Thomas Sowell Goes to Bat for Charter Schools. Whiffs

The successful teacher strikes of 2018-2019 led to limits on charter school expansion and put charters on the defensive. Now economist Thomas Sowell is leading the counterattack.

Conservatives are hailing Sowell’s new book, “Charter Schools and Their Enemies,” and wielding it as a club against teachers unions and public education. Kevin D. Williamson of National Review calls the book "a bloodbath for Sowell’s intellectual opponents … a neutron bomb in the middle of the school-reform debate.” Charter advocate Robert Pondiscio says charter school critics “have earned a metaphorical punch in the nose,” and that Sowell “provide[s] ammunition for the fight,” while predicting that his book will “embarrass charter critics.”