Another year, another set of rankings from U.S. News & World Report — the 2018 America’s Best High Schools.
Sigh.
What does U.S. News think “best” means? According to the magazine’s methodology for the list, the answer mostly involves standardized test scores and graduation rates. Never mind that the former are limited in what they tell us about a school, and the latter are, and have repeatedly been, easily fudged in one way or another.
For 2018, U.S. News gave charter schools — which are publicly funded but privately operated — seven of the top 10 spots, including the top three, which are part of Arizona’s BASIS charter network.