0 that's it for a very busy day. have a great week and we'll see you next "fox weeks sunday." . are we "stupid in america"? when it comes to education, maybe. >> we have a system where all the workers are thinking we're doing a great job for the kids and what we're doing is producing 8% sub says. >> kids aren't learning but school spending is through the roof. why? what's gone wrong? the bureaucracy is wrong. it's the blob people call it. >> it's the blob. it is. >> it's like reformers are up against jabba the hut. the unions and the paper pushers. >> let's destroy the system. >> good. let's bring on the destruction. who would disagree. it. >> but unions say the charter schools avoid the problem kids. >> no way. i love fools. >> but sadly up to now, adult fools have run the show and made us "stupid in america." school spending has tripled over the past 40 years. we now spend much more than other countries, but what do we get? fancier schools, more assistant principals, but student learning? no improvement. look at it. there's the line. for 40 years scores have been flat. much more money, no improvement. this is awful. but there is some good news. around america some very cool things are starting to happen. but school is boring? >> no, it isn't. >> no it's not. >> yes, it is. i know. i went to school. grade school was boring. so was high school. so was princeton. except for the party parts. but fourth grade, you have to learn reading and writing. that's work. >> reading is work, but it's rockin' awesome. >> rockin' awesome? and these kids say school is fun? >> yes. >> yes. >> how is it fun to learn. >> they just teach us in a fun way. >> so you guys look forward to going to school in the morning? >> yes. >> these kids attend one of those new charter schools, free public schools but their charter let the schools escape the bureaucracy of regular schools including teachers union rules. this school rules the city kids a risk of failure but devin's kids learn. >> going to our school is a ticket to educational success. >> this woman runs several charter schools. all get outstanding test scores. >> you do this all with the same money the public schools get? >> we actually do it with less. $4,000 and $6,000 less per child. >> how for less money do they get the kids so interested? >> you're interested in math? >> yes. reading, writing. >> but learning is work. >> it don't matter. >> the school day here is longer. kids often stay until 5:00 p.m. charter teachers can be asked to work more than the union would have allowed. they told us they don't mind. >> but you're going to burn out. why aren't you ticked off? >> that's not an option for us because we kind of have our eye on the prize with these kids. >> they use all sorts of new teaching techniques. sometimes teachers wear earpieces during class and then they're coached by their bosses. >> what are they telling you? >> they're telling me things that i don't see. if i don't think of great question in the moment, my pistons pal's able to kind of feed that to me through the earpiece. >> we kind of view teachers as athletes in the olympics, and they need constant support and coaching to be at the top of their game. >> kids at this school constantly wave their hands around. it confused me but then the students explained it's what they call active listening. instead of interrupting to blurt out and say can i go to the bakts room or i agree with that, they make hand gestures. >> what's the symbol for agree? >> like this. >> high test scores made these charters so popular that parents line up hoping to get their kids admitted. >> this line goes on and on forever. it goes around the block. so many applicants but not that many spaces. soo what do do you when you have thousands of people and just a few hundred slots? they hold a lottery. >> the winners are happy. sadly there are many more losers. on the other end of america in oakland, california, another charter chain gets similar top results using different methods. >> here's what i say. give me the worst school in oakland, black, mexican, polka dot. give us the worst school anywhere in america and we'll take it and we'll outperform the other schools in five years. >> ben chavis created the model at the american indian public charter schools right in the heart of a rough neighborhood. >> i don't give a [ bleep ]. i'm american. >> these are hard workers here. >> the kids at american indian schools have higher scores than other schools in california. >> do you get the same amount? >> we get less than any other school. >> the kids in american indian public charter schools are scoring so far above the average state than others in the public school system theres isn't a word for it. >> they use techniques. here they pay some kids to tutor other kids. >> we hire our students. we pay them. they're excited. they're going to make some money. >> chavis is politically incorrect. >> what are you going to study? >> science. >> a mexican in science? good for you. you'll be a rare bird. >> he's been accused of imposting strict rules. he made this student do pushups in the hallway because he didn't follow directions. >> you have to actually try hard here. >> hate saturday school. >> my other school we didn't have much homework. one page. but here we have six pages. the other school the teachers were a lot nicer but here, meaner. meaner but no student has been expelled since 2000? >> no way. i love fools. i love kids who get in trouble. you can take a kid who's acting like a fool or gets in trouble and use them as an example. >> it's cruel critics say. if your sixth grader acts up, he'll be asked to sit on the floor in front of an eighth grade class. >> yes, that's true. embarrassment keeps people in line whether we want to admit it or not. >> at our old school we played games. but here it's either running for ten minutes or running around the block. >> you fire people at your zools. >> they should be fired. >> you fired a teacher after one day? >> she was incompetent? >> you could tell in one day? >> yes, she was incompetent. >> last year i thought i was going to get fired a few times. if i'm not doing a good job, it's over. it could happen at the drop of a dime. >> that's not true at union-run schools. teachers are happy they can't be fired but these charter school teachers can be. >> you could get canned in a moment. does it bother you in. >> if i'm not doing my job per se and i was fired for that, so be it. >> if i was a doctor and i wasn't good, i mean i wouldn't have have a job. no one would come to me, right? >> i would hope not. >> you cannot maintain quality unless you can fire people says this charter founder. >> it's as many as we must and as little as we can. >> have you fired more than ten? >> in three schools in eight years, yes. >> but while bad teachers might get fired good teachers are given freedom. >> they can choose textbooks, their teaching methods as long as they every quarter, every year, the students are learning what they need to learn at the end of the day. >> in harlem 43% of the eighth graders get passing grays in math tests. 100% of her kids pass. so if such charters work, why aren't there more of them. because unions and supporters of traditional schools hate charters. this protest occurred outside one of eva moskowicz's charters. >> i hope it's not personal but it may be. >> this union boss doesn't want charters in what he calls his schools. >> over my dead body they're going to come there. >> does he get to stop them? when we return i'll confront the unions about that and other strange things union bosses said like we should. judge teachers by how well students do on tests. but how do you know if they're learning anything? >> i know my kids are learned when i look in their eyes. >> what? more "stupid in america" when we return. equipped with droid zap for advanced photo sharing that lets you swipe images to multiple people. the new droid ultra by motorola. when intelligence matters. droid does.