Fordham volunteers to pilot vetting process in Cleveland
The Education GadflyTerry 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.
The voucher animus
Chester E. Finn, Jr.8 reasons private school choice still struggles
How School Districts Can Stretch the School Dollar
Michael J. PetrilliThe "new normal" of tougher budget times is here to stay for American K-12 education. So how can local officials cope? This policy brief, by Mike Petrilli, provides a useful tool for navigating the financial challenges of the current school-funding climate, complete with clear dos and don'ts for anyone involved in or concerned with local education budgets.
Next stop for Louisiana: Accountability, done right
Adam EmersonLouisiana 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.
10 years after Zelman, challenges still loom for voucher advocates
Adam EmersonThe 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, school vouchers, and the perfidy of Tony Evers
Adam EmersonWisconsin'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."
3 thoughts about the future of school integration
Michael J. PetrilliMike 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
Georgia House passes measure to test the “134-year-old status quo”
Adam EmersonThe 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.
It SHOULD be hard to pull the parent trigger
Adam EmersonThe recent failure to enact a parent trigger in a California community is an example of how the system should work.
Santorum lends extremes to a movement that should find a center
Adam EmersonThe spotlight shining on the GOP candidate's educational philosophy is both a blessing and a curse for home-schooling parents and their advocates.
A price tag on misbehavior? An embattled Chicago charter network isn’t alone
Adam EmersonA charter network's practice of charging fees for misbehavior has precedence in some Catholic school codes of conduct.
Graduating to a new conversation of parental choice
Choice Words' new editor Adam Emerson outlines the need for a reinvented dialogue on school choice.
Charter school teachers would be hit hard by new Treasury Department ruling on pensions
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.
The Gadfly Daily’s week in review
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
The challenges of charter-district collaboration
Cooperation between charter and district schools has potential, but Fordham’s bloggers highlighted a few reasons for concern.
Negotiate from a position of strength
Michael J. PetrilliMike channels realpolitik to analyze district-charter collaboration.
Fordham Institute names Adam Emerson its “school choice czar”
Tyson EberhardtMeet the newest member of the Fordham team, and the editor of the Choice Words blog.
School choice, subsidiarity and the common good
Guest blogger Adam Emerson explains why education reformers need to learn the value of subsidiarity.
The Costs of Online Learning
The latest installment of Fordham's Creating Sound Policy for Digital Learning series investigates one of the more controversial aspects of digital learning: How much does it cost? In this paper, the Parthenon Group uses interviews with more than fifty vendors and online-schooling experts to estimate today's average per-pupil cost for a variety of schooling models, traditional and online, and presents a nuanced analysis of the important variance in cost between different school designs.
News of the World: rocketships, suburban charters, parent triggers, cheating, merit pay -- and even Winerip does good
Peter MeyerOkay, 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:
Better Choices: Charter Incubation as a Strategy for Improving the Charter School Sector
Terry RyanIn 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.
Don???t blame D.C.???s woes on school choice
Michael J. PetrilliDC schools have serious issues, but increased school choice is part of the solution, not the root of the problem.
School Finance in the Digital-Learning Era
Paul T. HillWill the move toward virtual and “blended learning” schools in American education repeat the mistakes of the charter-school movement, or will it learn from them? The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, with the support of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation, has commissioned five deep-thought papers that, together, address the thorniest policy issues surrounding digital learning. The goal is to boost the prospects for successful online learning (both substantively and politically) over the long run.
Ed Next Book Club: Sarah Carr on Hope Against Hope
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
Charter School Autonomy: A Half-Broken Promise
Jacob L. Rosch, Dana BrinsonThe 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.
Renewal and Optimism: Five Years as an Ohio Charter Authorizer
Kathryn MullenThe 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.
Halting a Runaway Train: Reforming Teacher Pensions for the 21st Century
Mike LaffertyWhen it comes to public-sector pensions, writes lead author Mike Lafferty in this report, "A major public-policy (and public-finance) problem has been defined and measured, debated and deliberated, but not yet solved. Except where it has been." As recounted in "Halting a Runaway Train: Reforming Teacher Pensions for the 21st Century," these exceptions turn out to be revealing—and encouraging. As leaders around the country struggle to overhaul America's controversial and precarious public-sector pensions, this study draws on examples from diverse fields to provide a primer on successful pension reform. Download to find valuable lessons for policymakers, workers, and taxpayers looking for timely solutions to a dire problem.
The authorizer mystique
Guest blogger Alex Medler is the VP for Research and Evaluation at the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA). Medler chaired the board of directors of Colorado's Charter School Institute, a statewide charter authorizer.
Another Times trio: mimicking charters, home ec revival, and Walt Gardner
Peter MeyerThe New York Times continues to provide a generous medley of education reporting, including, of course, from their controversial "On Education" columnist Michael Winerip.? Alas, Winerip is not among the three recent stories I want to highlight here: