Investigates the implications of charter school choice for equity, discussing three standards of equity (racial balance, resources, and outcome). Reviews the equity provisions of state charter legislation, research on who chooses charter schools for their children and why, and analyses of the demographic characteristics of charter school students.…

Reviews Title IX and its three components: (1) accommodation of interests and abilities; (2) athletic financial assistance; and (3) other program areas. Sidebars include a 12-point test to assess knowledge of Title IX and a list of compliance issues. (LMI)

This fall, about 700 charter schools will be operating in 26 states. Superintendents acknowledge that their own role often depends on a specific state's legislation. Some districts, like two Colorado systems, offer intensive support to charters. Some superintendents find working with charters to be risky and contentious, as staff struggle to…

Analysis of New York Supreme Court's interpretation of economics of education literature in its 2001 decision in "Campaign for Fiscal Equity v. The State of New York." Includes educational outcomes, educational inputs, and the efficient use of teacher inputs. Discusses the cost-effectiveness of court reform of education compared with…

Public education is under attack. There is a general assault on the public sphere as a central aspect of our common existence. The problems of city schools stem from our failure to place educational reform within a broader vision of social and economic justice and our unwillingness to take political action to realize that vision. (MLH)

Charged to reconsider what indicators would capture and convey important truths about education and learning, the National Center for Education Statistics' Special Study Panel on Education Indicators wrote a 1991 report that rejected most conventional notions of indicators. Instead, they focused on learner outcomes, institutional quality, school…

Discusses results of an Australian study showing how wealthy schools use their greater material and human resources to establish a relatively sophisticated computer education culture, compared with poorer schools. Students from well-off families, especially boys, benefit by being prepared for elite jobs. Educators committed to equity must be…

A late 1960s graduate of racially segregated school in Mississippi evaluates her high school's performance against Ron Edmonds's five school effectiveness correlates (strong instructional leadership; clear instructional mission; orderly, safe climate; high expectations; close monitoring with standardized tests). School passed only one; all…

School choice will not be an issue in 2000 because many parents will have demanded it and public will have rediscovered consumer power as time-honored American way to encourage innovation and improvement. Marysville, Tennessee, schools are good example; nation should watch as California grapples with population challenges. This year, the state…

Reviews implications for state educational equity suits of the funding formulas used in federal compensatory education laws. A state educational equity suit currently before the Illinois Supreme Court is discussed to show differences between the definitions of equity used in that suit and the one used in federal compensatory education funding…

Extends Feldstein's notion of wealth neutrality to embrace fiscal neutrality, using a representative consumer context. Employs an "ideal" demand system to model school district expenditures in a general equilibrium framework. Rejects constant price and income elasticity demand models. Supports the fiscally neutral elasticity model…

Presents an overview of the educational system of the Bedouin Arab minority in southern Israel. Inequities between the Jewish and Arab schools include (1) inadequate school facilities; (2) an insufficient number of qualified teachers and administrators; and (3) an unacceptably high student-to-teacher ratio. A clear reform policy for Bedouin Arab…

Discusses the fiscal condition of Florida, highlighting its school-funding system and comparisons with other states. Analyzes five issues identified in interviews with state policy analysts: adequate funding for growing demand, applied educational-equity/adequacy considerations, tax-base adequacy, alternative revenue sources, and accountability…

lllinois's school finance reform goals may be achieved by providing property tax relief and increasing state funding out of income tax receipts, relying primarily on the state's growth dividend. Distributing the largesse of growth to poor districts over time minimizes richer citizens' sense of fiscal loss, making reform more politically palatable.…

Shows how reducing the recapture provision in a property-tax-dependent education-funding formula adversely affected fiscal equality in Alberta, Canada, from 1974 through 1992. An alternative plan would have recaptured .77 percent more of the funds in 1992. Another plan (full tax-base recapture) would ensure equitable distribution, compared to full…