Reforming the way a state distributes its funding to local school districts is a challenging task. Too often, state leaders embrace major school funding reform only when they are directed by court decisions. In this seemingly contentious policy domain, the Rhode Island General Assembly defied the odds--working in a recessionary climate and in the…

In response to public pressure, urban districts in the USA have initiated reforms that aim at redrawing the boundaries between the school system and other major local institutions. More specifically, this article focuses on two emerging reform strategies. We will examine an emerging model of governance that enables big-city mayors to establish…

The political landscape in school finance has undergone significant changes in the United States in recent years. It was only a generation ago that the state government assumed the primary funding responsibility in public schools, public agencies at the state and local level "monopolized" service delivery, and many reform initiatives did…

Like many urban reform strategies, mayoral leadership in education has both proponents and skeptics. On the one hand, proponents argue that mayor-led initiatives have the potential to transform low-performing schools and to hold schools and students accountable to systemwide standards. On the other hand, skeptics see mayoral involvement as…

This research study explores the policy expansion of school choice within the methodological approach of event history analysis. The first section provides a comparative overview of state adoption of public school choice laws. After creating a statistical portrait of the contemporary landscape for school choice, the authors introduce event history…

All political scientists who study education policy start their analysis with a similar premise: "educational reform does not take place in political vacuum." Studies of the politics of school choice have focused primarily on state-level political dynamics. This line of research makes sense since the charter school market is initially…

Examines the influence of local newspapers on policy decisions related to public education, highlighting news reporting on educational issues in Chicago and applying two analytical perspectives (the pluralist bargaining and unitary actor models). Information from a database of news reports on Chicago's educational matters by two major newspapers…

Examines three approaches to compensatory educational reform (clientele participation, bureaucratic influence, and fiscal expectation) and applies them to redistributive school policy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Baltimore, Maryland. Each model stresses a particular policymaking dimension and has varying utility, depending on the community. Local…

Discusses how political science has shaped educational politics. Examines educational politics' contribution to political science theory-building, highlighting federalism, multiple power centers, race relations, and democratic schooling issues. Explores why educational politics researchers diverge from the new political science paradigm (the…

Describes school reform in Chicago between 1995 and 2001, focusing on the leadership and policies of former superintendent Paul Vallas. Outlines some of the programs that led to educational improvement. Commends Vallas for his accomplishments as an educational administrator and praises him for his professional integrity and commitment. (WFA)

The political tradition of local school governance predates the existence of the United States. Yet the most prominent mechanisms for the exercise of local discretion have evolved considerably from their colonial origins in response to the changing political climate of the nation, constituent demands, and legislative innovation. Recognizing the…

Examines the interplay between the federal Title I schoolwide program and the first 2 years of a systemwide reform, Children Achieving, in high-poverty, urban Philadelphia schools. In spite of intense institutional competition and contention at the district level, there were major efforts to facilitate policy coordination at different levels of…

Uses the demand-supply continuum to look at emerging reforms in the Japanese educational system. Data from fieldwork in major urban districts and their prefectures in Nagoya, Osaka, and Tokyo highlight demand-driven reform (higher education restructuring), integrated governance (mediating demand and supply at the K-12 levels), and ongoing…

This paper provides a new outlook on the charter school policy environment, however, by re-examining more closely the layers of legal provisions in states' charter laws. Consistent with the first wave of charter school literature which found charter school politics to be complicated and often working at cross-purposes, the authors provide evidence…