Pushing the so-called "charter model"

Be prepared for lots more stealth advertising and public promotion of the so-called "charter school model" and spinning the supposed superiority of privately-managed charters over all other public schools.Why? Duncan's DOE is doling out more than $250 million this year, going up to $310 million in 2011,  to state ed agencies to be used, in large part, to pay charter cheerleaders, lobbying groups and state charter associations for the dissemination of PR about the charter model.

The purpose of the Charter Schools Program is to increase financial support for the startup and expansion of these public schools, build a better national understanding of the public charter school model [my underline-M.K.], and increase the number of high-quality public charter schools across the nation. (Ed.gov)

Questions for Duncan:

1) Is there really such a thing as a "charter school model"? Never mind, I'll answer--uh uh.
2) Isn't the public already being flooded with propaganda, paid for by mega-foundations like Broad, Gates, and Walton, aimed at undercutting most major studies showing that charters, as a group (some great charter schools not withstanding), fail to outperform other public schools, as a group?
3) Is it really the role of the DOE to divert millions of badly-needed public ed dollars, to promote privately-managed charters over other public schools and to pit one "model" over the other without any basis in research?