The first national comparison of test scores among children in charter schools and regular public schools shows charter school students often doing worse than comparable students in regular public schools.

The findings, buried in mountains of data the Education Department released without public announcement, dealt a blow to supporters of the charter school movement, including the Bush administration.

How will Republicans respond....? My guess: when they don't like the news item itself, they attack the messenger (in this case, the "pinko" NY Times). I pity these people.