Critics see the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), a network of 141 charter schools, as part of the corporate based school reform movement (e.g., Horn, 2011; Grey, 2011), a view shared by many traditional public school educators. So-called corporate based school reform strategies allegedly exploit students and teachers, employ very narrow metrics…

Parent trigger laws have gained momentum nationally under the premise that they will increase local authority by amplifying parental voice in the decision to turn around "failing" schools. Using Hirschman's exit, voice, and loyalty framework we create two conceptual models of voice and evaluate the promise of voice in California,…

The authorizers of charter schools are an understudied piece of the charter reform process. The local school boards, state agencies, and higher education institutions that act as authorizers play a significant role in the market, determining which operators get to enter the market and which are forced to exit. This article provides an…

This article presents the empirical analysis of the effects of a school choice policy in Estonia. The article shows that relying on markets and giving autonomy to the schools over student selection will produce admission tests, even at the elementary school level. This article's contribution is to show that a school choice policy experiment…

The Open Government Partnership is an international initiative, committing governments to its principles of transparency. This article examines how it can advance the topic of freedom of educational choice, as it emphasizes the importance of parents' involvement in the decision-making process at the school level. The article is based on the…

Though school choice has proven to be popular, barriers remain in some states as a result of so-called Blaine Amendments and similar policies to prevent education funding from following students to religious schools as a part of school choice options. If left to stand, these ignoble 19th century amendments will remain major impediments to the…

Recent reforms in England include the aim of converting every school into an "independent state funded school," an academy, and giving the strongest schools more responsibility for initial teacher education, offering professional development programs, and supporting the improvement of less successful schools. School leaders are…

"Measuring Competitive Effects from School Voucher Programs: A Systematic Review" by Ann G. Egalite (p443-464, this issue) concludes that, "overwhelming [U.S.] evidence supports the development of market-based schooling policies as a means to increase student achievement in traditional public schools." Here, John Merrifield…

John Merrifield (in this issue) raises three important observations regarding this review of the literature on the competition effects of school vouchers. The first is an acknowledgment of the limited nature of current school choice markets in the United States. Merrifield's second observation is that the potential responses to competition…

As governments strive to improve outcomes in education, and respond to the needs of an ever more diverse population, autonomy has gained increased prominence in national and international spheres. In the context of education, autonomy refers to the decision-making capacity of a school, and to the manner and areas over which those decisions can be…

Like many parents and educators, the author is concerned about both quality and equity in the school systems and schools, public and private. He is equally frustrated at the seemingly zealous focus on producing more and more charter schools when America have had: (1) limited success in that arena; and (2) limited data on their success. That…

In this essay, the author reviews "Education Reform in New York City: Ambitious Change in the Nation's Most Complex School System," by Jennifer A. O'Day, Catherine S. Bitter, and Louis Gomez. The book under review explores a larger set of issues, and some time has passed. But many of the issues studied remain relevant and the consistent responses…

School voucher and education tax credit programs have proliferated in the United States over the past 2 decades. Advocates have argued that they will enable families to become active consumers in a free and competitive education marketplace, but some fear that these programs may bring a heavy regulatory burden that could stifle market forces.…

Analysts of charter school reform have recently begun to investigate the enrollment patterns of special student populations, namely, low-income students, students classified as special education, and those with English language learner status. Using 3 recent years of data from the New York State School Report Cards and analyzing the charter…

Many people view subgovernments such as the "military-industrial complex" as largely self-governing and budget maximizing. Yet, as defense cutbacks in the 1970s and 1990s show, such networks do not maintain their privileged status indefinitely. In similar fashion, some claim public education is too autonomous and too focused on budget…