Reports out today indicate that DC students are making gains in reading and math skills.

The most salient passage here:

D.C. public charter schools, which serve about one-third of the District's 70,000 schoolchildren, also showed a rise in test scores. They registered their biggest gains at the secondary level, increasing math proficiency by nine percentage points and reading by nearly seven.

Charter schools, as you may or may not know, are schools set up with public money but free from many of the restrictions, regulations, and union strangleholds that hamstring most public schools.

It's very little surprise that students in the charter schools outperform the public school students, but less obvious is the benefit it has even for the kids who remain in public schools.

Imagine a giant corporation with a near monopoly on a product. We'll call that company, um, say, Microsoft. Now, this "Microsoft" has virutally no competition in the market for the products it produces (we'll say, perhaps, "operating systems"). Therefore, it produces shitty products. Like, say, Windows 2000.

Now imagine a competitor comes along. Less burdened by a stagnant culture and old ideas, this new competitor (maybe call him "Apple") comes along with a great product. And even though this "Apple" doesn't have a huge part of the market share, "Microsoft" has to adapt and improve. They have to take their shitty product and make it better, otherwise they lose customers. So even the people who DON'T use the "Apple" product end up getting better software.

OK, that metaphor went on way too long. I'm sure you can follow though. Microsoft is traditional public schools, the product is an affordable education, and Apple are the charter schools.

Charter schools, as well as Washington DC's voucher program, which puts low-income children in private schools, are benefiting all children in DC, and the results are showing.

However, like any good idea with a basis in economics and proven results, it is under threat from the Administration and Congress, who favor a more, um, anti-children approach.