This book will reset the discourse on charter schooling by systematically exploring the gap between the promise and the performance of charter schools. The authors do not defend the public school system, which for decades has failed primarily poor children of color. Instead, they use empirical evidence to determine whether charter schooling offers an authentic alternative for these children. In concise chapters, they address a series of important questions related to the recent ascent of charter schools and the radical restructuring of public education. This essential introduction includes a detailed history of the charter movement, an analysis of the politics and economics driving the movement, documentation of actual student outcomes, and alternative images of transforming public education to serve all children. This book features: (1) An overview of the key issues surrounding the charter school movement; (2) A reframing of the recent discourse on public school reform; (3) A comprehensive comparison examining the promises of charter schooling against the empirical evidence; (4) An examination of how charter schools impact communities of color and larger public school systems in poor urban areas; and (5) An exploration of the relationships among the rapid ascendance of charter reform, economic decline, and fiscal austerity. [Foreword by Deborah Meier.]