American schools have for too long been at the mercy of the local school board which in many cases politicises schooling as much as it does regulate it. This has led in many poorer areas to a terrible standard of education - any initiative that raises the prospects of kids from these areas is to be welcomed, even if it doesn't fit into one's neat box of public or private.

Ask the starving man whether he wants bread from the State or the charity - he couldn't care less, he just wants not to starve. The above poster is right, in the absence, or during the process of reform, anything that gives poor kids a better education, which is the route out of poverty, is welcome.