Do Culturally Based Charter Schools Offer Better Education?

As elected officials consider closing underperforming public schools in cities across America, many charter schools claim to have the answer when it comes to providing a high quality education for children. Many culturally based charter schools say they provide that all important missing ingredient to the child that too many public schools are missing - self esteem. For many African Centered charter schools, emphasis on history and culture have given students a greater incentive for learning and more motivation to excel. Is this something inner city public schools should take a closer look at? Or do test scores suggest that maybe charter schools aren't perfoming as well as they claim. Is education more than standardized tests? What are the real measures of success in educating our children?