The University of Arkansas Center for Education Reform's report on charter school funding inequities proclaims large and growing inequities between school district and charter school revenues, even after accounting for differences in student needs. But the report displays complete lack of understanding of intergovernmental fiscal relationships,…

This article presents an interview with Terry Grier, superintendent of the Houston Independent School District (HISD), Texas's largest district. Before taking this post, he had been a principal or superintendent for most of three decades and remains a reformer five years into his leadership. Grier has maintained his passion for improving schools…

It has been a long, litigious road from Heman Sweatt, an African-American mail carrier who wanted to attend the prestigious, all-White law school at the University of Texas at Austin in 1946, to Abigail Fisher, a White high school student who failed to win undergraduate admission to the same university a half-century later. Depending on what the…

The Supreme Court has granted review for the 2012 term in the case "Fisher v. University of Texas." Abigail Fisher, a rejected white applicant to the University of Texas, has challenged the use of racial and ethnic admission preferences, which the Court had allowed in its 2003 decision involving the University of Michigan law school,…

Since its inception in Texas a baker's dozen years ago, educators look forward with every new legislative session to another round of discussion about the "top 10 percent rule," which guarantees admission to the state's public universities for these talented high school graduates. Originally passed as a way to increase enrollment of…

This article addresses the over-reliance on numerical data primarily in the form of test scores and argues that they are inadequate as sole sources of information about high schools. While the numbers may help to identify standards of excellence, they do little to raise awareness about the serious and constraining inequities that exist within and…

This article analyzes the legal classification of Mexican Americans as "other white" as argued in a number of critical court cases that beginning in the 1930s up to the 1970s attempted to desegregate public schools in Texas. Since the Texas constitution declared school segregation as being only for "colored children," Mexican…

Response to article in December 2000 "Phi Delta Kappan" by James Scheurich, Linda Skrla, and Joseph Johnson in support of the Texas Accountability System. Discusses flaws in the article's historical possibilities thesis and the inaccurate characterization of accountability as a dichotomy. Advocates Coalition for Authentic Reform…

Futurists, policy makers, and other stakeholders propose sweeping reforms of the American education system. However, there is little evidence that the current add-on, underfunded system will reverse the failure pattern among children of color and those living in poverty. This article presents a dramatic and feasible proposal to establish a…

Education Service Centers do now or can constitute a significant delivery vehicle to help solve one of the stickiest issues facing the Texas Legislature--the equalization of educational opportunity. Remoteness, size of school districts, and taxable valuation all impact the individual district's ability to provide equal educational opportunity.…

Discusses the effects of past and current discriminatory practices on limited English proficiency (LEP) students. Reviews federal legislation, judicial findings, and executive action which form the legal foundation of federal responsibility, and stresses the need for a strong federal commitment to equal educational opportunity for Mexican…

The supreme courts of Montana, New Jersey, and Texas have overturned their respective educational finance systems. Provides analyses of the three cases and a discussion of the implications for other states. (MLF)

The quality of education received by children in the southern states will be greatly impacted by technological change, which will present educators with both unprecedented opportunities and substantial risks. As the four model programs described in this paper illustrate, advances in telecommunications and computer hardware and software can be used…

Reproduced here are the text of the 1982 Supreme Court decision "Plyler v. Doe" and its companion cases, "In Re Alien Children Litigation." An introductory statement explains that in this opinion the Court struck down a Texas law prohibiting tuition-free education for children of illegal aliens, on the grounds that education…

Suggests that the most useful discussion of accountability, testing, and educational equity should occur at the conceptual level rather than the level of conflicting individual studies. Argues that statistical debates avoid larger foundational questions about the goals of schooling in our society and emphasizes the need for research on effective…