The woman who was arguably one of the most influential U.S. educators in decades died on Christmas day in her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the age of 81, with her fingernails freshly painted bright red — as always. That would be Linda Brown, who tried very hard to remain private, and succeeded. To date, there […]
The conventional wisdom in some quarters is that the charter school movement has run its course. Abandoned by an increasingly progressive Democratic Party for being “neo-liberal” and by an increasingly populist Republican Party for being “technocratic,” charter schools (the story goes) are falling into the chasm that has opened up in the political center of […]
In an unusual, first-of-its-kind ranking of 35 states and the District of Columbia, charter schools in Alaska turned in the highest scores in reading and math, with students there learning the equivalent of about a year’s more material than their peers in other charter schools. Meanwhile, Hawaii appeared at the bottom, with students there learning […]
Nina Rees wasn’t the first person to lead the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools. But her tenure witnessed the sector’s largest growth as well as some of the harshest attacks from critics who see charters as a threat to traditional public schools. Her announcement last month to leave the position she’s held since 2012 […]
The landscape of American education has undergone an unmistakable change since the emergence of COVID-19, with building closures and virtual instruction giving way to a sizable, national disenrollment from schools. As many parents began searching for private and homeschool alternatives to the traditional K–12 experience, conservatives seized the opportunity to enact or expand sweeping school […]