pressure on them to improve or risk losing students.
Charter competition especially benefits low-income minorities:
One of the most encouraging findings by Mr. Winters is how charter competition reduces the black-white achievement gap. He found that the worst-performing public school students, who tend to be low-income minorities, have the most to gain from the nearby presence of a charter school.