In today’s Post, I look at what Obama’s been saying about charter schools … and how he can make his commitment to them real:

FRESH evidence of charter schools’ success should put President Obama on the spot: Will he put his muscle where his mouth is?

This month, Obama issued a direct challenge to the more than two dozen states like New York that have arbitrary, teachers-union-imposed “caps” on the number of charter schools they allow to operate. But if he’s serious, he’s going to have to put force behind his words.

…

What could tip the balance?

If the president did something bold, to help Paterson and other charter-supporting governors and legislators around the country: Tie one or more federal funding streams to the lifting of the caps.

The most logical candidate would be the “incentive and innovation grants” in the stimulus bill. It’s a $5 billion pot of money over which Education Secretary Arne Duncan (a reformer out of the Chicago school system) has almost complete discretion.

Until there’s federal money on the line for states that refuse to lift their charter caps, not much is likely to change.

[archive copy of this column here]