New York’s charter schools held lotteries this week to admit students for their incoming classes. State law requires charter schools to admit students by lottery to ensure that every student has an equal chance at admission, but this year, charter schools received 39,000 applications for just 8,500 open spots. For many students and parents, the stakes were high and the lotteries were high drama. But as Maura Walz reports, the lotteries were just one part of the drama surrounding charter school...
Christiane Amanpour speaks at the duPont Awards Winners' Circle, January 23, 2009.