The essays in this collection provide analysis designed to be helpful to all sides of the school choice debate and to those charged with designing and implementing school choice programs. Discussion of the types, politics, and consequences of school choice is followed by discussion of the implications for school finance, accountability, and…

How can communities encourage the development of good school alternatives harnessed to solid public oversight? Do charter or voucher schools face particular accountability challenges? What do parents need if they are to make sound choices? In particular, what do the poorest parents need? How do advocates of more school choice deal with the…

This book presents the proceedings of a symposium sponsored by the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA). One-hundred leaders of the Catholic school community came together to heighten awareness of the diversity and power of the parental choice movement, thus enabling Catholic educators to take a more effective leadership role in…

This document contains selected proceedings from an Education Finance Workshop. The workshop addressed various perspectives about the appropriateness and cost of some currently popular reform approaches. Two introductory papers are: (1) "Our Task: Building the Links," by Ron Henderson; and (2) "Is Public Education Necessary to a Democratic…

This volume contains revised versions of 16 essays presented at a conference, "Rethinking School Governance," hosted by Harvard's Program on Education Policy and Governance in June 1997. Part 1, "Introduction," contains two chapters: (1) "School Choice: A Report Card" (Paul E. Peterson); and (2) "The Case for Charter Schools" (Bryan C. Hassel).…

U.S. Secretary of Education, William J. Bennett, expressed concerns about the condition of U.S. education in the areas of content, character, and choice. This document comprises the papers of 12 scholars on the public policy and the research implications of this theme. Three addresses were given on the issue of content by Russell Kirk, Thomas…

Determining the value of school-choice programs depends on an assessment of consequences on the differing elements of the school system. The International Conference on School Choice and Educational Change at Michigan State University explored the themes of governance, equity and access, innovation, student outcomes, and accountability from the…

Outcomes of a series of meetings held in 1990 by the Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI) Roundtable on Public School Choice are summarized in this document's six chapters. Chapter 1 discusses the components (including motivations, vision formation, leadership, the design process, and the types of choice available) involved in…

American schools, despite recent education reform measures, still fail to provide many of our nation's children with the education that they need and deserve. In conjunction with the other changes, programs of choice can play a central and critical role in improving America's schools. This booklet, divided into two sections, reports on the…

As of 1996, charter schools were just emerging in the Northwest region of the United States. This publication presents the proceedings of a symposium held to review information about charter-school policy, operations, and outcomes. A cross-section of leaders in education, government, and community from the states of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon,…

A short synopsis of five regional meetings on school choice and follow-up activities is offered in this report. The meetings were held in fall 1989 in East Harlem, New York; Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota; Charlotte, North Carolina; Denver, Colorado; and Richmond, California. Three sections of the report provide a review of choice activities that…

This paper summarizes the major recommendations agreed on at a conference of parents, educational administrators, and educators from 21 school systems in five New England states. The subject of the conference was choice in public education. First, excerpts from opening remarks and a note on the conference are presented. Then, major recommendations…

A draft of a book, "School Choice: The Cultural Logic of Families, the Political Rationality of Institutions," received a great deal of media attention. The book contains research from nine different studies of school choice and includes an introduction and conclusion by Harvard professors Richard Elmore, Gary Orfield, and Bruce Fuller. The…

In Pioneer Institute's November 1995 "Dialogue," nine school-choice advocates critiqued a draft manuscript of "Who Chooses, Who Loses? Culture, Institutions, and the Unequal Effects of School Choice," edited by Harvard professors Richard Elmore, Gary Orfield, and Bruce Fuller. This publication contains the response of Professor Fuller to the…

This publication presents 13 papers selected from a conference on school choice, which was designed to shed light on what is meant by school choice, what proposals are being advanced to achieve choice, and how various sections of the community view the issue. Following a preface and a list of participants in the conference, an essay by Christopher…