Introduction

Author(s):  
Robert N. Gross

The introduction sets up the problem public officials faced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. How should they, and the public schools they administered, respond to rapidly increasing attendance in private, Catholic schools? How, in a nation seemingly committed to mass public education, did private, Catholic schooling expand? In the broader economic language popular both at the time and today, how did educational competition and markets emerge in the twentieth century given the strong support for a public school monopoly a century earlier? The book’s central argument is that the structures that enable school choice to flourish today owe their origins—over a century ago—as much to public policy as to private initiative.

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (6) ◽  
pp. 984-1007
Author(s):  
Stephanie A. Flores-Koulish ◽  
Jessica T. Shiller

The purpose of this article is to discuss the possibilities of public education. We argue that public schools, despite their flaws, still provide necessary spaces of civic engagement. When major social and/or political events happen, young people have few outlets to discuss, process, and understand implications. In this article, we share the experiences of Baltimore’s teachers after the death of Freddie Gray, an unarmed Black man, who lived in Baltimore and died in police custody. Following his death, the city exploded in protest, both violent and peaceful. We interviewed eight teachers and collected curriculum samples to make sense of how they used the public school classroom as a space of critical care, social justice, cultural relevance, and anti-racism to contextualize current events in their city. There are implications here for school district professional development and teacher education.


2007 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 133-142
Author(s):  
Russell Arben Fox

Michael J. Apple$quoteright$s book constitutes, among many other things, an ambitious rethinking of what will be necessary to make the ideal of egalitarian public schooling more appealing to those parents who have, in recent years, found their beliefs and criticisms most readily responded to by various `conservative modernizers' and other enemies of public education. Rather than treating all those who make attacks on public schooling in the same way, Apple proposes that educators develop ways to alter the structure of public schools so as to draw in the support of at least some of their critics, particularly those whose criticisms arise from concerns about the perceived opposition between public schooling and religious and parental authority. The question then becomes how to accommodate such charter and community schools within the public education ideal.


1997 ◽  
Vol 91 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Schneider ◽  
Paul Teske ◽  
Melissa Marschall ◽  
Michael Mintrom ◽  
Christine Roch

While the possible decline in the level of social capital in the United States has received considerable attention by scholars such as Putnam and Fukuyama, less attention has been paid to the local activities of citizens that help define a nation's stock of social capital. Scholars have paid even less attention to how institutional arrangements affect levels of social capital. We argue that giving parents greater choice over the public schools their children attend creates incentives for parents as “citizen/consumers” to engage in activities that build social capital. Our empirical analysis employs a quasi-experimental approach comparing parental behavior in two pairs of demographically similar school districts that vary on the degree of parental choice over the schools their children attend. Our data show that, controlling for many other factors, parents who choose when given the opportunity are higher on all the indicators of social capital analyzed. Fukuyama has argued that it is easier for governments to decrease social capital than to increase it. We argue, however, that the design of government institutions can create incentives for individuals to engage in activities that increase social capital.


Numen ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo Camurça ◽  
Sueli Martins

RESUMOA partir de um estudo de caso de escolas municipais na cidade de Juiz de Fora, este artigo visa discutir a questão de fundo da laicidade no Brasil. Tomando a perspectiva do debate internacional atual que analisa este processo de uma forma plural e não como via única que tem como modelo os países europeus e os EUA, busca-se aqui estabelecer uma tipologia - três casos paradigmáticos - que nos aproxime das formas diferenciadas e informais de regulação do religioso no ambiente público escolarPalavras-chave: Chave: Escolas públicas, laicidade, regulação, religiões, BrasilABSTRACTDrawing upon a case study on public schools in the city of Juiz de Fora (MG), this article aims to discuss the substantive issue of secularism in Brazil. The paper builds on the current international debate that analyzes the process of secularization under a plural and multidimensional, rather than one-imensional perspective, which has been modeled on European countries and the United States. We seek to establish a typology based on three paradigmatic cases that may bring us closer to the differing forms and informal regulation of the religious phenomenon in the public education environment.Keywords: Public schools, secularism, regulation, religions, Brazil 


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 169
Author(s):  
Felix Barbosa Carreiro

