In its decision in "Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) v. State of New York," the New York Court of Appeals held that the state government was violating New York City students' right under the state constitution to the "opportunity for a sound basic education." It ordered the state to fix the education funding system to remedy…

Research has begun to show that certain schoolwide characteristics--such as student-centered learning environments, leadership, and safety--can be important for improving student outcomes. In keeping with these insights, school improvement efforts around the country are becoming less narrowly focused on the performance of individual students and…

During the last decade, education research and policy have generated considerable momentum behind efforts to remake teacher evaluation systems and place an effective teacher in every classroom. But schools are not simply collections of individual teachers; they are also organizations, with structures, practices, and norms that may impede or…

In absence of an existing framework to assess the state's compliance with the court order in "Campaign for Fiscal Equity (CFE) v. State of New York," which guarantees all students the right to an adequate education, the Campaign's first report creates an operational definition for sound basic education. Drawing on relevant state…

In 2011, the Campaign for Educational Equity established the Safeguarding Sound Basic Education Project. One of the major components of this project has been to gather and analyze data about the availability of resources and services in high-needs schools both in New York City and around the state. A number of groups have issued statistical…

The new director of a newly created office discusses the problems, policy formation, and challenges of being safety director of the New York City schools. (MF)

Given the increasing number and the complexity of the problems facing a school principal today, it is imperative that he be given all the help possible to aid him in making wise decisions. The application of the renewal process, as described in this document, provides the principal with shared problem solving and decision making machinery. This…

America's inequitable school funding system assigns urban children of poverty only half the value accorded suburban professionals' children. Beware of casting certain children as models of resiliency. Less articulate children also deserve adults' attention and support. Tracking, which isolates social classes, should be outlawed. One South Bronx…