Ohio's Education Reform Challenges

Lessons from the Frontlines

C. Finn, T. Ryan, M. Lafferty

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN:
  9780230106963
• eBook ISBN:
  9780230109728
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Administration

Charter schools have emerged as one of the central policy debates in U.S. education - and the Thomas B. Fordham Institute team has been a key participant in this debate since day one, both nationally and in Ohio. Despite President Obama's call for states to strengthen the charter sector and widen the options it provides to needy youngsters, established interests in education and politics oppose this disruption of the status quo. Ohio has struggled with these issues for more than a decade, struggles in which the authors of this book have played influential - and controversial - roles, including that of an actual authorizer of charter schools. They write from wide experience on the ground as well as extensive research and nationally-respected policy expertise.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• 1 Dayton's Decline
• 2 The Dawn of Charter Schools
• 3 Urban School Reform: Part I
• 4 Be Careful What You Wish For
• 5 Urban School Reform: Part II
• 6 Plunging Ahead
• 7 Baptism Under Fire
• 8 An Education Tragedy
• 9 Polarization and Politics
• 10 The Rest of the Story
• 11 Hard Lessons
• Appendix A: Glossary
• Appendix B: Key Moments in Ohio's Charter School Program
• Appendix C: The Growth of Ohio's Charter Program, 1998–2009
• List of Contributors
• Index