Research on requests to transfer to magnet schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, suggests that racial factors play a strong role in school choice. The paper argues that unfettered choice still has the potential to exacerbate racial separation, even in relatively liberal and progressive settings like Montgomery County. (SM)

Support for Minnesota's cross-district public school choice laws is strong. In 1992, 76% of Minnesotans favored choice as 1 part of the comprehensive reforms needed. This article debunks seven widely circulated myths about the state's choice plans, particularly regarding program effects, benefits for disadvantaged students, parental selection…

The National Education Association and other forces opposing a free market in education attack school choice as a threat to the nation. Many conservatives also embrace that opinion. One example is found in an article by Trowbridge entitled "Devil's Deal." This paper analyzes Trowbridge's article, focusing on parental rights and…

Reviews the young charter-school movement's status and effects. Advocates claim charter schools' mere existence in an area stimulates reform. So far, chartering has shown tremendous diversity and engaged many highly motivated people. Systemic change will depend on American educators' responsiveness to society's Information-Age demands. (Contains…

Asserts that the pressures on religious freedom are increasing especially in relation to the issue of religion in the public schools. Focuses on school prayer, the use of school facilities for religious activities, and the controversy surrounding school vouchers. Addresses when religious expression is permitted in public schools. (CMK)

The author of "The Discipline of Hope" (1998) values environments that foster a sense of belonging and love of learning. Besides engaging students' imagination, teachers must convince students that they are people of worth who can accomplish something in a difficult world. Children must remain hopeful, and adults must not abandon public…

Interprets the persistent difficulties in revitalizing U.S. public education and in implementing "world standards" in the context of deep-seated conflicts in U.S. political culture. Argues that the conflict between individual liberty and equality is behind the polarization of imperatives such as "choice" and…

School choice is growing, due to growth of charter schools, private voucher programs, and No Child Left Behind requirements that school districts offer options to children in low-performing schools. Growth can bring dangers if choice is implemented carelessly. Recent research on choice shows that program design and implementation matter: the…

The past two decades have generated numerous and varied experiments with the use of public resources to support "private" schools, which, in any case, become and behave more like public schools in proportion to their dependence on the public purse. From an equity point of view, however, no compelling moral necessity exists to use public funds to…

Education vouchers and charter schools are two of the most prominent and far-reaching forms of family-choice policies currently in evidence in the nation's elementary and secondary schools. As such, they present important challenges to the traditional provision of public education in schools that are created, governed, funded, and operated by…

Private-school choice or voucher programs allow parents to put tax dollars toward a private education--for example, in the form of a subsidy to the chosen school. The dollar value of a voucher is usually equal to, but may be less than, the state average per-pupil expenditure, and may cover the partial or full cost of a private-school tuition. This…

In this report, Connecticut's Task Force on Charter Schools recommends enacting legislation to establish six pilot charter schools to begin operation in fall 1994. As public schools or educational programs operating under a State Board of Education charter, charter schools would be: committed to quality student outcomes; staffed and controlled by…

The parental right to select a child's school involves more than the option to choose nonpublic education. This document reviews a number of policy options availaable to public education systems for providing educational choice. Options at the state level include the use of education vouchers, subsidized transfer to selected schools, and…

This booklet recommends cooperatively re-examining U.S. public education and recognizing that though there are disagreements in the ongoing education debate, everyone's goals are the same (to provide all children with a quality education and to prepare them for participation in public life). After noting that schools are not living up to American…

While opponents of school choice contend that choice will lead to the demise of public education, the weakening of civil society, and the fostering of separate and unequal systems of education, this book argues that these long-held assertions must give way to present realities. The United States' rich and diverse experience with magnet schools,…