Access to high-quality education has long been a foundational promise from the US government to our citizens. When the school system works, America is stronger: workers are more productive, companies are more innovative, and all of us are healthier, wealthier, and safer. But this promise is not being kept in too many communities, especially urban ones. Take New York City, Chicago, and Los Angeles, which spend the first, fifth, and sixth most per pupil on their public-school students, but 37, 39, and 33 percent of their eighth graders respectively can’t even read at the basic level. Overall, America spends more on education per school-aged child than any country in the world, with worse results. Because public schools are funded mostly by local property taxes, wealthier areas tend to have better schools. In fact, houses near schools with an A+ rating are four times more expensive than houses near schools rated D or worse. Meanwhile, average private school tuition is $15,650 per year for high school and $11,200 for elementary school, and voucher programs are often not enough to make these schools accessible for all families. Prices this high give too many low-income families no choice but to send their children to a failing or underresourced local school. That’s why more governors—both Democrats and Republicans— have recently supported the expansion of education savings accounts, vouchers, and tax credit scholarships that provide parents with more choice about where to send their kids to school. Public charter schools can also offer an alternative. Not long ago, leading Democrats and Republicans supported them, including the chancellors of big school districts in New York and Washington, DC, as well as former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. It’s time to rebuild this bipartisan consensus, because students in well-run charter schools—especially Black, Hispanic, and lowincome students—learn more than their peers. And traditional public schools perform better when there’s a charter school nearby—the closer the charter, the bigger the benefit. But America’s charter schools don’t have enough room. In Texas, there are 77,000 names on wait lists for enrolling in charter schools (although some students might be listed twice). Massachusetts has 21,000, and Washington, DC, has nearly 8,000. Despite the success of charter schools, and the clear demand for them, only 13 percent of school districts across the US have at least one charter school. On balance, America’s commonsense majority supports public schools, but we like competition too. That’s why the next president should extend a lifeline to students trapped in failing traditional public schools and commit America to the ambitious goal of opening 10,000 public charter schools across the country in the next 10 years—more than doubling the current amount.