ERIC Number: ED627460
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Nov
Pages: 23
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
K-12 without Borders: Public School Students, Families, and Teachers Shut in by Education Boundaries
Lueken, Martin F.; McShane, Michael Q.
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research
This report is about the educational borders that have sprung up across America. Some are school district boundaries. They can form an invisible barrier between students and the schools that they might want to attend. Other borders, often aligned with the municipal boundaries of cities, counties, and states, restrict who can teach where, how much teachers are paid, and what their retirement looks like. All have profoundly shaped the way that American schools look. In this report, the authors explain how school district boundaries, which limit where children can attend school, can have negative impacts on students and homeowners, especially the most disadvantaged. They also explain how boundaries, in the form of pension rules, negatively affect teachers. They propose an alternative: a system with fewer boundaries--one that allows students to access a wide array of schools, regardless of where they live, and one that does not punish teachers for moving between public, charter, or private sectors, or between states (or even within states, in some instances)--will improve outcomes for students, increase equity among homeowners, and promote retirement security for teachers. The authors argue that as states continue to move toward providing more educational opportunities for families, teachers will need to fill some of the demands for a diverse set of options. The way that educational systems compensate teachers, however, is outdated and ill-equipped to facilitate a dynamic teacher labor market to meet families' needs.
Descriptors: Elementary Secondary Education, Public Schools, School Districts, Barriers, Political Divisions (Geographic), School Location, Access to Education, Place of Residence, Housing, Ownership, State Aid, Teacher Salaries, School Segregation, Achievement Gap, Student Mobility, Faculty Mobility, Educational Policy
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Tel: 212-599-7000; Fax: 212-599-3494; Web site: http://www.manhattan-institute.org
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: Manhattan Institute (MI)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A