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The Renaissance School Initiative is continuing its efforts to transform some of the lowest-performing schools in Philadelphia by giving them over to charter organizations. This year, six more struggling schools are slated for charter school takeovers and the district is currently evaluating the applicants for the job. While this new process has been hailed by some as an effective way to raise the quality of education in one of the largest school districts in the country, others worry that there is simply not enough evidence to support the idea of allowing more public schools to be absorbed by charters this year.

About the Renaissance School Initiative

The Renaissance School Initiative was established by the School District of Philadelphia on January 27, 2010, according to the district’s website. The goal of the initiative is to bring dramatic student improvement through the transformation of some of the city’s lowest-performing schools. To accomplish this goal, the district solicits help from individuals and organizations with a positive track record of turning around struggling schools in Philadelphia. Schools are given over to public charters, so the necessary changes can take place internally to bring about the much-needed changes to student achievement.

The district has cited three important components required to meet their goals for all Philadelphia schools, which include:

• Identifying the lowest-performing schools that will require a transformative change to improve
• Identifying the entities (individuals or organizations) that are best equipped to make those transformations
• Empowering the local school community to become an

Public education in the United States has evolved into a complex maze of options designed to address a wide range of student needs and learning styles. However, the many choices can also make it challenging for parents to weed through and understand the various options available to them and their children. To help break it down, check out this list of some of the more common options in public schooling today.

Neighborhood Schools

The traditional community school continues to be the most common type of institution of public education today. Public schools in a district are typically zones, so those living in the community know which school they are assigned. Neighborhood schools allow students the opportunity to make friends with classmates right in their area. In some districts, parents can enroll their children in a school outside their immediate neighborhood if the chosen school is closer to the parent’s workplace or if the parent wants his child to attend a different school.

Charter Schools

Charter schools began to appear in the 1990s, and their presence has consistently grown in all but ten states nationwide. lists the states without current charter laws as Alabama, Kentucky, Maine, South Dakota, Washington, Vermont, West Virginia, Nebraska, Montana, and North Dakota. Charter schools are public schools, but parents choose to send their children to a charter school rather than attend based on district zoning.

Like other schools, charters receive money from taxes and raise private funding. Charter

The numbers are in that indicate how well the education system in the United States is serving its students. Education Week has released its 17^th annual ratings for the quality of education in each of the 50 states, awarding letter grades to schools similar to those found on student report cards. Unfortunately, the report card indicated there is still plenty of work to do for most states across the country, with an average national grade of a C+ overall. However, there were a number of bright spots across the survey as well, particularly in the top rated states where education appears to be thriving in many ways.

“Quality Counts”

The survey, titled, “Quality Counts,” uses six key metrics to grade the quality of education in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The metrics are as follows:

• K-12 Achievement
• Assessment and Accountability
• Transitions and Alignment
• Standards
• Students’ Chances for Long-Term Success
• The Teaching Profession

Within these six metrics are more than 100 indicators that include such factors as graduation rates, education funding and achievement gaps, according to a report on the survey at the Washington Post. Data was collected from sources like the U.S. Department of Education and the Census Bureau to compile these recent rankings.

Interesting Note on Findings

When discussions on education quality arise, many of them tend to center on school funding. The general school of thought is that the more money that is pumped into public schools, the higher the

The debate over school choice is a heated one in Houston Independent Public Schools, one of the largest school systems in the country. A new plan introduced in the state legislature is bringing the question of school choice into the limelight in Texas once again. The Houston district is weighing all sides of the issue, from the potential money-saving benefits to the possibility of a higher quality of instruction for students across the district.

What is School Choice?

According to the Examiner, school choice involves the ability of families to choose the best education option for their children. Options might include neighborhood public, charter, magnet, and private schools. Some families might also opt for online or homeschooling with this model. With a school choice option, families can take the tax dollars that would typically go directly into the school district where they live and put that money into the form of education that they determine is best for their individual child.

The new plan introduced to the Texas legislature allows a variety of “choice” options, according to The Villager. These might include allowing companies to enjoy a cut in state franchise taxes if they contribute to private school scholarship programs and traditional “choice” measures, including school options across district lines and lifting enrollment caps on current charter schools. Also known as a school voucher system, the plan would allow families to use their tax dollars to offset tuition at private schools if