How do charter schools, promoted in the president’s No Child Left Behind Act, stack up against public schools? Not so well. Data compiled by the American Federation of Teachers shows that fourth graders at charter schools lag six months behind students in public schools in reading and math. In addition, there are major discrepancies when it comes to race, with children of varying ethnic backgrounds performing worse in charter schools than their counterparts in urban public schools. In the past, charter schools were championed as an alternative to poorly performing public schools. The No Child Left Behind Act mandates that public schools that chronically perform poorly are to be restructured as charter schools. The act does not say what happens when a charter school chronically performs poorly.