Should CMOs really be in the business of ed reform?
The premise that charter management organizations can—or should—be effective advocacy vehicles rests on assumptions of questionable validity.
The premise that charter management organizations can—or should—be effective advocacy vehicles rests on assumptions of questionable validity.
Education’s mini mills
Why not try strapping Title I dollars to the backs of needy kids and letting them take it to the schools of their choice?
Mike analyzes Governor Romney's education proposal on WSJ.com.
Program design matters
Terry Ryan's writes today that Fordham would be willing to lead the way in going through a vetting process led by the Transformation Alliance in Cleveland.
8 reasons private school choice still struggles
Louisiana became the latest state to embrace the introduction of school vouchers, but the legislative moxie it showed should stimulate a new conversation about private school choice and accountability.
The U.S. Supreme Court's decision a decade ago didn't end the fight over private school choice, even though it should have caused states to rethink what they so sweepingly consider “aid” to sectarian institutions.
Wisconsin's top educator has again used his position to imply that the Badger State is throwing more money at a voucher program he once called "morally wrong."
Mike provides his take on how to approach the integration issue from a recent panel discussion co-hosted by the Century Foundation, Howard University, and the Fordham Institute
The Georgia House this week took another step toward exiling last spring’s state Supreme Court decision prohibiting the state approval of charter schools to the history books, where it belongs.
The recent failure to enact a parent trigger in a California community is an example of how the system should work.
The spotlight shining on the GOP candidate's educational philosophy is both a blessing and a curse for home-schooling parents and their advocates.
A charter network's practice of charging fees for misbehavior has precedence in some Catholic school codes of conduct.
Choice Words' new editor Adam Emerson outlines the need for a reinvented dialogue on school choice.
Guest bloggers Michael Podgursky, Stuart Buck, and Renita Thukral explain why proposed regulations would have a "dramatic and detrimental effect" on the ability of charters to accomplish their education goals.
Writers on the Gadfly Daily blogs analyzed issues from around the country this week, discussing everything from the lessons that the Louisiana Recovery School District has to offer to the tough talk coming from
Cooperation between charter and district schools has potential, but Fordham’s bloggers highlighted a few reasons for concern.
Mike channels realpolitik to analyze district-charter collaboration.
Meet the newest member of the Fordham team, and the editor of the Choice Words blog.
Guest blogger Adam Emerson explains why education reformers need to learn the value of subsidiarity.
Okay, it's not exactly what Rupert might condone, but since he and his crew are preoccupied and because our News Nuggets shop has plenty to do, I offer some education highlights from my weekend reading:
Mike Petrilli and AEI's Rick Hess examine the consequences of the America's focus on achievement gaps in a Washington Post Op-Ed.
In this policy brief, Public Impact??s Joe Ableidinger and Julie Kowal examine the merits of the incubation model, outline specific strategies for supporting it, and profile organizations around the U.S. putting it into practice. The authors explain that through the strategic recruitment, selection, and training of talented leaders???and support of them as they launch or expand new charter schools???incubators offer charter school advocates an important tool in guaranteeing quality school choice.
ED's diversity enforcement policies could negatively impact magnet schools.
DC schools have serious issues, but increased school choice is part of the solution, not the root of the problem.
In this installment of the Education Next book club, host Mike Petrilli talks with Sarah Carr about the successes and failures of New Orleans-style reform
The typical U.S. charter school lacks the autonomy it needs to succeed, once state, authorizer, and other impositions are considered. For some schools—in some states, with some authorizers—the picture is brighter but for many it's bleak. State-specific grades for charter autonomy range from A to F.
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is pleased to share our 2009-10 Sponsorship Accountability Report. The report, Renewal and Optimism: Five Years as an Ohio Charter Authorizer, contains a year in review for Ohio's charter school program, detailed information on the Fordham Foundation's work as a charter school sponsor, and data on the performance of our sponsored schools during that year.