“Education experts seem to concur on almost nothing,” says this recent Time magazine article. “Research in the field is so politicized and contradictory that you can find almost any study to support your view. If economics is a 99-1 science, education is a 1-99 circus.”
Ouch. The article also dismisses the latest Jack Jennings public-private differences study as Democratic advocacy, pointing out that private schools run by holy orders (not regular religious schools) make a difference on student achievement, and that SAT scores do show public-private differences even after you control for SES. Apparently SAT scores reveal critical thinking, while regular old achievement scores just track rote memorization.