This is the fifth report prepared by the Center for Education Reform (CER) evaluating the capacity and flexibility of state laws promoting charter schools. Three primary factors were evaluated in preparing charter-school quality rankings by state. The center finds that the establishment of multiple sponsoring authorities, in addition to local…

The Schools and Staffing Survey (SASS) is the most extensive survey of elementary and secondary schools in the United States and the teachers and administrators who staff them. Sponsored by the National Center for Education Statistics, SASS has been conducted four times. This report introduces the data from the 1999-2000 SASS. The SASS for…

Inspired by the gains in student achievement realized by the small schools movement in New York City, the Oakland Unified School District (California) has proposed creating a network of 10 new, small autonomous (NSA) schools over the next 3 years. School size will range between 250 and 500 students, depending on grade level. "Autonomous"…

The purpose of these guidelines is to assist local boards of education, charter school organizers, and charter school governing boards in identifying legal, procedural, and funding issues related to serving students with disabilities in Colorado charter schools. As a best practice, charters should contain a specific plan for compliance with…

The papers collected for this volume were selected from the fiscal proceedings of the 2001 and 2002 conferences of the National Center for Education Statistics. They represent current research in public-school education finance. The papers are as follows: "What We Know and What We Need to Know About Vouchers and Charter Schools" (Brian…

This report presents an analysis of the school choice movement throughout the United States, and a state-by-state analysis that provides snapshots of each state's progress toward school choice and charter schools. The Children's Scholarship Fund found that 1.25 million low-income parents would take advantage of scholarships that would allow their…

Three charter schools in southern Arizona--Pimeria Alta High School, Vail Charter High School, and VISION High School--were profiled to ascertain the role of school-to-work (STW) in charter schools. The profiles focused on the following: students' and parents' characteristics and reasons for selecting a charter school; and available facilities,…

Students from the Free School in Albany, New York, arranged and financed a road trip to the National Coalition of Alternative Community Schools conference in Pennsylvania. In exchange for a portion of travel expenses, they visited a struggling new charter school in Florida and demonstrated their democratic decision-making process. (TD)

Arizona allows charters to be granted by local school boards, the state board of education, or gubernatorially appointed boards. Regulatory loopholes allow multiple campuses, private school conversions, and outside-of-district charters. Market-based choice depends on political support, a strong state government, and enormous parental and teacher…

Studied the extent to which the character of four urban schools became more clearly defined in the interest of communicating with parents and of gaining their adherence to a shared vision of the school. Research efforts of the Center on Families, Communities, Schools, and Children's Learning are reported. (SLD)

Educational Leadership UTA is an innovative, organic school administrator preparation program. Cooperating school districts and charter and private schools select their own star administrator prospects (frequently women and minorities) as full-time, paid administrative interns. The goal is producing "servant leaders" for diversely…

Examines six state and federal legislative developments and related court cases that have shaped employment relations in public schools in the 1990s: state takeovers and reconstitutions, vouchers and tuition tax credits, charter schools, legislative efforts to restrict the scope of bargaining, elimination of tenure, and restrictions on the…

This report is one of nine detailed case studies of small urban high schools that served as the foundation for the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) report "Strategic Designs: Lessons from Leading Edge Small Urban High Schools." These nine schools were dubbed "Leading Edge Schools" because they stand apart from other high…

This report presents information about public elementary and secondary education for the 2003-04 school year. The data were provided by state education agencies through the Common Core of Data (CCD) survey system, a universe data collection that includes the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of Defense…

As state coffers continue to shrink this year, there is less money for education, and much of what is available is earmarked for mandates. Yet the money is out there if one knows how to find, create, or borrow it; the trick is to be creative. In this article, the author offers a dozen daring ideas for generating extra cash. The highest-profile…