host: our first call is from odenton, maryland. you are on with nelson smith. ceo for the national alliance for public charter schools. caller: good morning. i was listening to your description of some of the characteristics of charter schools where they are more focused. i suppose the reason why they exist and continue to is because they're effective. my skwe, if these are indeed publicly funded institutions that are behaving much like we expect private institutions to behave, why would the public education system not organize the structure all their public schools this way? any school should be focused and structured and strive for excellence. i will hang up and take your answer online. guest: that is a great question. i always said the idea of chartering is a way to deliver public education at scale. you are seeing this happen in a few cities. in d.c., almost 40% of the kids are in public charter schools. the central office has about 15 people in it at the public charter board. i said if you have schools held at high standard, schools of choice, accountable