COMPARE SCORES OF CHARTER, PUBLIC SCHOOLS

The first-ever set of standardized test scores for Missouri's charter-school students are out, and all Department of Elementary and Secondary Education officials can seem to do is claim they're irrelevant.

Here's DESE's commentary: The scores can't show improvement or the lack of because they're the first set. There's no basis to compare them to public schools because charter students come from both public and private schools.

Malarkey.

Why can't charter schools and public schools be compared? With recent public-school scores showing two-thirds of Missouri students aren't functioning on grade level in math, science, communications or social studies, there's little chance the charter schools will come up short.

If charter schools are being run with taxpayer dollars, just as public schools are, taxpayers have the right to know whether or not their money is producing better results.

How about it, DESE?