What makes a good charter school?

There's an interesting article in the LA Times today about what makes a good charter school. The author points out that the data doesn't bear out the idea that charter schools are a panacea for what ails education.

The thrust of what the author says is that there's a disconnect between the rush in public policy toward charters and the success rate in the field.

Let me be clear: I don't think this applies to BCS. They have a very successful program that is serving students just as well as if those kids had attended LASD schools. My point in bringing this up is that the legislature is skewed in favor of charter schools as all being good, and the data doesn't necessarily bear that out.