The Innovations in Education series publications identify concrete, real-world examples of innovations flourishing throughout this great land in six important areas: public school choice, supplemental educational services, charter schools, magnet schools, alternative teacher certification, and school leadership. This first publication starts with what might be the most challenging aspect of No Child Left Behind, but also an area of great opportunity: implementation of the law's public school choice provisions. For the past two years, some critics have complained that these provisions are impossible to put into place. Others have said that school districts will simply refuse to comply. Yet, this publication shows that superintendents and districts are indeed fulfilling their responsibilities and making public school choice work for their neediest students. It has not been easy, but the experiences of these districts can inform the work of others. By taking lessons from these case studies, districts can avoid starting from scratch. To be sure, none of these districts is doing everything 100 percent right. And all of them had a head start, since they had adopted some form of public school choice before the federal law was passed. Surely, the requirement to provide such choice, while in line with America's principles and values, can be difficult to implement logistically. As we learn from this publication, a strong public school choice program must be integrated into a district's overall strategy. Communication to parents, faculty, and the community must be accurate, consistent, and energetic. Transportation and scheduling challenges must be fully addressed. This is no walk in the park. But the message of this publication is loud and clear: it can be done.

This volume is a thorough and comprehensive examination of the concerns about educational choice. Judith Pearson identifies errors, omissions, and fallacies in the economic and political theories used to justify choice and raises questions about the potential impacts of choice on both urban and rural public schools and consumers. The range of potential consequences of choice have not been thoroughly examined before implementation--a serious problem because educational choice may undermine the basic principles of public education in a democratic society and increase existing inequities in educational opportunities for many students. The bandwagon for choice is already rolling at great speed, with such high-powered proponents as President George Bush and Secretary of Education Lamar Alexander. The book opens with a skeptical examination of the popular perception of a general crisis in education and the interpretation of test scores upon which this notion is based. Chapter 2 describes the implementation of educational choice in Minnesota and critically examines the thoroughness and objectivity of the program monitoring and evaluation. Chapter 3 describes Minnesota's K-12 open enrollment program and critically examines the three Working Papers that are the total of the state's program evaluation. The chapter also explores abuses of the laissez-faire choice program and the impacts of student and dollar transfers on local school districts. In chapters 4 and 5, the author investigates the popular concept that bureaucracy is the cause of problems in education and questions the appropriateness of applying a policy of deregulation to public education. Chapter 7 examines the existing inequities in educational funding and suggests that choice may make a bad situation much worse, particularly in urban schools. In Chapter 8, the author looks at the probable ways that abuses of the competitive market system will adversely affect consumers of education. Chapter 9 addresses the obvious: Where there are winners in a competitive marketplace, there are also losers. Who are they, individually and collectively? Also analyzed are the impacts of choice on educators, school boards, administrators, and teachers. Finally, Pearson challenges the constitutionality of choice through the probable inclusion of public funding for private schools.

Advocates of school vouchers and other choice proposals couch their arguments in the fashionable language of economic theory. Choice initiatives at all levels of government have succeeded, it is claimed, because they shift responsibility for education reform from government to market forces. This timely book disputes the appropriateness of the market metaphor as a guide to education policy.