A study of high school choice programs in four large cities (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Boston) shows that meaningful school choice is beyond the reach of the most vulnerable innercity students. Educators considering such plans must recognize the dangers (like stacked admissions policies) raised for these youth. (MLH)

Analyzes the unique legal and policy issues concerning special education and intradistrict school choice. Describes the methodology for examining intradistrict parental-choice programs of five major cities and appraises their compliance with current legal requirements. Choice programs combining a child-centered approach with consideration of…

In this article, I offer a response to Adam Swift's book, "How Not to be A Hypocrite: School Choice for the Morally Perplexed Parent", by developing some reflections on the nature, value and limits of parental partiality. I address two main issues. First, I consider the issue of how we should interpret the character and value of parental…

"The Achiever" is a monthly publication designed expressly for parents and community leaders. Each issue contains news and information about school improvement in the United States. Highlights of this issue include: (1) Spellings Convenes National Summit on Higher Education; (2) Noble Street: Chicago Charter High School Creates a Culture…

The kinds of school choice programs and the processes by which they became legalized in Minnesota are discussed in this paper. The first part reviews reasons for restructuring American schools. The second part describes how the Minnesota education system moved changed in the following areas: from a single delivery system to community education;…

There have been reports in the literature for several years that there are hundreds of independent neighborhood schools in existence, meeting the academic and social needs of Black, Hispanic, Latino, and Native American children who live primarily in urban areas all across this nation. They have long been an important expression of self-help…

This article focuses on Ontario, Canada, which has had two separate, publicly supported school districts since the early 1980s. After summarizing history and constitutional issues, this article develops nine propositions leading to harsh conclusions: providing choice in public education is not easy and may result in diversity without choice.…

Reviews the many dramatically different forms of school choice proposals, warning against implementing sharply limited and regulated school choice plans and arguing that if the failure of school choice is wrongly attributed to too much choice rather than too little, broader and freer experiments in choice could be politically doomed. Focuses on…

The past two decades have generated numerous and varied experiments with the use of public resources to support "private" schools, which, in any case, become and behave more like public schools in proportion to their dependence on the public purse. From an equity point of view, however, no compelling moral necessity exists to use public funds to…

Education vouchers and charter schools are two of the most prominent and far-reaching forms of family-choice policies currently in evidence in the nation's elementary and secondary schools. As such, they present important challenges to the traditional provision of public education in schools that are created, governed, funded, and operated by…

Spanish Harlem's Community District 4, known as one of New York City's most disadvantaged school districts, has developed a system of alternative educational programs, coupled with controlled parental choice. Having begun in 1974 with the creation of a single alternative elementary school, the system now serves about one-fifth of all elementary…

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…

Guidelines for creating equitable public school choice programs are offered in this booklet. Section 1 discusses the elements essential to a good public school choice, plan: the reasons for interest in school choice; choice plans in private and independent schools, the history of the school choice movement; and the influences of parents, teachers,…

In Balancing Change and Tradition in Global Education Reform, Rotberg brings together examples of current education reforms in sixteen countries, written by "insiders". This book goes beyond myths and stereotypes and describes the difficult trade-offs countries make as they attempt to implement reforms in the context of societal and global change.…

This report examines the efficacy of the Boston Pilot Schools, an innovative model of urban schools created to promote innovation and increased choice options within the Boston school district. The report uses school and district level data to examine student demographics, achievement, and engagement at the 11 Pilot Schools that were in operation…