School choice is the most talked about reform of American public education, yet writings about choice remain highly speculative because no state has adopted a free market approach to education--until now. The charter school is fast becoming one of the most significant attempts at public education reform in this country. Over 1100 charter schools operate in twenty-seven states, with several hundred more to be added in the next two years. School Choice in the Real World looks at the charter school movement through a highly focused lens: it examines charter schools in Arizona, which currently account for nearly one-quarter of all charter schools.Since 1994, Arizona has implemented a charter school law with the lowest barriers to entry in the nation. As a result, Arizona has more than 200 charter school campuses. Some districts have even lost more than 10% of their students to charter schools. Using the state of Arizona as a case study, the editors examine the experiences of actual charter school operators, social scientific analysis, policy discussions, and criticism and forecasting for the future. The editors bring together academics, policy-makers, and practicioners, and they explain and evaluate how school choice works in the real world.
This book presents the first published accounts and evaluations of the first free market in education in the U.S., Arizona charter schools.
List of Tables and Figures ix Acknowledgments xi List of Acronyms xiii Real World School Choice: Arizona Charter Schools 1(18) Robert Maranto Scott Milliman Frederick Hess April Gresham Part One Theoretical and National Perspectives And This Parent Went to Market: Education as Public Versus Private Good 19(20) L. Elaine Halchin The Death of One Best Way: Charter Schools as Reinventing Government 39(19) Robert Maranto Congress and Charter Schools 58(10) David L. Leal Charter Schools: A National Innovation, an Arizona Revolution 68(31) Bryan C. Hassel Part Two Social Scientists Look at Arizona Charter Schools The Wild West of Education Reform: Arizona Charter Schools 99(16) Robert Maranto April Gresham Why Arizona Embarked on School Reform (and Nevada Did Not) 115(14) Stephanie Timmons-Brown Frederick Hess Do Charter Schools Improve District Schools? Three Approaches to the Question 129(13) Robert Maranto Scott Milliman Frederick Hess April Gresham Closing Charters: How a Good Theory Failed in Practice 142(17) Gregg A. Garn Robert T. Stout Nothing New: Curricula in Arizona Charter Schools 159(14) Robert T. Stout Gregg A. Garn How Arizona Teachers View School Reform 173(16) Frederick Hess Robert Maranto Scott Milliman April Gresham Part Three Practitioners Look at Arizona Charter Schools The Empowerment of Market-Based School Reform 189(9) Lisa Graham Keegan A Voice from the State Legislature: Dont Do What Arizona Did! 198(14) Mary Hartley Public Schools and the Charter Movement: An Emerging Relationship 212(10) Lee L. Hager Whose Idea Was This Anyway? The Challenging Metamorphosis from Private to Charter 222(15) Jim Spencer Part Four Lessons In Lieu of Conclusions: Tentative Lessons from a Contested Frontier 237(12) Robert Maranto Scott Milliman Frederick Hess April Gresham About the Editors and Contributors 249(4) Index 253
Robert A. Maranto is an assistant professor of political science and public administration at Villanova University. He has authored or edited numerous scholarly works, including Politics and Bureaucracy in the Modern PresidencyandRadical Reform of the Civil Service.Scott Milliman is associate professor of economics at James Madison University. His research interests include U.S. education policy and the management of natural resources. Frederick M. Hess is assistant professor of government and education at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Spinning Wheels: The Politics of Urban School Reform. April W. Gresham s a researcher, writer, and statistician living in Villanova, Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Minnesota. Robert A. Maranto is an assistant professor of political science and public administration at Villanova University. He has authored or edited numerous scholarly works, including Politics and Bureaucracy in the Modern PresidencyandRadical Reform of the Civil Service.Scott Milliman is associate professor of economics at James Madison University. His research interests include U.S. education policy and the management of natural resources. Frederick M. Hess is assistant professor of government and education at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Spinning Wheels: The Politics of Urban School Reform. April W. Gresham s a researcher, writer, and statistician living in Villanova, Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Minnesota. Robert A. Maranto is an assistant professor of political science and public administration at Villanova University. He has authored or edited numerous scholarly works, including Politics and Bureaucracy in the Modern PresidencyandRadical Reform of the Civil Service.Scott Milliman is associate professor of economics at James Madison University. His research interests include U.S. education policy and the management of natural resources. Frederick M. Hess is assistant professor of government and education at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Spinning Wheels: The Politics of Urban School Reform. April W. Gresham s a researcher, writer, and statistician living in Villanova, Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Minnesota. Robert A. Maranto is an assistant professor of political science and public administration at Villanova University. He has authored or edited numerous scholarly works, including Politics and Bureaucracy in the Modern PresidencyandRadical Reform of the Civil Service.Scott Milliman is associate professor of economics at James Madison University. His research interests include U.S. education policy and the management of natural resources. Frederick M. Hess is assistant professor of government and education at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Spinning Wheels: The Politics of Urban School Reform. April W. Gresham s a researcher, writer, and statistician living in Villanova, Pennsylvania. She holds a Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of Minnesota.
