According to James Harvey, the scale of the 2011 effort to privatize public education through vouchers and charters is "staggering," representing the culmination of a 30-year assault on public service in general and public education in particular. At a time when states are staring into the abyss of bankruptcy, he notes, public funds intended for the common good are being redirected toward the benefit of the middle class and the wealthy. What is lost in this assault is any concept of the public school as a public good. Political leaders might find some justification for their actions if they could point to compelling evidence that vouchers or charters provide superior results. However, as the author points out, the research on the effectiveness of vouchers and charters is "disappointing, ambiguous, and unpersuasive at best."