The "IDRA Newsletter" serves as a vehicle for communication with educators, school board members, decision-makers, parents, and the general public concerning the educational needs of all children across the United States. The focus of this issue is "Education Policy." Contents include: (1) Legislative Sessions Constrained by…

In statehouses and cities across the country, battles are raging over the direction of education policy--from the standards that will shape what students learn to how test results will be used to judge a teacher's performance. Students and teachers, in passive resistance, are refusing to take and give standardized tests. Protesters have marched to…

In this article we introduce and explain a funding framework for advancing an equity agenda at the community college. The need for the framework is premised on (a) Dowd's observation that the traditional community college commitment to student access no longer suffices as an adequate strategy to achieve greater equity in society and (b) the…

The Detroit Public Schools (DPS) have been battered by substantial outside forces over the last decade. The school system was taken over by the state; its elected school board was dissolved and replaced by an appointed body; its many operating systems were privatized; its citizenry were encouraged to flee to charter schools; and its resources have…

Argues for substantially reducing the power of corporations to influence the organization, content, and assessment of public education. (Contains 19 references.) (PKP)

The handbook is intended to serve as a basic guide to California practices in the use of contracted nonpublic school (NPS) or agency (NPA) services to provide a free appropriate public education to eligible handicapped children. The handbook covers: an overview of requirements for nonpublic, nonsectarian special education school and agency…

Thirteenth Bracey report on the condition of public education begins and ends with the No Child Left Behind Act. Includes commentary on vouchers, charter schools, high stakes tests, Edison Schools, and educational assessment. Includes recipients of Bracey Golden Apple Awards, such as "The Breath of Fresh Air, Geoffrey Nunberg Award."…

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) asks that states "restructure" schools that fail for six years running to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) toward full proficiency on the part of all students by the year 2014. Although restructuring efforts by most states have been modest, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 2002, directed the School District…

This paper reviews the development of the public monopoly of degree-granting institutions of higher education in Ontario, Canada. It examines arguments for private universities which suggest improved accessibility, diversity, and quality and finds the arguments to be insufficiently strong. A recommendation is made for improvement of Ontario's…

In 1996, Kansas launched the nation's most sweeping attempt to radically transform the child welfare system by implementing a privatized form of managed care. Four years later, the child welfare system shows signs of instability and seems very much in transition. This report examines the current status of the child welfare system in Kansas and…

This book presents a diverse set of unusual and significant departures from customary educational policies and practices. These "radical" ideas range from calling for national standards, to enacting statewide legislative initiatives, to implementing decentralized local initiatives such as charter schools, local school councils, and privatization.…