Since No Child Left Behind (NCLB) became law, educators have faced challenges trying to protect the common good of a public education while, at the same time, developing and/or reviewing proposals to provide for the school choice option of NCLB. In the debate over market-driven education versus traditional public education, many times, the…

President Barack Obama applauded high school redesign efforts in his State of the Union address and encouraged districts to look to successful models for inspiration. Last week, he followed up with a request in his fiscal 2014 budget proposal for a new, $300 million competitive-grant program. Recognition is widespread that high schools need to…

The California school that parents want to turn into a charter now has two organizations seeking to make the change. At the end of a process that drew just four applicants, two relatively small California organizations are each making a case that they be allowed to help lead one of the most publicized school turnaround efforts in the nation's…

It is the worst of times for state budgets. But across the country, some elected officials say it's the best time to rethink how their states spend money on education. Governors and other officeholders are arguing that their states have no choice but to re-examine assumptions about how schools are using the money they currently receive, given…

During the past year, Wisconsin state legislators debated a series of bills aimed at closing low-performing public schools and replacing them with privately run charter schools. These proposals were particularly targeted at Milwaukee, the state's largest and poorest school district. Ultimately, the only legislation enacted was a bill that modestly…