Charter Schools : Another Flawed title: Educational Reform? Series On School Reform author: Sarason, Seymour Bernard. publisher: Teachers College Press isbn10 | asin: 0807737844 print isbn13: 9780807737842 ebook isbn13: 9780585255316 language: English Charter schools--United States, Education and state--United States, Educational subject change--United States, Charter schools-- United States, Educational change--United States, Education and state--United States. publication date: 1998 lcc: LB2806.36.S27 1998eb ddc: 371.01 Charter schools--United States, Education and state--United States, Educational subject: change--United States, Charter schools-- United States, Educational change--United States, Education and state--United States. Page i the series on school reform Patricia A. Wasley Ann Lieberman Joseph P. McDonald Bank Street College of Education NCREST New York University SERIES EDITORS Charter Schools: Another Flawed Educational Reform? SEYMOUR B. SARASON Assessing Student Learning: From Grading to Understanding DAVID ALLEN, EDITOR Racing with the Clock: Making Time for Teaching and Learning in School Reform NANCY E. ADELMAN, KAREN PANTON WALKING EAGLE, AND ANDY HARGREAVES, E DITORS The Role of State Departments of Education in Complex School Reform SUSAN FOLLETT LUSI Making Professional Development Schools Work: Politics, Practice, and Policy MARSHA LEVINE AND ROBERTA TRACHTMAN, E DITORS How It WorksInside a School-College Collaboration SIDNEY TRUBOWITZ PAUL LONGO AND Surviving School Reform: A Year in the Life of One School LARAINE K. HONG Eyes on the Child: Three Portfolio Stories KATHE JERVIS Revisiting "The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change" Revisiting "The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change" SEYMOUR B. SARASON Teacher Learning: New Policies, New Practices MILBREY W. McLAUGHLIN AND IDA OBERMAN, E DITORS What's Happening in Math Class?: Envisioning New Practices Through Teacher Narratives (Volume 1) DEBORAH SCHIFTER, E DITOR What's Happening in Math Class?: Reconstructing Professional Identities (Volume 2) DEBORAH SCHIFTER, E DITOR Reaching for a Better Standard: English School Inspection and the Dilemma of Accountability for American Public Schools THOMAS A. WILSON Restructuring Urban Schools: A Chicago Perspective G. ALFRED HESS, JR. The Subjects in Question: Departmental Organization and the High School LESLIE SANTEE SISKIN AND JUDITH WARREN LITTLE, E DITORS Authentic Assessment in Action: Studies of Schools and Students at Work LINDA DARLING-HAMMOND, JACQUELINE ANCESS, AND BEVERLY FALK School Work: Gender and the Cultural Construction of Teaching SARI KNOPP BIKLEN School Change: The Personal Development of a Point of View SEYMOUR B. SARASON The Work of Restructuring Schools: Building from the Ground Up The Work of Restructuring Schools: Building from the Ground Up ANN LIEBERMAN, E DITOR Stirring the Chalkdust: Tales of Teachers Changing Classroom Practice PATRICIA A. WASLEY This series also incorporates earlier titles in the Professional Development and Practice Series Page iii Charter Schools Another Flawed Educational Reform? Seymour B. Sarason Page iv For Julie, Paul, and Nathaniel Who successfully created a new setting Published by Teachers College Press, 1234 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY 10027 Copyright © 1998 by Teachers College, Columbia University All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sarason, Seymour Bernard, 1919 Charter schools : another flawed educational reform? / Seymour B. Sarason. p. cm. (The series on school reform) Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-8077-3785-2 (cloth : alk. paper). ISBN 0-8077-3784-4 (paper : alk. paper) 1. Charter schoolsUnited States. 2. Education and stateUnited States. 3. Educational changeUnited States. I. Title. II. Series LB2806.36.S27 1998 371.01dc21 98-11732 ISBN 0-8077-3784-4 (paper) ISBN 0-8077-3785-2 (cloth) Printed on acid-free paper Manufactured in the United States of America 05 04 03 02 01 00 99 98 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Page v Contents Preface vii Chapter 1 1 Background and Plan of the Book Chapter 2 9 A Historical Perspective on Charter Schools Chapter 3 19 Some Personal Experiences Chapter 4 25 Predictable Features and Problems Chapter 5 39 Mergers as Creations of Settings Chapter 6 51 Charter Schools Chapter 7 66 The Manhattan Project, Charter Schools, and the Creation of Settings Chapter 8 77 Two Ambiguities Chapter 9 88 A New High School Chapter 10 96 Concluding Emphases Chapter 11 100 Postscripts and Signals References 113 About the Author 115