Cabe ao Estado garantir o direito a uma educação pública com qualidade socialmente referenciada. A julgar pelos indicadores educacionais publicados a partir dos resultados do Índice de Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica (Ideb), esse direito, no que se refere ao acesso, à permanência e ao sucesso escolar dos alunos que frequentam as escolas públicas, não está sendo sufi cientemente garantido. Apontamos como causa desse fracasso escolar a inexistência de políticas públicas educacionais focadas na aprendizagem escolar. Vale lembrar que as escolas públicas que apresentam o Ideb para além da meta, não significam necessariamente qualidade da educação. Reconhecemos que as avaliações em larga escala têm a potencialidade de subsidiar as políticas em educação com vistas à melhoria dos indicadores de qualidade do ensino e da aprendizagem, sobretudo quando os resultados são problematizados e sistematizados pelos sistemas educacionais e pelas escolas. Compreendemos que a qualidade na educação pública implica a efetivação da aprendizagem, ou seja, que o aluno aprenda, seja aprovado tenha garantido um futuro promissor. No contexto de uma escola pública de orientação emancipadora, é preciso que algumas condições objetivas sejam satisfeitas, a saber: gestão escolar democrática, compromisso docente com a escola pública, razoabilidade da infraestrutura escolar, materiais pedagógicos adequados consolidação das mediações escolares de participação.Palavras-chave: Qualidade. Educação. Escola pública.Elements for a public education with social qualityABSTRACTIt is the State’s responsibility to ensure the right of a public education with quality socially acknowledged. Judging by the educational indicators published as from The Brazilian Education Development Index (Ideb), this right, in relation to the access, the stay, and the school success of the students that attend the public schools, are not being suffi ciently guaranteed. We point as the cause of this school failure the lack of educational public policies focused in school learning. It is worth remembering that the public schools that present the Ideb above the target do not necessarily mean educational quality. We recognize that the evaluations of large scale have the potential of subsidizing the policies in education in order to the improvement of learning and teaching quality indicators, mainly when the results are questioned and systematized by the educational systems and the schools. We understand the quality in public education implies the learning realization, in other words, that the student learn, can be approved, and ensure a promising future. In the context of a public school with na emancipating orientation, it is necessary that some objective conditions must be satisfied, such as a democratic school management, teaching commitment with the public school, the reasonableness of the school infrastructure, appropriate teaching materials, and the consolidation of the educational mediations of the participation.Keywords: Quality. Education. Public School.Elementos para una educación pública con calidad socialRESUMENPuede el Estado garantizar el derecho a una educación pública con calidad socialmente valorada. A juzgar por los indicadores educacionales publicados a partir de los resultados del Índice de Desarrollo de la Educación Básica (IDEB), ese derecho, en lo que se refi ere al acceso, a la permanencia y al éxito escolar de los alumnos que frecuentan las escuelas públicas, no está siendo suficientemente garantizado. Apuntamos como causa de ese fracaso escolar a la inexistencia de políticas públicas educacionales enfocadas en el aprendizaje escolar. Es preciso recordar que las escuelas públicas que presentan el IDEB como meta, no significa necesariamente calidad de educación. Reconocemos que las evaluaciones a gran escala tienen la potencialidade de subsidiar las políticas de educación con vistas a el mejoramiento de los indicadores de calidad de la enseñanza y del aprendizaje, sobretodo cuando los resultados son planteados y sistematizados por los sistemas educacionales y por las escuelas. Comprendemos que la calidad de la educación pública implica la efectividad del aprendizaje, osea, que el alumno aprenda, sea aprobado y tenga garantizado un futuro prometedor. En el contexto de una escuela pública de orientación emancipadora, es preciso que algunas condiciones objetivas sean satisfechas, a saber: gestión escolar, infraestructura escolar, materiales pedagógicos adecuados, consolidación de las mediaciones escolares de participación.Palabras Clave: Calidad, Educación, Escuela Pública.


Author(s):  
Sarah M. Stitzlein

Not only is the future of our public schools in jeopardy, so is our democracy. Public schools are central to a flourishing democracy, where children learn how to deliberate and solve problems together, build shared identities, and come to value justice and liberty. As citizen support for public schools wanes, our democratic way of life is at risk. While we often hear about the poor performance of students and teachers, the current educational crisis is at heart not about accountability, but rather about citizen responsibility. Yet citizens increasingly do not feel that public schools are our schools, that we have influence over them or responsibility for their outcomes. Citizens have become watchdogs of public institutions largely from the perspective of consumers, without seeing ourselves as citizens who compose the public of public institutions. Accountability becomes more about finding fault with and placing blame on our schools and teachers, rather than about taking responsibility as citizens for shaping our expectations of schools, determining the criteria we use to measure their success, or supporting schools in achieving those goals. This book sheds light on recent shifts in education and citizenship, helping the public to understand not only how schools now work, but also how citizens can take an active role in shaping them. It provides citizens with tools, habits, practices, and knowledge necessary to support schools. It offers a vision of how we can cultivate citizens who will continue to support public schools and thereby keep democracy strong.


2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-21
Author(s):  
Stephanie R. Logan

School choice in the United States can be traced back to the start of civil society when wealthy families selected a school based on educational philosophy, location, or religious tradition. As common schools emerged, larger portions of the population were able to gain access to education. However, many discovered that quality public schools were not a reality for all students. In response, some looked to school choices within and outside of the public school sector. This literature review chronicles school choice efforts to emerge following the 1954 Brown decision and highlights liberal and conservative political heritages of school choice in the United States.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle M. Jacob ◽  
Leilani Sabzalian ◽  
Joana Jansen ◽  
Tary J. Tobin ◽  
Claudia G. Vincent ◽  
...  

This article advocates for the necessity of Indigenous Knowledges in furthering Indigenous self-determination in public schools, as well as furthering the broad aims of public education. Drawing attention to past efforts across the United States to transform the public school curriculum and analyzing data from testimonies given at Oregon State Legislature Hearings, we argue that Indigenous Knowledges offer an important resource for educating all students responsibly and improving relationships within and across communities. Framing these ideas as gift-giving logic, we argue that if educators and policy-makers are open, they can learn a great deal from Indigenous Knowledges and advocacy efforts.


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