Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. The meaning and education methods have changed through debates over what content or experiences result in an educated individual or an educated society. Historically, the motivations for reform have not reflected the current needs of society. A consistent theme of reform includes the idea that large systematic changes to educational standards will produce social returns in citizens' health, wealth, and well-being.
Education in Canada is for the most part provided publicly, funded and overseen by federal, provincial, and local governments. Education is within provincial jurisdiction and the curriculum is overseen by the province. Education in Canada is generally divided into primary education, followed by secondary education and post-secondary. Education in both English and French is available in most places across Canada. Canada has a large number of universities, almost all of which are publicly funded. Established in 1663, Université Laval is the oldest post-secondary institution in Canada. The largest university is the University of Toronto with over 85,000 students. Four universities are regularly ranked among the top 100 world-wide, namely University of Toronto, University of British Columbia, McGill University, and McMaster University, with a total of 18 universities ranked in the top 500 worldwide.
Charter schools in the United States are primary or secondary education institutions which receive government funding but operate with a degree of autonomy or independence from local public school districts. Charter schools have a contract with local public school districts or other governmental authorizing bodies that allow them to operate. These contracts, or charters, are how charter schools bear their name. Charter schools are open to all students, depending on capacity, and do not charge tuition. 7.4 percent of all public school students attended a charter school in the 2021–2022 school year.
Oakland Unified School District is a public education school district that operates a total of 80 elementary schools (TK–5), middle schools (6–8), and high schools (9–12). There are also 28 district-authorized charter schools in Oakland, California, United States, serving a total of 48,704 students across both district-run and district-authorized charter schools.
The District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) is the local public school system for Washington, D.C. It is distinct from the District of Columbia Public Charter Schools (DCPCS), which governs public charter schools in the city.
School Without Walls High School (SWW) is a small public magnet high school in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington, D.C. It is colloquially referred to by students and faculty as "Walls." The school is based on a concept in urban education that encourages students to "use the city as a classroom," which is the origin of its name.
The California State Board of Education is the governing and policy-making body of the California Department of Education. The State Board of Education sets K-12 education policy in the areas of standards, instructional materials, assessment, and accountability. The State Board of Education adopts textbooks for grades K-8, adopts regulations to implement legislation, and has authority to grant waivers of the Education Code. Content standards are designed to encourage the highest achievement of every student, by defining the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students should acquire at each grade level. The State Board of Education has eleven members, including one student member, all appointed by the Governor of California. The student member is selected from a group of three students nominated by the board. Those are picked from the delegation of the Student Advisory Board on Education, a conference run by the California Association of Student Councils.
Education in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania began with Benjamin Franklin's founding of the University of Pennsylvania as European styled school and America's first university. Today's Philadelphia region is home to nearly 300,000 college students, numerous private and parochial secondary schools, and the 8th largest school district in the country.
Post Independent School District is a public school district based in Post, Texas (USA).
The Columbia School District is a public school district based in Columbia, Mississippi (USA).
Booker T. Washington Public Charter School was a 501c3 non-profit charter high school chartered by the District of Columbia Public Schools.It operated from 1999 to 2014
The Florida education system consists of public and private schools in Florida, including the State University System of Florida (SUSF), the Florida College System (FCS), the Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida (ICUF) and other private institutions, and also secondary and primary schools as well as virtual schools.
The District of Columbia has a mayor–council government that operates under Article One of the United States Constitution and the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. The Home Rule Act devolves certain powers of the United States Congress to the local government, which consists of a mayor and a 13-member council. However, Congress retains the right to review and overturn laws created by the council and intervene in local affairs.
Charter schools operate with considerably more independence than traditional public schools. However, Massachusetts has two kinds of charter schools - Commonwealth Charters and Horace Mann Charters. Horace Mann charter schools differ from Commonwealth charter schools as they must be located within a school district. Both kinds of charter schools are free to structure their curriculum and school environment; for instance, many charter schools fit more instructional hours into a year by running longer school days and providing instruction on weekends and during the summer. Because few charter schools are unionized, they can hire and fire teachers and administrative staff without regard to the collectively bargained seniority and tenure provisions that constrain such decisions in most public schools. Although charter students made up only 2.9 percent of U.S. public school enrollment in 2008–2009, charter enrollment has grown rapidly and seems likely to accelerate in the near future. The growth of charter schools is an important component of the contemporary education reform movement's pursuit of accountability and flexibility in public education. Proponents see charter schools' freedom from regulation as a source of educational innovation, with the added benefit of providing a source of competition that may prompt innovation and improvement in the rest of the public system. At the same time, charter schools are controversial because, after a transition period in which the state provides subsidies, they receive a tuition payment for each enrolled student paid by students' home districts. In Massachusetts, tuition payments are determined largely by the average per-pupil expenditure in sending districts. Not surprisingly, therefore, public school districts are concerned about the revenue lost when their students enroll in charter schools.
The District of Columbia School Reform Act of 1995 was passed by the United States Congress. Since Washington, D.C., is a semi-autonomous non-state, Congress has jurisdiction over the city and passed the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions and Appropriations Act of 1996. Title I amended the D.C. School Reform Act in 1995, making charter schools part of the public-education system in Washington. Unlike the states, the District of Columbia had relatively little opposition to charter schools from politicians and the public; what opposition existed was not firmly entrenched due to controversy within the union. A strong advocate in getting the act passed was the advocacy group Friends of Choice in Urban Schools (FOCUS), which continues to lobby for charter schools in the district. The act created the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board (PCSB) as the city's second, independent authorizer of public charter schools in the city. Board members are nominated by the mayor of Washington, D.C., and approved by the DC Council. In 2006, the D.C. Board of Education voted to relinquish its charter-authorizing authority.
The Federal Charter School Program was created in 1994, as an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The purpose of the program is to provide federal funding to state or local education agencies that manage the development and execution of charter schools within the USA.
A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autonomy for accountability, that it is freed from the rules but accountable for results.
Sonia Gutierrez is a Puerto Rican educator and Hispanic rights activist. She was principal, counselor and advocate for adult students at the Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, an adult charter school in Washington, D.C.
The District of Columbia State Board of Education (SBOE) is an independent executive branch agency of the Government of the District of Columbia, in the United States. The SBOE provides advocacy and policy guidance for the District of Columbia Public Schools, and works with the Chancellor of the District of Columbia Public Schools and the District of Columbia State Superintendent of Education. Charter schools are overseen by the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board.
District of Columbia International School (DCI) is a public charter school in Washington, DC. It offers an International Baccalaureate education to students in grades 6 to 12. Each student learns in a partial language immersion program in Spanish, French or Chinese.
