The United States has, for the last generation, been going through a significant and highly contested period of change in its schools. A bipartisan consensus around a reform agenda of accountability and choice was rolled out nationwide, with promises of closing achievement gaps and raising standards, all without the infusion of new resources. This…

Facing the typical challenges of urban schooling, including overcrowded schools, mediocre academic outcomes, and high dropout rates, the Los Angeles Unified School District has been at the epicenter of big-city education reform over the past decade. This article takes a look at the past 10 years of reform strategies in Los Angeles, and how…

This article presents the author's views about the school district deconstruction in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He discusses his 30-year experience as a principal and central office administrator with the School District of Philadelphia and his involvement in the efforts to lead urban school reform in the country. He also describes the reform…

A strike last week by some 29,000 teachers in Chicago pushed long-simmering tensions over deeply divisive school improvement ideas--including changes in teacher evaluation and the takeover or closure of underperforming schools--into the national spotlight. A framework for a tentative agreement emerged last Friday, and the union's house of…

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…

The author describes his feelings as the only teacher at his school to support the New York City teachers' strike in 1961. (SJL)

The unionization of teachers has had consequences beyond traditional trade union objectives and now encompasses educational and sociopolitical goals. The American Federation of Teachers and the United Federation of Teachers of New York have used their organized power to influence school administration policies, to better the educational…

This study deals with the urban school system as a contracting agency which must negotiate with an organized group of employees who formerly were relatively powerless in presenting demands. The focus of the study is on the contracts drawn between the boards of education of New York City and Detroit with the respective teachers' unions in these…

During the 1966-67 school year, as part of its efforts towards decentralization, the Board of Education of New York City created an autonomous district located in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville area of Brooklyn. The newly formed local board experienced some difficulty in staffing the new district and eventually transferred 19 "uncooperative"…

This report is essentially a documentary outline of the events associated with the Newark teacher strikes followed by an analysis of the implications of those events for the future of education in Newark and elsewhere. The chronology provides a detailed delineation of the sequence of events before, during, and after each strike. The information…

This study documents the legal, political, economic, and managerial constraints in the Philadelphia Public School System and traces their impact on the policies and practices of the system. Specifically, the study focuses on collective bargaining relationships and on their impact on the system. The first section outlines the basic constraints that…

This collection of articles revolves around the struggle for full racial equality through community control of schools by the black and Puerto Rican people of New York City. The opening chapter describes the city Board of Education's deliberate policy of intensifying and consolidating segregation during the very years when it was most volubly…