In line with the Center on School Turnaround's charge to support states' efforts, they sought to highlight three districts engaged in focused turnaround efforts where their respective boards played a key role in catalyzing, shaping, and supporting targeted improvement efforts. This brief is one of three describing the work. The three briefs…

This article analyses the narratives and counter-narratives which characterised the struggle between the Chicago Public School Board (CPS) and the Chicago Teachers' Union (CTU) preceding the 2019 Chicago teachers' strike. This was an extraordinary event which has received little scholarly attention. The paper explores the types and uses of the…

As 21st century school systems continue to emerge, low-income parents will continue to regard public charter schools as the means through which their children have equal access to quality education. This report is a response to the National Education Association's (NEA's) policy statement on charter schools. In the statement, the NEA calls for a…

School districts implement a variety of initiatives that too often fall short. This case study investigated how one public school district in southeastern Michigan implemented interest based-bargaining (IBB). The study also sought to understand the factors that influenced the decision-making process and what was considered when making…

A book that draws equally on Richard Lee Colvin's deep acquaintance with contemporary education reform and the unique circumstances of the San Diego experience, "Tilting at Windmills" is a penetrating and invaluable account of Alan Bersin's contentious superintendency. Between 1998, when Alan Bersin became superintendent of the San Diego…

This paper presents the highlights of a conference entitled "Advancing Student Achievement through Labor-Management Collaboration" held in Denver, Colorado last February 15-16, 2011. This first-of-its-kind conference on labor-management collaboration is a historic effort to transform the relationships among local superintendents, school…

Why are America's public schools falling so short of the mark in educating the nation's children? Why are they organized in ineffective ways that fly in the face of common sense, to the point that it is virtually impossible to get even the worst teachers out of the classroom? And why, after more than a quarter century of costly education reform,…

In comparing one public school to another, discussions frequently include talk concerning the socio economics of a school or district, which then leads to talk about the advantages that one socioeconomic setting has over another. Educators tend to agree that low academic achievement frequently associated with a low socioeconomic status is a…

In February 2011, the U.S. Department of Education (ED)--along with co-sponsors from the American Association of School Administrators, the American Federation of Teachers, the Council of the Great City Schools, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the National Education Association, and the National School Boards Association--brought…

This article aims to contribute to current debates about political power and agency relationships in education and other public sectors. In a recent clarion call for a major redirection of political principal-agent theories (PAT), Terry Moe has argued that standard information asymmetries ought no longer to be regarded as the sole foundation of…

At the request of the Education Reform Project of the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, the National Council on Teacher Quality undertook an analysis of the teacher policies in the Baltimore City Public Schools. Its analysis looks at the teachers' contract, school board rules and state laws. It also collected personnel data from the…

This book demonstrates through case studies and expert analyses the impressive educational gains children can make when the best educational research, policy, and practice are aligned. This volume is a valuable resource to aspiring leaders, educational researchers, and current practitioners and a must-read for anyone who cares about the public…

This report attempts to present a balanced discussion of several key issues in the charter school movement. Its goal is to help school board members, especially those in urban districts, assess the record of charter schools so far, and understand the complexity of the issues involved. The first chapter presents a brief legislative history of the…

This publication is a transcript of Superintendent Angus McBeath's presentation to legislators and media at an Issues and Ideas Forum hosted by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Lansing, Michigan. McBeath discusses education reform in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, including: (1) Basic Elements of Reform; (2) School Employee Union Involvement;…

It is critical to analyze every detail of the proposals made by the negotiating teams of both the union and school board. What labor and management decide to include can affect the school districts' financial and decision-making processes for years. (MLF)