A decade after the birth of the charter school movement, reform activists and mainstream educators disagree over whether these experimental public schools are a promising innovation or a damaging distraction. The nation's nearly 2,700 charter schools operate in 39 states, enjoying freedom from many traditional regulations. But they must deliver concrete results in a specified period or risk being shut down. Charters vary as much in their instructional approaches as they do in their genesis, facilities, quality and political constituencies. Yet, the evidence remains inconclusive as to whether they are boosting student achievement. The evolving movement remains divided between critics, who see it as the first step in dismembering America's public education system, and those who see it as the system's last best hope.

Robert M. Clark is an independent consultant performing space systems threat analyses for the US Intelligence Community. He is also a faculty member of the Intelligence and Security Academy and a professor of intelligence studies at the University of Maryland University College. Dr. Clark served in the United States Air Force as a SIGINT collector and intelligence officer, reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel. At CIA, he held a variety of assignments that involved supporting the collection, processing and exploitation of HUMINT, SIGINT, and IMINT. As the President and CEO of the Scientific and Technical Analysis Corporation, he managed collection programs in the SIGINT, IMINT, and technical collection disciplines. Clark holds an SB from MIT, a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, and a JD from George Washington University. He is a presidential interchange executive, a member of the Virginia state bar, a charter member of the Association of Old Crows, and a patent attorney. Dr. Clark’s Intelligence Analysis: A Target-centric Approach is now in its fourth edition. His second book, The Technical Collection of Intelligence, was published in 2010.