On an Election Day filled with dozens of state races and ballot measures with big implications for the nation's public schools, state teachers' unions and charter school champions had plenty to cheer in the aftermath, even as tax measures that would help pay for schools suffered setbacks in some places. Union efforts were instrumental in…

Louisiana is gearing up to open a new front in its push to expand educational choice, essentially creating a marketplace that lets students shop around for publicly funded courses--both online and face-to-face--beyond their schoolhouse doors. More than 30 providers already have stepped forward seeking state approval to take part in the Course…

Leaders of the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) charter schools are optimistic that they can reach a long-term agreement with the Baltimore (Maryland) Teachers Union in a nationally watched dispute over teacher pay for an extended school day, reducing the likelihood that the charter network will carry out its threat to close its two schools in…

Well in advance of its official release, the education film "Waiting For Superman" has attracted a level of attention that could make it one of the year's most-watched documentaries--and one of the most controversial among educators, some of whom question its depictions of the American school system and how to improve it. Made by…

During the recently concluded presidential nominating conventions, President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney offered stark choices on K-12 policy while downplaying areas of agreement between their two parties--and the tensions within each party on education issues. In Charlotte, North Carolina, last week, the Democrats put a…

What started as a ripple in the charter community shows signs of becoming a wave as major charter school networks scramble to respond to an unfamiliar phenomenon: moves by their teachers to organize unions. In the first half of this year, teachers formed collective bargaining units in schools run by several of the best-known and highest-profile…

In the final sprint to polish Race to the Top applications, hundreds of school districts shunned a shot at a share of $4 billion in grants by refusing to sign on to their states' plans for the federal competition. California officials had secured the signatures of 790 local education agencies (leas) late last week, including most of the state's…

After years of tense relations between teachers' unions and the growing charter school movement, unions are stepping up their efforts to organize educators at the independent public schools. So far, the results of the increased organizing activity-which stretches from Massachusetts and Pennsylvania to California appear modest. But it remains to be…

The three-story building that was once the United Teachers of New Orleans' office is dark and deserted, the first floor damaged by Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters. The union membership, which numbered 4,700 before the storm, is now down to 300. Of the 25 schools that are now open in New Orleans, only five are regular public schools. The rest are…