Comments on new Elementary Secondary Education Act, particularly the bill's national testing and school-choice provisions. (PKP)

Howard Fuller misinterpreted the author's remarks regarding feasibility of expanding the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program. Since parochial schools were not included in the original math achievement study, results cannot be generalized to a broader voucher program. Fuller also distorted the 4th-year math effect found by other researchers. (MLH)

On May 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in the case of "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka," which struck down the "separate but equal" doctrine of the 1896 "Plessy v. Ferguson" decision. The Court claimed, "To separate them [African American children] from others of similar age…

Presents a brief history of charter schools, summarizes important elements, discusses key lessons from the charter school movement, and explores some unanswered questions. Charter schools can positively affect student achievement, attendance, and attitude; often focus on low- and moderate-income youngsters; provide talented educators with…

School choice should be promoted only under conditions guaranteeing that costs will be outweighed by benefits. Implementing choice means developing an effective assignment policy, conducting parent surveys, providing for adequate staff involvement, committing to parent outreach, managing effects on individual schools, and setting up a…

If Minnesota public school choice programs were as bad as Judith Pearson's "Kappan" (June 1989) article alleges, most teachers would not support them. There would be declining cooperation among rural school districts, little interest in handicapped or "unattractive" students' needs, and a teacher shortage. As this article…

The Controlled Parents' Choice Program in White Plains, New York, successfully combines equity and racial balance concerns with parental opportunity to select a child's elementary school. The program's success hinges on expressed parental preference, guaranteed priority for siblings, residential preference, formal deadlines, a lottery, waiting…

To no one's surprise, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act has become a political football in this election season. Amidst the heated rhetoric and impassioned claims, it can be easy to forget that NCLB is no one thing but rather an awkward compendium of many disparate pieces. While public officials are pressed to render absolute judgments--that…

Proponents of public/private school choice assume that private schools are more efficient and that parents can distinguish between schools of differing quality and select schools that perform well. A study based on the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study data shows that private schools are no more efficient in using educational resources…

Minnesota is leading the school choice movement, but Governor Perpich's promotional tours may be somewhat premature. This article examines the open enrollment concept and its consequences, including charges of elitism and application of private enterprise principles to education. Open enrollment contradicts the legislature's duty to establish a…

This year's Gallup Poll respondents see inadequate funding as public schooling's biggest problem. Nearly half (47%) positively evaluated public school performance. About 70% feel that values education is important; 75% disagree with last year's Supreme Court ruling declaring government-sanctioned prayer at public school commencement ceremonies…

Despite their reputation for excellence, private schools cannot absorb the burden of educating all youngsters desiring to flee public education. Private schools are expensive and succeed because of effective leadership, small school size, and parent involvement. Public schools must be freed from the stranglehold of teacher unions and central…

Inner-city schools are plagued with problems, including huge central bureaucracies; dumbed-down, irrelevant curricula; scant resources to provide well-compensated teachers, supplies, smaller classes, and social workers; and de facto segregation. Transformative choice, operating on free market principles, is breaking up bureaucracies, demanding the…

Presents the positive benefits to be gained from diversifying the public school system and allowing a wider choice in school selection. Outlines the problems that would ensue from establishing an educational voucher system. Choice enhances teacher quality, student achievement, parent involvement, and public confidence in schools. (MD)

Examines issues underlying tuition tax credits and relates them to the role of education in a democracy. Discusses competing sources of authority and separate communities of interest that could benefit from a tax credit system. Concludes that education should be organized to serve as an instrument of social regeneration. (Author/WD)