The voucher "air war" is a conflict between two longstanding elements of the American political tradition: a time-honored commitment to maximum personal choice and individual freedom versus an equally compelling belief in need for a common civil infrastructure and communitarian interests. Will embracing vouchers further erode the public…

In the USA, many of the recent education reforms have been implemented in response to calls from neo-liberal and conservative policy makers to improve education efficiency and reduce public expenditures within an increasingly globalized economy. Consequently, local, state, and federal education policies increasingly employ curricular standards and…

Discusses general problems of educational pluralism in the nations of central and eastern Europe. Asserts that, contrary to many western Europeans, the nations of central and eastern Europe are very different from one another in politics, economics, and education. Reviews developments in Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and Hungary. (CFR)

Contrary to critics' claims, the United States could not boast the world's finest higher-education system while maintaining a deficient public-school system. Unregulated, profit-oriented market models are inappropriate for public schools responsible for serving the social good. Privatization and techno-efficiency pressures are equally…

Five college and university trustees and administrators explain how their institutions are approaching tuition containment. Issues the institutions have addressed in this context include need-blind admissions policy, using the Consumer Price Index as a budgeting criterion, enrollment changes, relationships with service vendors, personnel policy,…

Discusses Russian political and economic changes and the impact on public education. Questions whether the emphasis on teaching ideas and new instructional methods is better than the work experience programs under the Soviet educational system. Concludes that the nation must maintain the labor training of students within school programs. (CFR)

Three trends in Central American higher education are examined in historical context: (1) inertia from lack of mobility, bureaucracy, and corporate influence; (2) elitism as a response to budgetary constraints; and (3) attempts to increase responsiveness to educational needs and demands. Issues examined include earlier attempts at change, slow…

Presents a World Bank policy paper on vocational and technical education and training. Reviews the performance of vocational and technical education in both developed and developing nations. Provides four recommendations for donors who might wish to assist countries in meeting skill needs. (CFR)

Education in both England and the United States has undergone a profound change over the last two decades as part of neo-liberal and neoconservative political reforms. The reforms have been characterized by efforts to standardize the curriculum, to implement standardized tests in order to hold students, teachers, and schools accountable, to…