In November 2010, Baltimore's Fund for Education Excellence and the Annie E. Casey Foundation approached the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) and requested a case study of the implementation of Baltimore City Public Schools' (City Schools) portfolio strategy. These local foundations were interested in understanding how the district…

Integrating our schools is a goal that many of us share. But some seem to have given up on the idea, as plans to boost racial diversity have come under attack, and as the fixation on test scores has narrowed some people's concept of a good education. There is, however, new hope: integration by socioeconomic status. It's a cost-effective, legally…

The Century Foundation released The Future of School Integration: Socioeconomic Diversity as an Education Reform Strategy, edited by senior fellow Richard D. Kahlenberg. The volume seeks to answer important questions about how socioeconomic integration plans are faring and to provide guidance for how they can be sustained and expanded in the…

What happens when local school leaders sit down to talk with teachers, parents, and other members of the community about the ends and means of local education? Can people bringing different perspectives and experiences to the issue agree on top goals for their communities? Can they settle on needed changes and decide what signifies genuine…

Maryland's school finance system experienced a restructuring in 2002 with the passage of SB 856, the "Bridge to Excellence Act." The "Bridge" Act set the funding amount for "base" students, brought state funding for kindergarten students on par with students in grades 1-12, and collapsed about 50 school funding…

The keynote addresses introduced conference participants both to general perspectives on school choice and to a specific focus on Maryland issues, concerns, and problems. In the panel discussion, four educational administrators discussed particular aspects of choice plans in their own subdivisions in different states. In the six discussion groups,…

An elementary principal believes the universal "right" to a free public-school education has so hamstrung educators that they cannot effectively set or maintain standards. Two case studies involving disruptive students and irresponsible parents illustrate a vicious cycle that only educational vouchers (for full per-pupil amounts) might…

Baltimore City's public school system is in crisis. Academically, the school system fails on any number of measures. The city's graduation rate is barely above 50 percent and students continually lag well behind state averages on standardized tests. Adding to these problems is the school system's current fiscal crisis, created by years of fiscal…