Student mobility is the phenomenon of students in grades K-12 changing schools for reasons other than customary promotion from elementary school to middle school or from middle school to high school. This non-promotional school change can occur during the school year or in the summer between school years. It may involve residential change, school…

Since 1994, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has provided funding to new charter schools through Charter School Program (CSP) grants designed to provide support for the planning and implementation of effective new charter programs. Grants are awarded to state education agencies, which then provide funding to approved charter schools through…

Open enrollment charter schools are monitored and accredited under the statewide testing and accountability system, just like traditional public schools. Accountability is critical for charter schools because if these schools do not improve student achievement they are at risk of having their charter terminated. As of the most recent publication…

Since 1994, the U.S. Department of Education (USDE) has provided funding to new charter schools through Charter School Program (CSP) grants designed to provide support for the planning and implementation of effective new charter programs. Grants are awarded to state education agencies, which then provide funding to approved charter schools through…

This article reports on a Texas charter school network which aims to expand the ranks of disadvantaged students who graduate, not just from high school, but from college as well. To earn a high school diploma, each student at YES (short for Youth Engaged in Service) Prep Public Schools, a growing Houston-area network of charters that predominantly…

In the early 1990s a handful of states created independent public charter schools, providing opportunities for teachers and others to develop innovative schooling options. Unlike private schools funded through vouchers or tuition tax credits, these new public schools practice open admissions, accepting all students as space permits. In exchange…

The question that drives this article is why some school districts decide to open up charter schools and others do not. Several answers are plausible: (a) entrepreneurial initiative, (b) structural explanations, and (c) spatial competition. We use data for the state of Wisconsin derived from extensive case studies of 19 charter schools and…

In the last century, public schools changed in ways that dramatically reduced the control that parents have over their local schools. Regaining that control is one key to improving the quality of our schools, and giving students a choice of schools is one way of increasing the influence that parents have over the way schools are run. Several…

Describes charter-school law in Texas, including sections authorizing open-enrollment charter schools. Reports on results of third-year evaluation of 89 open-enrollment charter schools. Evaluation includes student demographics and performance, parents, teachers, directors, revenue and expenditures, and the effects of charter schools on traditional…

The federal government is devoting millions of dollars to charter and voucher programs that currently require parents to abandon regular public schools. The goal of the authors of The School Choice Hoax is to expose the misleading hyperbole that has been driving the school choice movement and to show how charter schools can become more effective…

When superintendent Bill Harbron of the Northern Ozaukee School District in Fredonia, Wisconsin decided it was time to offer more instructional alternatives to students and parents, an e-learning program seemed like the perfect fit. After researching and considering several options, he invited e-learning content provider K12 to present its program…

Currently 15 percent of K-12 students attend public schools of choice, including charter, magnet, and controlled-choice schools. Support for choice is growing, but a recent report says 81 percent of adults surveyed know little about charters or vouchers. Profiles of successful choice schools are presented. (MLH)

This study assesses funding differences, and the sources of those differences, between charter schools and traditional districts in Texas. The need for this research stems from conflicting reports on charter school revenues and growing concern over the quality of charter school financial data reported through Texas' Public Education Information…

This publication is the first in a series of reports that examine policy issues in education. It looks at the four major forms of school choice--charter schools, open enrollment, home schooling, and vouchers--and how they are changing the landscape of public education. School choice is one of the fastest-growing innovations in public education,…

As interest in expanding the number of high quality charter schools available to parents and students has grown, policy makers have increased their focus on identifying and providing support to new charter programs that have the potential to improve student outcomes and satisfy parent and student needs. Since 1994, the U.S. Department of Education…