We estimate the longitudinal effects of charter schools authorized by different authorizing bodies on student achievement by using student-level data from Indiana. The results of our analysis point to substantial variation, especially between the state's two largest authorizers: Ball State University and the Indianapolis Mayor's Office. Some of…

Milwaukee's system of K-12 public education is distinct from many other urban school systems in the degree of educational choices offered to students and their families. This range of options has fostered intense competition among Milwaukee's K-12 schools over the past decade. While enrollment in traditional Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS) has…

In recent years, competition for K-12 enrollment in Wisconsin among traditional public schools, charter schools, and private schools using the state's voucher programs has intensified. Because elementary and secondary education finance in the state primarily is driven by enrollment, this has presented increasingly difficult fiscal conditions for…

Against the backdrop of urban school politics, in which mayors play increasingly powerful and pivotal roles, the current study examines the origins and implications of mayoral control of charter school authorization and accountability in Indianapolis (see Henig & Rich, 2004; Wong & Shen, 2007). In contrast to analyses of mayoral takeovers…

Charter schools have moved from being widely viewed as a marginal force in public education reform to taking on a central role in our national, state, and local debates around improving education. And a growing number of policymakers--including superintendents, mayors, governors, and even U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan--are using…

During the course of each calendar year since 2003, staff of the Center for Evaluation & Education Policy (CEEP) at Indiana University evaluates the benefits of continuing the Annual Public Opinion Survey on K-12 Education in Indiana. In 2008, the Indiana legislature determined that school corporations would no longer use property tax revenues…

This report presents an overview defining what constitutes a charter school and how the existing 22 charter schools in Indiana are funded. 36 charter schools have been approved in Indiana as of Spring 2005. Of these, 22 schools have already begun operating, 10 are slated to open in the coming years, 2 have been closed down before they opened, and…