Privatisation of education is on the rise, being offered as the best alternative to achieve universal education and improve its quality and cost-efficiency. However, the benefits of the entry of private providers in education are highly controversial and tend to be judged in terms of market criteria such as choice and efficiency, neglecting the…

This paper analyzes President Obama's education policies as they relate to charter schools. The authors first show how his policies continue previous neoconservative and neoliberal educational initiatives that marketize schooling. Arne Duncan's role in charter schools, both in his capacity as former CEO of Chicago Public Schools, and in his…

Much of the literature on charter schools treats them as an undifferentiated mass. Here we present and test a typology of charter schools that is grounded in the norms, traditions, and perspectives of the founding organization or organizers. We suggest that there are two broad categories of charter founders--those who are more mission oriented and…