This PACER brief provides RFA's updated analysis of data on students experiencing homelessness in Pennsylvania, highlighting prevalence, challenges with identification, disparities in educational opportunities, and impact on academic outcomes. Our main findings include that: (1) Roughly 2% of students in Pennsylvania were identified as…

In this scholarly commentary, the author examines the major reasons U.S. charter schools have closed since 1992. The commentary provides examples of charter school failures in high-frequency areas, such as financial and organizational mismanagement, and academic underperformance; it further identifies two subcategories of academic risk:…

Though controversy rages about the overall contribution of charter schools to U.S. education reform, few doubt that a subset of charter schools has achieved extraordinary results with disadvantaged students. Relative to the enormous need for quality education, the number of children served by the best charter schools is far too low. Numerous…

Over the past two decades, charter management organizations (CMOs) have become a significant force in the public K-12 charter school landscape. CMOs, nonprofit entities that directly manage public charter schools, are meant to meld the benefits of school districts--including economies of scale, collaboration among similar schools, and support…

It is hard to look away from the vulnerable faces of the children whose educational odysseys are highlighted in the movie "Waiting for Superman." The movie longs for the good old days when U.S. education was the best in the world, without considering how content U.S. communities were with low expectations and low achievement for…

Charter school laws and successful charter schools have been identified as key elements of bold initiatives to turn around chronically low-achieving public schools. Yet, charter schools operate in a policy space that was not constructed for them, a space in which public schools are primarily a state responsibility, but are markedly influenced by…

The United States is facing one of the worst financial crises of recent history. America is also experiencing a quiet crisis, as well--one that has been building in the nation's classrooms and schools for decades. This nation is failing to prepare the next generation of Americans as citizens, thinkers, and graduates prepared for success in a…

As of the 2006-2007 school year, 19,733 students attended charter schools in the District of Columbia, representing over a quarter of the District's total public school student population and one of the largest charter school markets in the country. It is under such circumstances, some suggest, that choice will spur competition, ultimately…