Here is a short edited volume that brings together in one place, the best scholarly articles in charter schooling by national experts and leaders, written in a user-friendly fashion. It is the ideal introduction for those interested in the charter school movement with numerous insights for and by charter operators, administrators, and teachers as well as the academic community. The volume starts with essays explaining the history of education reforms past, in particular why their failures make charters a necessity. Additional essays examine such research questions as whether class size matters, how to end the teacher shortage, routes to alternative certification, why urban school reform fails, and how to make merit pay work. The second section includes essays outlining the key research on charter schools. Chapters examine such questions as how charter schools compare to district schools, how non-profit charters compare to for-profit charters, what determines teacher quality, and how the small size of charters makes for complex questions of accountability. The final section includes personal reflections, tips and horror stories from charter operators. In particular, essays examine why most charters have a tough first year, the difficulties of converting a private school to a charter, how to manage facilities, how to obtain grant money, and how to do good charter marketing.

While educators, parents and policymakers are still debating the pros and cons of school choice, it is now possible to learn from choice experiments in public, private, and charter schools across the country. This book examines the evidence from these early school choice programs and looks at the larger implications of choice and competition in education.

Paul Peterson makes a strong case for school choice in central cities, and coeditor Bryan Hassel offers the case for charter schools. John E. Brandl offers his vision of school governance in the next century. The book's other contributors--economists, political scientists, and education specialists--provide case studies of the experience with voucher programs in Indianapolis, San Antonio, Cleveland, and Milwaukee; survey charter schools; analyze public school choice; discuss constitutional issues; and study the effects of private education on democratic values.

Contributors include David J. Armor, George Mason University; Chester E. Finn Jr. and Bruno V. Manno, Hudson Institute; Caroline M. Hoxby, Harvard University; Brett M. Peiser, Partnerships in Learning; and Joseph P. Viteritti, New York University.