Comparative case study of factors related to operation of school-level financial management in five UK community/foundation schools and five US charter schools. Uses on-site interviews with UK head teachers and bursars and US directors and business officials. Explores four themes and related conclusions: control, evolution, shared leadership, and…

Examines Michigan's educational reform efforts. The author describes the vision that guided the reform movement and outlines the state's education system when reform efforts were begun in 1989. Financial, structural, and political impediments to reform are discussed. Finally, the changes that have occurred and those that are being sought in order…

Defines and discusses alternatives to traditional public schooling, including private and home schools, contract schools, charter schools, and school-based finance systems. Implications for principals are reflected in a drive for more rigorous state tests and standards and the growing use of technology, which stresses independent study. Charter…

Successive UK governments have not clarified educational standards. The Tory government promulgated autonomous grant-maintained schools. Now Labour plans to "reinvent" this sector via foundation and voluntary schools with reduced powers. A recent study found that headteachers believed grant-maintained status (and enhanced funding) helped…

Teachers' unions are formidable foes of meaningful education reforms. Their control of education results from nearly four decades of political power during which they have pressured lawmakers and school board members to shape education policies, laws, and contracts in their favor. The resulting frustration of long-ignored parents is manifesting…

Describes the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, a K-8 school chartered by the San Carlos, California, school district to be a research and development site. It has successfully shared practices in multi-age groupings, interdisciplinary instruction, parents as teachers, and staff evaluation. The article expands on the school's challenges and…

Urban small-school proponents who desire more autonomy find charter schools appealing, since they receive public money but operate independently of the district structure. Others feel that charter schools are a stalking horse for private school vouchers and privatization, part of an attempt to undermine public education, or an abandonment of…

Suggests a few ways in which civic entrepreneurs can foster charter schools. Civic entrepreneurs, who need not be extremely wealthy, can help meet four critical needs of charter schools: (1) start-up capital, (2) technical assistance, (3) safeguarding freedom, and (4) fostering accountability. (SLD)

Reviews public school system of education; describes school management companies (nonprofit, for profit) and their fiduciary duties; discusses monitoring the performance of school management companies; describes legal mechanisms and remedies (tort, contract, agency, and constitutional law) for holding school management companies accountable.…

Explains how state and federal court decisions dealing with educational equity and adequacy have increased state involvement in school finance. Describes five state education system models: Single system, single system with capacity for charters, district operating system with multiple state categorical aid programs, district operating system with…

Mixed messages--a legislature intending to repair school finance system inequities and a governor claiming the problem is "fixed" by a $100 million construction grant--characterized the beginning of Arizona's 1997 legislative session. Charter schools, school-based management, vouchers, and property-tax reforms are also discussed. (MLH)

The charter public school movement has experienced significant growth, attracted veteran community activists and committed educators, acquired the bipartisan support of Congress, contributed to increases in student achievement, and influenced a variety of educational improvement efforts. Internal and external challenges facing charter schools are…

Examined the dynamics of organizational change in higher education institutions and whether chartering a higher education organization would lead to increased faculty responsiveness and involvement in reform efforts. Data from interviews with school faculty, administrators, and other involved parties indicated that faculty work changed, work…

Examines the educational foundations of a proposed two-way bilingual/bicultural charter school for adolescent Latino parents in Milwaukee (Wisconsin). Discusses teenage pregnancy in the two contexts of Hispanic cultural values and educational alternatives available to teen parents in Milwaukee; the school-community partnership; and arguments for…

Detroit's Benjamin Carson Academy (BCA) is believed to be the nation's first charter school for juvenile offenders. Opened in 1999, BCA is housed in the newly built Wayne County Juvenile Detention Facility, a state of the art, 89,300-square-foot building in downtown Detroit with half a dozen gymnasiums, two computer labs, a media center, mental…