School choice advocacy is dominated by perspectives that reflect a tendency to regard public schooling as a private service commodity. In recent years, numerous works of Anglo-American political philosophy, sociology and legal theory have attempted to restore a conception of public schooling as an institution that cultivates civic virtue.…

This article provides a description of home-based education in the state of Florida and addresses the financial queries that often arise in the debate regarding the probative value of homeschooling and its effects on the financial coffers of state legislatures. This simple analysis of home-based education and its financial implications for Florida…

Beyond the need for many school districts to pull out of the death spiral of declining enrollment, educational leaders throughout California must foster a culture of change and accelerate creative self-renewal to provide students with an education for the world ahead. Businesses demand and expect much more from public education as the global…

The need for alternative education programs that work is paramount in light of the nation's public education crisis. The problem is that alternative education programs fail to adequately address the issues that At-Risk students bring to, and face in, the alternative and/or the traditional classroom. This study utilized a qualitative and a…

An education gap between white students and their black and Hispanic peers is something to which most Americans have become accustomed. But this racial division of education--and hence of prospects for the future--is nothing less than tragic. The good news is that the racial divide in learning is a problem that can be fixed. Of course, it can only…

Study of school choice in the Boulder Valley School District in Boulder, Colorado, finds increased stratification of schools according to race, ethnicity, and income created by open-enrollment procedures. Per-pupil costs and money raised through fund raising were higher in choice schools, as was student achievement. Recommends actions to limit the…

The author forthrightly declares in this book of essays on school reform that teachers are no more saintly than anyone else, that poor schools should be closed and lousy teachers should be fired, that philanthropy may sometimes do more harm than good, that teaching experience is not essential to being a school principal, that schools should be…

Fifteen years ago charter schools were considered a radical addition to the public education landscape. Today they present a viable educational choice in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Much has been written about charter schools, their purpose, effectiveness, and future. However, to date, much of the dialogue has focused on ideology and…

The goal of this article is to move beyond the more traditional question, "Does business have a role in public education?" A historical overview of education suggests that the involvement of the private sector is not a new phenomenon and is not likely to end in the near future. Here, the authors argue that a much more fruitful line of…

This issue of the monthly newsletter for the Council for American Private Education (CAPE) includes the following articles: (1) National Panel: School Choice Must Be Done Right; (2) Congress Reaches Voucher Agreement but Delays Vote; (3) Supreme Court Declines Choice Case; and (4) CAPENotes.

Discusses ways to reinvigorate public education to enhance democratic values and civic virtues. Argues that school choice (charter schools, home schooling, and vouchers) fragments the current system of education. Calls for public schools and social institutions to work together to prepare children for school and make schools ready for children.…

Making K-12 public school attendance voluntary will improve school climate and eliminate the need for school choice. A better system of financial allocations based on enrollment is critical. (SK)

Underlying the school choice debate is the market metaphor, which conceptualizes schooling with other goods and services in the economy. If parents are construed as consumers, the circumstances constraining their choices must be understood. Free-market school choice thus does not give parents of all classes genuine power to choose. (SK)

Jerry Paquette, in his article "Public Funding for "Private" Education: The Equity Challenge of Enhanced Choice" (in this issue, 568), properly urges everyone to ponder, then to reject, various hypothetical schemes for school choice whose design might worsen the plight of the poor. Among these devices, his chief bugbear is a largely unregulated…

Charter schools are one form of decentralizing public education by shifting power into the hands of school stakeholders by providing them with more "voice" in day-to-day decisions. However, the increasing involvement of educational management organizations (EMOs) as managers of charter schools raises new questions about the influence of school…