Public High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates in the United States
Jay Greene and Greg Forster, Manhattan Institute September 17, 2003
Jay Greene and Greg Forster, Manhattan Institute September 17, 2003
Jeffrey Mirel, University of Michigan Paedagogica Historica, Volume 39, No. 4 August 2003
Bradley Portin et al., Center on Reinventing Public Education September 2003
Education TrustSeptember 3, 2003
Most businesses, when faced with a budget crunch, pare non-essential activities to save money. Firing essential staff is generally a last resort. In schools, however, teachers are often the first to go when money gets tight.
When the Supreme Court handed down its decision in Zelman v. Harris, I thought the ruling would have little impact on the school choice debate because it dealt only with constitutionality, not the politics of actually passing a voucher bill. Now events in Washington, D.C. and elsewhere make me think I was wrong.The voucher debate has changed since Zelman.
The lively debate over a proposed federal voucher program for needy children in the District of Columbia has re-surfaced a familiar issue. In today's guest editorial, Andy Rotherham calls it ensuring "accountability" for private schools receiving voucher-bearing students.
This week, a draft of New York State's five year report on charter schools was presented to the governor and legislature.
Florida voters take note! The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released a report this week that's chock full of interesting findings about schools and reform strategies around the world. Among the more interesting results, the OECD report found that class size reduction is not the cure-all reform that many want it to be.
This fascinating new report starts with the well-known fact that poor, urban, and minority classrooms are less apt to be staffed by highly qualified teachers, then challenges the conventional wisdom that such people generally shun jobs in "hard to staff" places. Turns out that's not true. Plenty of well-prepared and qualified teachers APPLY for such teaching posts. But they don't get hired.