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The authors comment on educational change in the U.S., particularly the issue of school choice. The opinion that there are many stereotypes about education reform is shared as is the view that school choice would privatize education. The development of a public education system in the early 20th century is described. The author also considers the implications of an education system that is not based on choice but that is completely controlled by the government.

Comments on the potential disruptive technologies in education. Topic of the book `The Innovator's Dilemma,' by Clayton M. Christensen; Sources for demand for online technologies in education; Information on the providers of the online technologies.

An opinion piece is presented in which the authors discuss charter schools in the U.S. and argue for the benefits of a more limited role for local school boards in public education. The authors argue that school boards should be limited in order to allow schools freedom to adapt and focus on performance rather than compliance, and they outline a system based on checks and balances and limited government power.

The article presents the author's opinions regarding the funding policies and structures of the U.S. educational system as of 2011. Introductory remarks are given asserting that the existing financial paradigm is a failure. Suggestions are then given proposing an alternative method which focuses on the funding of individual students in a flexible manner rather than fixed institutions.

The article presents the authors' views about the school finance in the U.S. The authors say that teachers, administrators, and principals can no longer be oblivious about the uses of school funds. They need to know what other uses could be made of the same funds, and to feel a clear obligation to pursue the best uses possible. They also say that decisions about funding, spending, and educational programs all need to be made together, and all based on evidence about results.

The author reflects on the difficulties of allowing school choice. He states schools of choice are hard to run, are demanding places to teach, and have difficulty competing with district-run schools. The author also discusses inherent problems exhibited among choice schools, including the lack of technological use, the deficiency of teachers who understand challenges brought on by an academic results-oriented focus, and the number of weak government oversight agencies among others.

This article discusses the differences in strategy for application of funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation used for health and education. The health funds focus on delivering established remedies to those having difficulty getting them. Medicines are provided to the poor who can't ordinarily afford them. The Foundation uses the same philosophy in education by providing education opportunities for the poor and disadvantaged. The difference is that in education the funds will be used in the United States with all of its political machinations making it difficult to use the funds.

If public education is given a trivial definition, equating it with existing arrangements, including school boards elected in particular ways, large central-office bureaucracies, and teacher hiring and placement set through union agreements, proposals like charters and regulated vouchers surely threaten it. But if public education is defined in a serious way, as a community's effort to make sure its children are all educated for good jobs and constructive citizenship, then choice might advance it. Any form of school choice, whether new options offered by school districts or new independent schools funded by vouchers, can support public education or can harm it.

Looks at how school superintendents use 'coach speak' to reassure the public that everything is well within the school system. The assertion that, unlike coaches, superintendents have to act as if the reassurance is all that is needed; The view that, within school systems, it is difficult to address organizational shortcomings and to deal with personnel problems; What issues arose when superintendents were asked to speak in no-attribution discussion groups; How these superintendents felt about this issue of doing different things for disadvantaged students than for middle-class students; Thoughts about reading, longer school days and at-risk kids.

Opinion. Makes observations concerning the educational structure in the United States. Efforts to improve public schools incrementally; Evolution of public education into a government- and profession-run bureaucracy; Proposal for contract schools to restore balance between private and public interests.

Focuses on local schools in the United States. What poll routinely shows; Improvement in education; Cruel paradox.

The author argues that rural schools should be the focus of improving public education in the U.S., looking at the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, the Rural Opportunities Consortium of Idaho (ROCI), and the Bellweather Education Partners nonprofit organization.

In this article, the author expresses the opinion that regulations and constraints on hiring, teacher assignments, and the use of time and money are significant barriers to improving public school performance, and that these constraints should be lifted.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "An Urban Legend--Literally," by Antonia Cortese and F. Howard Nelson, in the December 13, 2006 issue.

The article analyzes that in the case of post-hurricane New Orleans, American school planners will be as close as they have ever come to a "green field" opportunity. A large public education system will need to be built from scratch. Although last year in New Orleans there were 60,000 children in district-run schools and 50,000 in parochial schools, no one knows how many of those students will return, or where they will settle, or when. Money from all sources should be pooled to provide scholarships for all New Orleans students, no matter where they previously went to school.

The article informs that in recent months, researchers have rushed into print studies claiming to assess charter school effectiveness. Everyone wants to know whether students in charter schools are learning more or less than they would have learned in conventional public schools. First, it is impossible to observe the same students simultaneously in both charter schools and the schools they would have attended if charter schools had not been available. Thus, it is necessary to create a "counterfactual" by comparing students in charter schools with other students who are similar in some ways but do not attend charter schools.

Presents a letter to the editor about contribution of educationist Thomas K. Glennan to the U.S. education, published in "Education Week" as of April 21, 2004.

Comments on the book `Hard Lessons: Public Schools and Privatization,' by Carol Ascher. Conclusion on privatization; Use of the term `privatization' in the book; Inconsistencies in the book.

Opinion. Discusses the evolution of the charter school movement into an engine of broader reform for public education in the United States. Signs of maturity for the movement; Possibilities opened for public schools; Arguments raised by supporters of reform-oriented charter school laws; Status of charter applications in the country.