MOST school corridors are loud. Children holler to (and at) each other as they grab books from lockers or as they move from one classroom to another. They are also the site of many fights, especially in the higher grades. But the halls of Harlem Village Academies, a charter school in Harlem, are quiet. The students walk single-file in silence.

Harlem Village Academies, like many charter schools (schools that are state-funded but usually privately run) in New York, shares a building with a regular public school. Police patrol the regular school's halls, but not its: there are no fights. But even more remarkable are the boards on the wall that proudly declare how many books the students have read. Each child is expected to read at least 50 books a year.

Most of the children arrive at Harlem Village well behind their grade levels; some can barely read. But thanks to high-level learning, tutoring (if needed), an emphasis on accountability and good behavior, and a ten-hour school day, its students look not only toward graduation, but toward college. There is virtually no disparity in achievement between Harlem Village and schools in wealthier suburbs—indeed, 100% of its eighth-grade students passed their state maths and science tests. This was the first time the entire class of a charter school in the state of New York passed. Its seventh graders outperformed all charter schools in maths and even outranked the city's public schools.

Harlem Village has garnered a lot of national and media attention, in part because of these results. Mayor Bloomberg called it “the poster child for this country.” Harlem, a Manhattan neighbourhood long linked with crime and poverty, has become the epicentre for the charter school movement, with 24 this year and more expected to open in autumn—more per square mile than anywhere else in America, but still not enough to meet demand. At Harlem Success Academy, another charter school, 6,500 people are expected to apply for a lottery that will award a mere 1,100 places. The rest will be placed on a waiting list.  

“Parents are voting with their feet,” says Eva Moskowitz, who founded Harlem Success Academy. Yet despite these excellent results, not everyone loves charter schools. Bill Perkins, who represents Harlem in the state senate, is vehemently opposed to them. He is holding a state senate hearing on April 22nd to examine the charter-school industry, entitled “Is our democratic vision of public education being fulfilled?”

He is not alone. His fellow Albany legislators voted down a measure in January that would have lifted the cap on charter schools in the state of New York (only 200 are currently permitted). This undoubtedly played a role in New York losing its bid in the first round of the “Race to the Top” grants, announced on March 29th. New York could have received up to $700m. The Obama administration sees charter schools as a crucial component of education reform. Governor David Paterson, a charter convert who once represented Harlem in the state senate, has called again for charter caps to be lifted.  

Opponents often cite a study by Stanford University's Centre for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) which found that only 17% of charter students outperformed traditional schools. But another report by CREDO, released in January, found that charter schools in New York City produce “significantly better results” for their students in reading and in math than they would get in traditional state schools. The results also show that black and Latino children in New York charters do significantly better in reading and maths than in regular state schools. Joel Klein, the city's schools chancellor and a charter school fan, has taken note. He has incorporated charter-school elements, like accountability, into his city schools. If only Albany's politicians would follow suit—as one educator said of her Harlem charter school, “We are giving these children a shot for life.”