SRN LEADS/Stanford University: School Redesign Network — Leadership, Equity & Accountability in Districts & Schools

charter schools

Keeping the Promise? The Debate Over Charter Schools

Edited by Leigh Dingerson, Barbara Miner, Bob Peterson, and Stephanie Walters

Published by Rethinking Schools

Order the book ($16.95, plus shipping and handling)

Keeping the Promise? examines one of the most complex reforms in education: charter schools. This wide-ranging and thought-provoking collection of essays examines the charter school movement's founding visions, on-the-ground realities, and untapped potential—within the context of an unswerving commitment to democratic, equitable public schools.

Essays include policy overviews from nationally known educators such as Ted Sizer and Linda Darling-Hammond, interviews with leaders of community-based charter schools, and analyses of how charters have developed in cities such as New Orleans and Washington, D.C.

March, 2008 • Paperback • 144 pages • ISBN: 978-0-942961-38-6

Keeping the Promise:
Table of Contents

Preface — ix
Introduction — xi

 

Charter Schools and the Values
of Public Education — 3
By Ted Sizer and George Wood

 

Unlovely: How the Market Is Failing the Children of New Orleans — 17
By Leigh Dingerson

 

Profits and Privatization: The Ohio Experience — 35
By Amy Hanauer

 

"Evolution" or Destruction? A Look at Washington, D.C. — 53
By Zein El-Amine and Lee Glazer

 

Boston's Pilot Schools: An Alternative to Charter Schools — 67
By Dan French

 

Lessons from the Ground: Interviews with Charter School Educators — 81
By Barbara Miner

 

Keeping the Promise: The Role of Policy in Reform — 91
By Linda Darling-Hammond
and Kenneth Montgomery

 

Editors' Bios — 111
Collaborating Organizations — 113
Index — 115