Building a Districtwide Small Schools Movement

Community and Economic Development;Education and Literacy

Building a Districtwide Small Schools Movement

Presents a case study of community organizing for school reform by Oakland Community Organizations: how parent and community engagement in a campaign for small schools shaped leadership development, district policy, school capacity, and student outcomes.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America / United States (Western) / California;North America / United States (Western) / California / Alameda County / Oakland

New regulations impacting school choice program: School closures up, number of new schools down

Education and Literacy

New regulations impacting school choice program: School closures up, number of new schools down

Between the 2008-09 and 2009-10 school years, fewer new schools joined the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (MPCP) than ever before. In addition, 13 MPCP schools closed and another three schools merged - the most year-over-year closures the program has seen. In this 12th edition of the Public Policy Forum's annual census of MPCP schools, we find 112 schools are participating in the choice program, enrolling 21,062 students using taxpayer-funded tuition vouchers. The number of full-time equivalent students using vouchers is greater than in any other year of the program's 19-year history; however, there are fewer schools participating today than earlier this decade.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Midwestern)-Wisconsin-Milwaukee County-Milwaukee

Harsh Realities: The Experiences of Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools

Children and Youth, Education and Literacy, Gay, Lesbian, Bi and Trans

Harsh Realities: The Experiences of Transgender Youth in Our Nation's Schools

Using data from GLSEN's fifth National School Climate Survey, this report documents the school experiences of 295 transgender middle and high school students and finds that these students face extremely high levels of victimization, even more so than their non-transgender lesbian, gay and bisexual peers.

August 1970

Geographic Focus: North America-United States

Your Schools,Your Voice: The Impact of Mayoral Control on Community Participation in Schools

Education and Literacy

Your Schools,Your Voice: The Impact of Mayoral Control on Community Participation in Schools

Teachers Unite, a membership organization of public school teachers working for social justice, developed this report -- with the research support of the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center -- in order to explore the impact of mayoral control on democratic participation in schools. Surveys and focus groups with teachers, Your schools, Your voice parents, and students, combined with a review of relevant laws, policies, and structures, revealed that teachers want decision-making power and the ability to provide feedback regarding the mayor's major decisions; however, the current participation mechanisms prevent this from happening effectively. At a time when teachers are criticized for being self-interested, many teachers stand with parents and students in the desire to create a school system where democratic participation is valued and the voice of the entire community is heard. When teachers are included in decision-making about schools, their work in the classroom will improve, thus leading to a better learning environment for their students. This report shows how the subsequent loss of power and accountability and lack of participation impact the New York City school system. By looking at the current school governance bodies, the programs initiated under mayoral control, and the views of teachers, parents, and students, this report documents how mayoral control devalues those directly impacted by the school system and proposes recommendations that can positively create the change the system needs.

December 1969

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Northeastern)-New York-New York County-New York City

Ready, Willing and Able: Kansas City Parents Talk About How to Improve Schools and What They Can Do to Help

Education and Literacy;Parenting and Families

Ready, Willing and Able: Kansas City Parents Talk About How to Improve Schools and What They Can Do to Help

Are parents an untapped resource in improving and reimagining K -- 12 education in Kansas City? What do they think would enhance student learning and what are they willing to do to help their children get the education they deserve? These are among the questions explored in an in-depth survey of 1,566 parents with children now in public school in the Kansas City metropolitan area. This study finds the majority of parents in the Kansas City area ready, willing and able to be more engaged in their children's education at some level. For communities to reap the most benefit from additional parental involvement, it is important to understand that different parents can be involved and seek to be involved in different ways.

The results of this research, detailed in the following pages, show that nearly a third of the region's parents may be ready to take on a greater role in shaping how local schools operate and advocating for reform in K -- 12 education. These parents say they would be very comfortable serving on committees focused on teacher selection and the use of school resources. Their sense of "parental engagement" extends beyond such traditional activities as attending PTA meetings, coaching sports, volunteering for bake sales, chaperoning school trips and seeing that their children are prepared for school each day. Yet, despite their broad interest in a deeper, more substantive involvement in shaping the region's school systems, relatively few of these "potential transformers" have actually participated in policy-oriented activities in the past year.

Moreover, this survey finds that even though the majority of parents seem less inclined to jump into school policy debates, many say they could do more to support local schools in the more traditional school parent roles.

December 1969

Geographic Focus: North America-United States (Midwestern)-Missouri-Platte County;North America-United States (Midwestern)-Missouri-Jackson County-Kansas City;North America-United States (Midwestern)-Missouri-Clay County;North America-United States (Midwestern)-Missouri-Cass County;North America-United States (Midwestern)-Kansas-Wyandotte County-Kansas City

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