Assessing Charter Schools’ Impact on Districts: Too Important to Get Wrong
Several months ago I critiqued a report by Dr. Gordon Lafer and published by In the Public Interest (ITPI). Unfortunately, the report continues to inform policy deliberations in California, where a commission is weighing charter school policy changes and lawmakers are considering a five-year moratorium on new charter schools. The author has said that he […]
Back to the Future for Charter School Research
A recent analysis from Education Week carried a grim headline: “In Many Charter High Schools, Graduation Odds Are Slim.” Its core finding, “Charter high schools make up an outsized share of the number of public schools persistently graduating less than half of their students,” led the authors to question why charter high school graduation rates […]
Learning Outside of School: Lessons from ReSchool Colorado’s First Year
The start of spring brings a source of stress for some parents; it’s time to figure out what their children will do over the summer. Summer activities can provide necessary childcare—and vital support for student learning—during the months when school is closed. But lining up those activities for children can cause headaches for many families. […]
Can Teachers Bridge the Divide Between Unions and Charter Schools? Strikes in Chicago and L.A. Are Test Cases
As teacher strikes swept across the country this year, union leaders in many cities painted charter schools as the enemy. But the narrative that pits charter schools against unions largely ignores the fact that district teachers aren’t the only ones walking off the job; charter school teachers in Chicago and Los Angeles went on strike […]
Six Things We Learned about Charter Schools and Unionization
From California to West Virginia, teachers unions have squared off with charter school supporters in fights framed as fundamental struggles over the future of public education. Meanwhile, some charter school teachers have launched unprecedented strikes of their own—and sometimes drawn shows of solidarity from leaders of teachers unions. Unionized charter school teachers complicate the usual […]
Learning Inside and Outside of School: What Can the Four-Day Week Teach Us?
Thousands of students in about half of Colorado’s school districts attend school four days a week. These small, rural districts try to do in four slightly longer days what others accomplish in five. Why? Some say they are trying to save money. Others say a shorter work week helps recruit and retain teachers. For others, […]
Resilience, Hope, and the Power of the Collective: What Puerto Rico can Teach the States about Education Reform
Hurricane Maria’s wrath created new urgency to address Puerto Rico’s long struggling education system. As soon as electricity was back on, policy types immediately started making analogies to New Orleans. Indeed, new legislation created sweeping new authorities to restructure public education and create new public school options, including charter schools and vouchers. Puerto Rico’s secretary […]
Chicago’s mayor sees through the fog on school autonomy
In politics, there is nothing like a hard knock to focus the mind. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel tells how this happened for him. In The Atlantic, Emanuel describes himself as once a believer in teacher-focused reforms, particularly test-based accountability. But in the middle of a bruising teacher strike, he had a moment of clarity. “The autonomy […]
How a proposal for flexible funding can help families close the enrichment gap
In education policy debates, we often talk about inequality as if it was primarily driven by learning that happens—or doesn’t happen—in schools. But out-of-school learning matters too. Sports and recreational programs can cultivate teamwork, passion, and grit. Music and art lessons can help develop tolerance and empathy. Museum and theater trips can boost academic achievement […]
The Future of School Choice Isn’t About Schools — It’s About Learning Opportunities
National School Choice Week is a time for advocates of school choice to celebrate. I see it as an opportunity to reflect and think about what needs to come next. This year, we at the Center on Reinventing Public Education are celebrating our 25th anniversary. Since 1994, we have posited and tested ways to allow […]